Cell Phones In the Bathroom

Friday, November 18, 2005
Please, do not use your cell phone in the bathroom. It is disconcerting enough for the other users of the bathroom to hear you chatting away. It certainly can not be any better for the person on the other end of the phone to hear toilets flushing or the sound of pee falling into the urinal. Just don't answer your phone while you are in there. Certainly don't bring a conversation from outside into the bathroom. The call can wait. It's not that important. People spent hundreds of years going to the bathroom without chatting to someone who wasn't there, I'm sure you can survive too.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have heard many people complain about otyers talking on cellphones at restaurants or other publicplaces (forget theaters etc. -that's clearly taboo). I can't see why someone talking on the phone at a restaurant is any different than talking to another person. In either case, one should not talk too loud, but normal talking is okay. So in a restroom why shouldn't it be okay for somebody to talk on the phone just as they would to another eprson in the bathroom?
two reasons - one is hygene: your business on the phone and your business in the bathroom do not mix. And remind me never to touch your phone.
reason two is, I don't want people talking to me while I'm using the bathroom, standing at or urinal or ESPECIALLY while one of us is in a stall. Please.

-John

Anonymous said...

Can I get an "A-men!"?

It is such a pet peeve of mine. My only hope is that they will eventually drop their phone in the toilet. I think that would be a good use of karma.

-Mike

T said...

I don't personally have a problem with someone speaking on a cell phone in a restaurant. I think what a lot of people complain about is the volume at which some people do it. Shouting, "Can you hear me now?" in the middle of a upscale restaurant would probably be met with some nasty glares.

Jen said...

I think the whole restaurant thing is this: if it's a person at another table, it doesn't matter if he is talking on a cell phone. However, if someone is having dinner with me, and answers the phone without stepping away from the table, I find that rude. The way I see it is this: I took the time to drive to see you in person. I deserve your attention more than the ten phone calls you get at dinner.

Terrence, does it count if I talk to myself in the bathroom?