how rude...

wow, it's been a whole week since i did this last.  turns out it was kind of a busy week at work.  not so busy that i couldn't have banged out a few thoughts, but busy enough i didn't really think about it.  i usually sit down and write when i don't really have anything better to do or when i really need to get a thought out of my head.  that didn't really happen, sorry.

look at me apologizing as if anyone actually actually came here hoping i had some drivel for them...the fuckin nerve!

so my mom came to visit and took my gramps and myself out for breakfast this morning.  i'm not certain why, but when someone offers me free bacon i make damn sure to be there.

while we were waiting to be seated at ihop (mmm, ihop.  mmm bacon.  mmm, strawberry syrup), my grandfather noticed a couple who were clearly together yet both staring down at their respective mobile devices texting.  he wondered aloud, so loudly that they could hear, why they were being so rude to each other.  if you can't tell gramps is none too fond of the digital revolution.  and no, the fact that he was pretty rude to loudly call others rude did not, in any way, escape me.

he had a problem with the fact that in all likelihood they were ignoring each other to talk to other people.  i kind of see his point.  what exactly is the line for being impolite with our toys?

in my world ,with my friends, i don't even think twice when one of them looks down at their phone during a conversation.  if we're sitting at a bar, are on the train, or just walking and bullshitting i see no problem to continue on and take a glance, even spit out a reply text.  it's just the normal course of action. 

that changes if there's food involved, or i s'pose i should specify if we're out to dinner.  to be sitting at a table with someone or someones and have a person pull out their phone is kind of annoying.  i'm not sure why, i guess a dinner table is a more intimate or personal setting?  (why is that a question?  here i am asking you what i think.)  that said a simple "hey sorry hope you don't mind if i take this..." is sufficient to remove the rudeness.  at least to me. 

i will say one thing that really does annoy me since the advent of the iphone (it was possible before, but far less prevalent)...pulling out a phone and playing a game in the middle of a conversation.  what the fuck is that about?  a quick glance and maybe a couple of taps to respond is one thing, but if the interaction is more than half a minute, a minute max, you're way over the line. 

i see it like this, if i walk up to you while you're playing a game and try to talk to you. i'm interrupting your game.  you should feel free to continue to play without social repercussion and would gain bonus nice person points for pausing the game to pay attention to me.  however, if we're talking and you for some reason pull out your phone and start a game, then you're an ass.  it doesn't matter if you can pay attention to two things at once, by starting a game while we're talking, you're telling me you'd rather be doing something else.  you may not be saying it, but as the old adage goes "actions speak louder than words."

why would you do this?  it just doesn't make sense at all.  then again, simply asking the person if they mind if you play a game while talking to them removes all problems with the situation.  of course anyone who would tell you to go ahead and play your game probably isn't all that interested in talking to you to begin with.

and don't you just want to kill anyone who even forgets to put their phone on vibrate during a movie? 

Comments

[Tina T]

Unless the person is a surgeon or has some family emergency I don't think that it's ever appropriate to take a call while you're out to eat. I've seen people sit through an entire meal and barely talk because they're either texting or talking on their phone. Why aren't they just out with the person that they're on the phone with, they're obviously more important than the person they're with.

[staciesmadness]

it is just as annoying to me to see someone send their call to voicemail too, so let's just leave all cells in the car if we are out for dinner, mmmkk?

[chris]

@ tina yeah, amazing how we can let someone who's not with us be more important than someone who is.

@ stacie ya know, i kinda like winning the phone face off myself. though i do have a friend that constantly keeps his phone on the table/bar/flat surface so he can grab it anytime something pops up. that does get kind of annoying, but it's fun to mock him for it.