South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Habitual cell phone users are obnoxious neighbors

Walking through the grocery store the other day someone banged into the back of my ankle with a shopping cart.

The impact was hard enough to break the skin, but not hard enough to hurt. The impact made a soft me-tallic “clink” the way carts do when you put them in the parking lot collector bays after you’re finished loading your groceries in your car. Things fell over in my attacker’s cart.

When I looked around to see what happened a woman in blue jeans and a black sweater pushed past me without the slightest hint of apology. She was busy talking on her cell phone.

When it became apparent the wo-man was not going to acknowledge running into me, I told her: “Don’t worry, you didn’t break my ankle.”

She looked at me with daggers as she rushed away.

I guess that sort of thing happens all the time. I always thought cell phone users caused accidents while driving distracted, but until the supermarket incident I never realized how pervasive a threat to society those portable phone users pose.

Everywhere people are cackling away on those little phones.

I have yet to hear a cell phone user involved in a conversation that could remotely be considered an emergency. I wish I could say I didn’t know what people were talking about but for some reason the volume is always up so high you can hear both ends of the conversation when someone nearby is using one.

Do people really want others to know what they are talking about? I don’t know what you think, but I don’t want or need to hear anyone’s private conversations. Conduct them in private.

The woman who ran into me at the grocery store was calming a daughter whose brother had hit her then forced her out of the bathroom so he could take a shower. She asked where the father was and I heard a girl’s voice saying “he’s not here” as I told my attacker she didn’t break my ankle.

Granted, I don’t use a cell phone much. It’s only on when I need to make a call. An electric charge lasts a month on my cell phone.

My wish is that people who use their cell phones conduct their conversations where I can’t hear them. If you aren’t concerned with privacy, at least respect the person on the other end of the line’s privacy. And please, make your corner of the world a safer place by not using a cell phone when you’re behind the wheel of a car.

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