August 14, 2017, posted by Gina – When my oldest son left for college I was a nervous wreck. I stood vigil by my cell phone because I was a worried Mom. I clearly remember one day going to lunch with a friend and placing my cell phone purposely on the table in case he should call. At the time, I saw nothing wrong with this. I was not talking on it and did not intend to take a call unless it was my son.
Fast forward to a few months ago and I read about how my act of placing the cell phone on the table was a rude behavior. It turns out that this truly irritates some people and in fact proper etiquette requires you to put your phone away and keep it on silent or vibrate mode.
To this day, I want to keep my cell phone where I can see it in case one of my children calls me in need. I am better than I was when our oldest went to college but I still have this need to be ever vigilant.
Now that I have learned my behavior was rude, I have changed my ways and keep my phone in my purse. On the other side of this situation, I truly don’t mind if someone places their phone on the table in the event of a call they need to accept. The only time I would get irritated would be if the person carried on a conversation.
As wonderful as cell phones are, they have certainly created some unwanted behavior. How about you? Do you keep your cell phone with you at all times? Would you place it on the table in a restaurant? Would this drive you insane? Are there other cell phone practices that make your hair stand on end?
