"Why I don't own a cell phone" Topic

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I thought he was really quite reasonable, actually.

Crumbs, I wish I could do that when someone's phone rings while I'm giving a presentation…

Then of course, there's the health hazards
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I can understand why he did it.

I've only recently bought a cell phone, and it's been useful, but it's also been an incredible nuisance. People get deeply offended when I don't answer it (I turn it off at night when I'm sleeping, and often don't turn it back on until I get home from work, maybe 16 or 18 hours after I went to sleep the night before).

They think it's some sort of personal insult… the damn phone is there for MY convenience in getting ahold of THEM, not their convenience in nagging me.

If they really wanted to get in touch they could call my house phone… that thing ringing usually wakes me up, and if it doesn't, I check those messages when I wake up in the morning.

I also don't have text messaging OR voicemail activated on my phone, again intentionally, and again people act offended when their texts fail or they can't leave a voicemail message. Again, they could always just call my house phone… the assumption seems to be with cell phones that I have it on my at all times, turned on at all times, and I'll always drop everything to answer it.

It's an erroneous assumption, at least when applied to me.

I always check my missed calls list, and I (almost) always call people back. That should be good enough for them, right?

Argh.

-Alex

I read the extended transcript of this. It's hilarious. The defendant's were pleading with judge to be fair. His responses were disturbing to say the least.

Alex, in my humble opinion, the inventors of text messaging deserve lenghty prison sentences for contributing to the decline of speling.

That's just wrong. That's a case of the judge deciding that he gets to be God in his courtroom.

I give my cell number to very few people. My wife and others who work at store and my parents and one distributor. That's it. When a call comes in, if I don't recognize the number, I don't answer it. Plus, I only take it with me when I want to. It is not attached to me, so I frequently leave it in the van.

Rob

I also found it ironic that the judge had his meltdown while hearing a domestic violence case.

I've never had anyone get upset at me for not answering my phone except for my mother-in-law. Have you ever noticed that it's only quixotic friends or family that get bent out of shape about lack of responsiveness? While I can choose who are my friends, I cannot choose who is my mother-in-law.

So will this cause him to have to have lawsuits against him? Is it illegal to have a cell phone ring in a court?

There should be legalized cell jammers in some locations. Court rooms for starters. Theaters are another.

I don't carry one. If I wanted to talk to someone, I would have told them where I was going. I don't tell you where I am going, then I probably don't want to talk to you. I also have enough smarts to keep myself occupied without having to have constant contact with my friends.

I hate the damn things (and I work in Telecoms). Bloody annoying & downright rude (& that's just the users) let alone when they go off when you're watching a play or a film. There there is all & sundry that when they are travelling on public transport like to announce where they are, & ask what is for tea?
I know that they are useful for an emergency, but day-to-day use 24/7, some folks need to get a life.
I can't believe that they are advocating that they be used on planes…just don't sit next to me is all I can say! That's my rant over…

Alxbates:

the damn phone is there for MY convenience in getting ahold of THEM, not their convenience in nagging me.

Amen, brother. That's exactly how I feel about it, and it never fails to amaze me how many people in our society fail to grasp that simple concept. The telephone is a tool for communication – no more, no less. The one I own is therefore my tool, and I will choose when to use it. It is for me to make what calls I need to, and to respond to those I choose, when I choose to do so. I am not rude about it, and I have voice mail, call display, etc., and will get back to you if it is important. But the tool is not there to chain me down to anyone's else's whim, just because thay have chosen to call me at a time which is not convenient for me.

I use a cell phone for work (I'm in real estate) and while I try very hard to keep it unobtrusive in public what amazes me are how many people will launch diatribes against cell phone users and in the same breath get completely p****d off when I don't answer immediately when they call.

I don't mind cell phone users so long as they're not driving. But I can think of many many examples of things that bug me worse than some idiot yakking on a phone about nonsense.

For example, unruly children while under adult supervision, people eating burgers while driving, people applying makeup while driving, people who drive to slow, people who drive to fast, people who block doorways and public walkways, people who double park, people having a conversation with the cashier, idiots yakking to eachother about nonsense, etc.

nycjadie:I read the extended transcript of this. It's hilarious.

I couldn't find that, would you mind posting the link?

Cell phones are personal communications devices. How you personally communicate is your business. You guys that don't keep your phones on all the time … that is your right. That has no bearing on the issue here.

Where a cell phone becomes someone else's business is when it obtrudes into other people's lives. In many venues it is simply rudeness (a library, a quiet restaurant, a movie theater), but not against the law). In a court room, though …

Court rooms have always had rules of order. Judges have taken various avenues, some quite creative, to enforcing that order. Having cell phones turned off is a quite common rule in that direction, no doubt.

The question is what penalty to impose when the court is disrupted. Let's consider a non-cell phone example: Suppose someone had blown a raspberry, or made a loud rude insulting remark, when the judge's back was turned. The judge would have asked who did it. Suppose no one came forward … he probably would have taken some action against the whole court, much as a schoolteacher might, since at least some of those in the audience witnessed the breach of order or heard the direction it came from, so by not speaking out they were acting in compliance with the offender.

I know, punish everyone, even the innocent, lest the guilty go free … it seems wrong and against the US legal code, except in Louisiana.

Now, personally, I think it would have been more productive of the judge to order the bailiff to search everyone, collect all electronic devices, and dump them all into a bucket of water. The ones that were turned off would suffer little damage and would work fine after a couple days of drying out. The ones that were on … anybody's guess, but if they suffered damage, it serves them right.

So the US isn't the only place where the lunatics are running the asylum.

There are some people who have no business having any sort of authority over others.

JW

come on admit it John.

It is because very few would understand the JOFM acronym when texting.

yes, nycjadie, please post the link to the transcript, if you can.

thanks

w.

Cell phones aren't rude.

People using cell phones are.

A whole additional topic of debate.

"That's a case of the judge deciding that he gets to be God in his courtroom."

Yes, thats how the system works.

An eye for an eye . a cell for a cell.

The sales assistants where I work have been instructed to walk away if a customer spends more than a ten seconds answering a call.

Okay, it's funny at first glance, but the judge in question has clearly gone bughouse nuts, and really needed to be removed. Letting a cell phone get under your skin to the point where you jail more than two score innocent people for contempt isn't just arbitrary, it's idiotic. He's left himself and (I assume) the city of Niagara Falls open to a series of lawsuits that will almost certainly cost millions in the long run, and he's made the entire legal profession look bad (well, worse). Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Moreover, his behavior could easily have triggered a riot, which would have endangered everyone there including himself. There's not a court in the world with enough bailiffs on duty to stop fifty angry people from doing anything they feel like doing, and if they're going up for contempt anyone, they might as well bust up the judge on the way out.

And the person who refused to 'fess up to his phone being on? Yeah, nice way to take some responsibility there.

I'm a local Councillor and recently at a Public Consultation two or three people answered their phones when they rang after asking me questions.

They then got quite upset when I walked away while they were still talking on their phones.

People are rude but expect absolute respect and courtesy.

Don't get me started. Well, you already did.

Yesterday, the 18yo and I headed off to the nearest center of civilization (a mall) thirty plus miles away to establish her own phone account.

(As an aside, she did not choose to accompany her mother and young siblings to parts unknown. We're stuck with her for the time being, while she vacillates between going in the Navy or Air Force, going to live with an even older sister, or going to live with friends.)

The contract on "her" phone on my account had expired last week, and I was sick of being responsible for it. So we went shopping. She found a better deal (on all counts: the deposit required, the cost of the phone, and the cost of the plan) with a different company, so ported her number over. She chose a plan with minimal anytime voice minutes (she works during the day, so only talks at night), unlimited evening voice minutes, and unlimited text messaging, multimedia, etc. Her main concern was getting a phone with a ***full keyboard*** to facilitate messaging. She averages about 5000 text messages per month.

That amount of text messaging is a thing I cannot comprehend. It is alien to me. I don't even need my cell phone for voice calls, really. My wife called me this morning to confirm that when the new defense contractor takes over at the end of the week (they hired her with a raise; no problems there), she *won't* have a company cell phone any more. That will actually make life at work easier on her. But I told her that if she finds she wants one, just to be able to call me, she can darn well have mine. It's of little use to me!

Yesterday, I also cancelled the home 800 number that's never been used except for wrong numbers (which I had to pay for!) and speed dialing and three-way calling which we never used on the land line.

I am, however, laying in a stock of stone tablets and good-quality chisels, which will enable continued communications after all the elctronic infrastructure collapses.

Allen

Like anything, the cellphone has two sides to it, hasn't it – great for emergencies, keeping someone at home informed when there's a delay getting home, etc. But it also seems to bring out some of the worst inconsiderate behavious I've ever seen. Too many people seem to think it's fine to yell into a phone whenever and wherever they like, and to receive messages wherever they are, regardless of the interference it causes.

I can undestand that judge to a point! I'm surprised that courthouses don't have some sort of blocking device installed to stop the phones working.

I wouldn't worry too much about the judge and city. They have absolute immunity from the result of his decisions, if made in his official capacity as a judge.
It's one of the benefits of the American Revolution, that judges are not answerable for their decisions.

And oh by the way, I would like to see Judge Restaino restored to the bench and considered for appointment to positions of greater authority. Personal stress: bullocks! He clearly is one of the few in tis nation left in possession of a clue, and we need his like in the highest levels of jurisprudence.

Allen

So… being a judge means I can throw innocent people in jail just because one of them offended me and won't fess up?

Man, I went into the wrong profession.

Alex, I quite understand turning the phone off at night. However, I find text messages very useful for precisely that sort of thing; I treat texts as non-time-critical messages – if I don't need a reply immediately, I send a text, and the recipient can deal with it as they see fit. If I need to speak to someone now, I phone them.

I also have the ringer turned down reasonably low. Not so low that it doesn't disturb people in the cinema (I turn it off), but low enough that I can continue a conversation with someone face-to-face while it rings.

You don't own a cell because you still have 6 months remaining on your telegraph lease.

I agree completely with tfaec's last post. We need more of this approach in public life.

One company was producing a little worry bead device that sent a disconnect signal that would turn off every cellphone in 15 feet, anyone know who they were and if it's still availiable.

Robert

I don't own a cell phone because I have no need of phones at all, if I use a phone more then 2 times every month its a lot.
I use emails to talk to people and we all can deal with them as we have time. phones are a pain in the A## and I've never liked talking to people on them. yes my lady does have a cell for use when we are on the road just in case but its not used very much except for her to call her mom with the free long distance.

I tried to find the transcript. It wasn't complete but it was on a legal blog. Could be Above the Law. It was awhile ago.

Yesterday on the New York Times blogs, they had an article that was much more substantive and showed a lot of the language, but I can't seem to find that either.

Sorry guys.

Judges have immunity, because one of the minor causes of the American TRevolution was judges serving "at the pleasure" of the King. Which means that they could be punished for their decisions. They can still be impeached for cause, but unless they can be shown to have taken bribes or committed other felonies, high creams or misdemeanors, or barratry and usufruct of the pleonasm, or immanentizing the eschaton, they are immune.

I could have been a judge, but I didn't have the Latin for it. So, I became a coal miner.

"So, I became a coal miner."

So you speak French?

I got rid of mine after reading Stephen King's "Cell".Everyone with a cell phone turns into a zombie.

Is it illegal to have a cell phone ring in a court?

I'm not sure if it's illegal here in Anchorage. But when I was in court for an eviction hearing a while back the doors to the courtroom had a nice poster tacked to them. It had two cartoon style pictures of a cell phone. The first one was a happy smiling phone with the caption "Your cell phone". The second picture was a smashed phone under a judges gavel the caption was "your cell phone if it rings in my court room. A public service message from your friendly neighbourhood judge"

Funny thing was I never heard a phone ring in the court….can't think why

I dont own a cell phone-theres nobody on this planet that I want to talk to that badly.

I was doing some adult training in Cambodia a few months ago, and was amazed at the way that the participants in the classes would take calls on their cellphones, and then carry on long conversations (often quite loudly) with no-one else in the class batting an eyelid.

Even worse, the instructors also did the same, stopping lessons to carry on conversations (again sometimes for quite a while) at the front of the class. Again, all taken quite normally by the locals, but we visitors found it very frustrating indeed.

And here's another cellphone horror story … when I was on an hour-long train commute a few years ago, a lady's phone rang while it was in her handbag. But she was just too late rummaging to find her phone, so missed the call.

Her phone couldn't have had caller ID, because she spent the rest of the trip calling every person in her address book, and asking in a loud voice, "Hi, it's ---- here. Did you just call me?"

By the end of trip, all of us in the carriage were just about ready to throttle her. And she never did find the person who rang her.