It happens to everyone at one point or another: you’re walking casually down the sidewalk minding your own thoughts when you pass by someone who says, “Hello!”  Your head turns to view said person, a stranger to you; I don’t recognize them, you think, and they aren’t visibly talking on a cell phone .  Then the stranger proceeds to loudly proclaim some phrase such as, “What’s up?”  or “How are you?”.  As your gait slows again, you do a double-take just to be sure: still a bit confused.  It’s by this point you realize–because of the lack of eye-contact, or because of the unfamiliarity of the conversation (and person), as well as the assumption that they are mentally stable–the stranger is speaking not to you, but to an almost-invisible blue-tooth protruding from their ear.  Welcome to the twenty-first century; who needs phone booths when we have blue-tooths!

This form of mobile phone can–if used for good–be beneficial: like in cases where you cannot hold a cellphone because you’re preoccupied driving.  But other-wise, please, shake off the idleness and just hold the phone.  It’s much less baffling to fellow pedestrians and, for some reason, less loud.  Is it me, or do people who talk on blue-tooths seem to talk louder than people who talk on regular cell phones? Maybe it’s the extended distance from mouth to receptor?

Either way, open endorsement of  these devices by companies seem to have lead to an increase and acceptance of blue-tooth talkers in public, when in my opinion they can be as noisy and distracting as anyone on a cellphone. Oh but wait, loud cell phone talkers often hold conversations publicly too.  For example: once while shopping in a department store, I took a trip to the restroom with my younger sister and while I waited the sound of a cellphone ring echoed through the stall next to my sister’s, suddenly to stop.  No, she wouldn’t really answer it here, would she?  As I feared for the loss of society’s dignity, the lady in stall number 2 proved me wrong; she had answered the phone while in the midst of relieving herself.  She even continued–clear enough for everyone in the room to hear the conversation–talking through flushing the toilet; so if the person on the other end didn’t know she was using the restroom before, they sure knew now.

It may disturb you, but it remains true just as it remains a reflection of how some technology has lead to a decrease in the importance of social etiquette.  If someone on my contacts list answered the phone while in the bathroom, I’d question why I was friends with this person when they did not even have the decency to call back at a better time. (well, maybe that’s an exaggeration)  Also, I wouldn’t appreciate everyone in the same vicinity as the person I’m talking to knowing the details of our private conversation.  When talking in person with a friend you wouldn’t normally  project your voice to the extent of passerby’s being able to interpret every word.  For loud-talkers and blue-tooth users: sometimes maybe it’s better to wait to answer the phone, quiet down a little, or, find a phone booth (do those still exist?).