Has it really been 4 years since the last entry in this series?
My Bad!
I really must remember to make note of the more, um, interesting things I see, and hear, on my travels. ;-D
As regular readers know, up thru last August, I had spent 6 years as a Directory Assistance Operator handling calls from Cell Phone users.
I often wondered, on some of the more strange calls, if the person on the other end was in a public place, with people within easy hearing? ;-D
For instance, take this example from 2005:
In this job you get up close and personal with man's, and woman's, penchant for the odd, and humorous in the naming of their business establishments, and even in the naming of their children.
One day I had an interesting example of this.
ME: City, and State, please...
SHE: Burien, Washington... Love Package.
ME: ( VERY PREGNANT PAUSE ), yeesss...
SHE: I'm looking for Love Package.
ME: ( a huge smile in my voice ) So, you are looking for a Love Package in Burien?
SHE: ( Laughing ) Yes, it's a business.
ME: Okaaay... ( In my most deeply disappointed sounding voice ) I'm sorry, there are no Love Packages in Burien, or the surrounding area...
SHE: ( more laughter ) Oh, okay, thanks for looking.
I never did learn just WHAT the Love Package was, or if it even involved a WHO.
Was she single, and really looking for a MR. Love Package, or was she looking for something to recharge her hubbys batteries?
Enquiring minds want to know!
Well, an Operator with an over active imagination does anyway! :-D
In 2006, John Dvorak wrote an interesting, and amusing, essay that is called:
Why I hate the mobile-phone business Commentary: People act crazy and the phones are junk
The most annoying thing about cell phones is that people without one are stuck in various public places listening to all the public, sometimes most intimate, conversations in other peoples lives, and if we try to, even humorously, make our displeasure, and annoyance, known to the person next to us the reaction is one of a "Mind your own business, I can do this if I want" attitude, and can get down right hateful if you say something to the wrong person.
Yes, people have a right to use them in most public places, but there is a reason that various public venues ban them.
In her most recent Frumpy Middle-aged Mom Column, in the OC Register, the wonderful Marla Jo Fisher has joined the discussion of this issue, in a very funny way. ;-D
"Please, please keep talking on your cell phone. Do not let my presence disturb you in the least.
I want to know all the details of how your husband is a bad lover. And why your cat is coughing up hairballs. And how your foot operation is healing.
I live for the chance to sit next to you in the waiting room or at the next table in the restaurant."
She's just getting warmed up! ;-D
Please, Just Keep Talking on Your Phone.
There IS a reason people should not use their cell phones in a public place, and why more places are banning their use...
I present Exhibit A, from my bus ride on the OCTA #35, Northbound from Brookhurst and Talbert, near the hospital, yesterday afternoon....
A white woman gets on, and sits across from me, in the very back.
She gets her cell phone out & calls someone.
She begins giving a detailed report about her doctor visit...I, and anyone within earshot of her loud voice, are treated to all sorts of cool info about her Urinary Tract Infection, invasive exams of her pelvic region, and more....
I lean forward in my seat, even though she isn't looking directly at me, and say....
"Oh, wow, this is just soooo fascinating! Slow down, let me get my notepad from my bag, so I can take notes!"
A Black guy turns, and looks at me funny, and the young Asian dude next to me is trying to keep from laughing...
Meanwhile the lady doesn't seem to hear me.
So I speak loud enough to be heard by the driver up front....
"Excuse ME! Will you please turn your cell off, or get off the bus, taking your chat private? I don't give a DAMN about all the exciting things going on between your legs, and I'm sure no-one else on the bus does either."
She looks at me, speaks into her phone telling her friend that she has to get off the phone, and turns it off, without apologizing to me, and those sitting around her.
Come on, people, there could be children within earshot, for crying out loud!
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