We love our cellphones. We really do. We love them so much that it’s interrupting our lives. These little devices that, if you’re like me, manage your whole little world, have made it into our bathrooms, bedrooms, our work offices, our cars—we take them everywhere with us. So, it’s very likely you will encounter cellphone situations in public on a pretty regular basis.
From the restaurant dinner table to work and meetings to waiting
rooms and elevators, cellphones are and have been for quite some time,
considered a nuisance by many, especially when the owner of a said nuisance
isn’t being considerate of proper cellphone etiquette. So, I took it upon
myself to look into what these basic cellphone rules are in America (yes, they
do vary in other countries!).
I gathered four articles from four different sources to
check out these cellphone etiquette do’s and don’ts and how to practice proper etiquette for myself. Here’s what I
gathered to be my top five most important rules for cellphone use in public.
1.
Watch your volume! No one wants to
listen to you talk on the phone. According to emilypost.com, our phone voices
tend to be louder than our normal speaking voices. This can be overwhelming for
those around you are well as the person you’re on the phone with. The article
reminds us, “…you’re the one fighting to hear over
the noise, not the person you’re speaking with.”
2.
The 10-foot proximity rule! Each
article I read discussed the importance of maintaining a certain amount of
space between you (while you’re engaged in a phone conversation in public) and
the public and I agree. Staying this far away as well as not speaking too
loudly is less likely to disturb the people around you.
3.
Just don’t answer! When you’re at the
dinner table, in a face-to-face conversation, in a meeting, or in any public
place where it is an inconvenience for you or those around you take a personal call
let your voicemail do its job. Even if you hate voicemail, that’s why you have
it!
4.
Don’t discuss personal or sensitive
information! Because who wants to hear that one-sided conversation really?
5.
DON’T TEXT AND DRIVE! According to this Huffington Post
article, at any given time 3% of people driving are also
talking on their phones. Texting or talking while driving can distract you from
watching intersections, traffic lights or signs, and pedestrians among other
things.
I
don’t know about you, but I know I’m guilty of breaking all these rules at
least once or twice. It’s something that you would think is common sense, and
it is, but it’s much easier to say than to do. Often, as this article states,
it is a case of “monkey see, monkey do.” When we see someone take out a
cellphone, we’re more inclined to take ours out as well and forget our general
etiquette for cellphone use. How many of these rules are YOU guilty of
breaking???
