The Stampede

Media Credit: Sara Travis ANDY FORD

Dear Andy,

Whenever I go out with my boyfriend, he is always texting on his cell phone. He will not tell me what he is texting and often says, “Stay outta my bid-ness, woman!” He does not think that this is rude. What do I do?

Heartbroken in Hart

Dear Heartbroken in Hart,

A quick warning: I’m old and I didn’t take my Metamucil this morning.

Ah, cellular telephones, great in the need of an emergency but the bane of all those annoying people that demand our entire attention. You know, things like church, our professors, our parents and our friends. I remember in the late 1960’s when me and my flower-children friends used to sit and listen to the albums of Pink Floyd over and over again in relative peace. Unfortunately, we have left the Age of Aquarius and now we are in the Age of Annoying Ringtones, tinny in sound and long in length!

A friend once told me that texting was not rude if you were having dinner with someone. You heard it here first, folks, texting is just the same as talking to someone on the phone! The rudeness does not lie in the fact that you were loudly having an argument with your mother, but the rudeness is that your entire focus was diverted. Your girlfriend’s hair could be on fire and you would never know it because you are too busy yelling, “Okay, dude” at your mom! That does not lead to post-office-walking, does it?

The thing I think most cellular telephone users need to realize is that if you use your cell phone in public, then you have no expectation of privacy. Which one of us has not been in the Grill or walked to class and overheard a conversation that you wish you had not heard? Sure, it’s shocking that Denise has a highly embarrassing disease from a reputable, upstanding Christian young man, but did you really want to know that? Will you be able to look her in the eye as you pass each other on the way to the library?

While using cellular telephones in public are annoying, the worst offenders are Blue-Tooth users. Using one while driving is fine, but when you leave it in your ear all day, it just screams, “Look at me! I’m so important! I can receive calls from telemarketers without ever having to lift a finger!” I just request when you are in the presence of people with whom you might converse, take the Bluetooth out; it makes you look pretentious and arrogant. And if there is anyone who knows pretention and arrogance, it’s me.

Let me write it again, Heartbroken in Hart: overuse of the cellular telephone in both calling and texting is rude when you are with people. Of course, it is always okay to ask permission if you need to use it, and your friends should graciously grant it. But really, do we live in a society where you cannot be completely present, completely yourself, completely at home in your skin with those that you love? Do we live in a society where you are so “popular” and “loved” that we are prevented from having any normal human interaction? Does this bother anybody else but me?

Article Tools