When I was in Miami on a recent vacation, two people using the library had to be told not to talk on their cell phones.
When one woman was asked to stop a conversation that had gone on for five minutes or more, she said that she had turned down the volume on her phone. However, that didn’t fix the problem, she said, because her friend had a very loud voice.
I explained to her that it more than her friend’s loud voice that was the problem. It was that her taking on her cell phone in a library was disturbing us.
When I returned home, I went to the post office to pick up my mail. I always sort it there so I don’t have so much stuff to bring home.
While I was sorting, two different women had long cell phone conversations while they waited in line to buy stamps or mail packages using a machine.
What’s happened to respecting the quiet space people want to have that’s just theirs?
Here are tips on cell phone use, “Cell Phone Etiquette: 10 Dos and Don'ts," from the Microsoft Small Business Center.
Don’ts
- Never take a personal mobile call during a business meeting. This includes interviews and meetings with coworkers or subordinates.
- Maintain at least a 10-foot zone from anyone while talking.
- Never talk in elevators, libraries, museums, restaurants, cemeteries, theaters, dentist or doctor waiting rooms, places of worship, auditoriums, or other enclosed public spaces, such as hospital emergency rooms or buses. And don't have any emotional conversations in public.
- Don't use loud and annoying ring tones that destroy concentration and eardrums.
- Never "multi-task" by making calls while shopping, banking, waiting in line, or conducting other personal business.
Dos
- Keep all cellular conversations brief and to the point.
- Use an earpiece in high-traffic or noisy locations. That lets you hear the amplification, or how loud you sound at the other end, so you can modulate your voice.
- Tell callers when you're talking on a mobile, so they can anticipate distractions or disconnections.
- Demand "quiet zones" and "phone-free areas" at work and in public venues, like the quiet cars on the Amtrak Metroliner.
- Inform everyone in your mobile address book that you've adopted the new rules for mobile manners. Ask them to do likewise.
