The Voice
They are taking over our campus! Loud conversations. Funky ring tones. Interruptions. Accidents. Rudeness.
Of course you’ve noticed the invasion of the cell phones on campus! Everywhere you go, you see people chatting away or hear cell phones ringing.
“The Colonnade” staff believes the cell phone users on campus could use a few cell phone etiquette lessons.
First of all, it’s so distracting in class when someone’s cell phone starts obnoxiously ringing in a tune that sounds a lot like Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur’ Freak On.” Lesson #1: Turn the phone off or put the ringer on silent while you’re in class. Have some courtesy for your professor and fellow classmates.
Perhaps the worst is when you’re in a computer lab, and this girl right beside you is having an extreme and obscene fight with the person at the other end. From everything you’re hearing (not just her loud voice, but his too), you can guess it’s her boyfriend or her soon-to-be ex. Lesson #2: When there are others around you, go somewhere else. No one wants to hear about your relationship disasters! It is rude, frustrating and very annoying. Also, please do not to talk so loudly on your cell phone that you basically announce to the entire computer lab all of your health issues. That’s personal stuff. Talk about that in privacy.
Lesson #3: Don’t run over, and don’t get ran over! Have you ever almost ran over someone walking the crosswalk while you’re chit-chatting on your cell phone? Of course! Who hasn’t? Or have you ever been so engrossed with a conversation that you’re the crosswalker who almost gets hit? This is when safety comes into play. Drivers on the phone, please be careful and aware of walkers and other cars. Crosswalkers, you’re the one that might get hit! Look both ways before crossing and come back to Earth from your mesmerizing cell phone conversation!
Oh, and there’s that person in the cafeteria strutting across the room to the table, balancing his food tray and holding a cell phone on his ear. We’ve already covered courtesy and safety. Lesson #4: We’re going to cover the “not-so-hots.” Do you realize how silly you look? At least wait until you get to the table to use your phone. But talking on your cell phone at the table is quite rude! But hey, at least the whole cafeteria won’t think you’re a dork. Please realize that there are moments and situations when using your cell phone will make you look like a geek or a show-off.
There are other times it’s inappropriate to use your cell: when you’re attending concerts, plays, lectures, church, movies and meetings, when you have company, when you’re at the check-out line in Kroger, when you’re in Russell Library, when you’re dining in a restaurant…you get the idea. If you must make or answer an important call, take it outside.
And please always remember to keep your voice at a conversational level…no hollering, no screaming, no unnecessary projecting your voice into your cell phone in public. Be courteous to the people around you.
“The Colonnade” staff asks that you take these lessons and follow them so our campus will be a more pleasant and safe one.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 11 2002. Filed under Our Voice.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
