Awhile ago when Chris and I were on a little vacation in Southport, NC we ate at a cute little restaurant on the water.  I excused myself before the food arrived to go avail myself of the facilities.  I was trying to pre-empt my brother in law Carlton’s theory of “food in–food out”.  But that is a story for another day.

I found my way through the restaurant to the restroom and stepped inside a stall.  It was a smallish bathroom with only 2 stalls and as I was in my private space a woman and a little girl came in.  There was a lot of chattering going on and the little girl did what she came in to do. I exited my stall to wash my hands (doesn’t it just gross you out when people leave a restroom WITHOUT washing their hands?) and obviously the woman with her was taking her turn.  Now it would not have been obvious had I not heard the little voice say, very loudly, “GRANDMA!  YOU DID IT!!!!! ”

I could not suppress my giggle and the voice from the other side of the stall door said “Obviously we are working on potty training.”  It cracked me up and made me smile the rest of the day and even months later when I think about it.

But it got me to thinking.  We all know what the purpose of restrooms are, right?  But these days it seems they also serve as a phone booth.  Oh you know what I am talking about!  There you are, sitting doing your business and from the stall next to you comes this one sided conversation.  You are captive audience.  There is no way to get away from the chatter which you really do not want to be a part of, right?

Cell phones have become a part of most of our daily lives.  I am tethered to mine.  I know I am.  When loved ones live far away it is not hard to get attached to the cell phone as the means of keeping in touch via calls, texts, and emails.  I am guilty of not always being aware of the fact that I may be being rude with my phone usage.  It isn’t that I mean to—–I just do it.

Some of my pet peeves of cell phones are:

• The loud talkers—those people who make public calls and have the voice that needs no amplification in the Super Dome. They can usually be found in any public place.
• Talking on the phone when checking out or placing an order—I have been guilty but I am reformed.  It is rude. It can wait.
• Loud obnoxious ring tones that should be silenced or put on vibrate in theaters and other public settings. I know I love to hear Pharrell’s  song Happy play but you might not.
• Using bad language—ugh.  I am not a fan of it at anytime but when I have to hear it repeatedly in a public place it makes me not want to stay around too long.
• Can you hear me now?  Don’t’ make a call if reception is bad.  Just don’t.
• On airplanes the people who use their phone, talking very loudly (always business of the utmost importance) until the flight attendant has to tell them 3 times to shut it down. Please, please, please, powers that be—do NOT allow phone calls during flights.  Please.  I beg you.
• Making calls in inappropriate places.  I did this once and blogged about it.  (I would let you read it but I obviously was in such a state when I wrote it that I did not tag it correctly and I can’t find it!) The problem was I just was not thinking about where I was at.  I was out of my usual place in the library and yes—I should not have taken a call where I was at –lesson learned.  But—-could the man I offended have accepted my apology?  Yes.  It rankles me to this day the way he acted. He was a clodpate.

And of course–using public bathrooms as your own personal phone booth where everyone who comes and goes becomes a part of the drama that is your life.  Just don’t do it.

Do you have any other times or examples of when cell phone usage irritates you?  Feel free to rant.  But keep it clean, okay?  And make sure you wash your hands before you leave.  🙂