Stop with the Cell phones already- Page 2

[elmore3003]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 7:48am

The use of cell phones in public places, from crowded elevators to public transportation to theatres, drives me crazy, and I curse the media for pushing the image of a moronic populace carrying a cell phone as a necessary lifeline to everything from an iPod to a fear of being alone. I hear people walking through a store telling the world beyond the person to whom they're speaking every bit of their personal, often trivial, lives; I sat in a performance of RENT where the idiot lady in front of me checked her messages and text messaged every time she got bored by a wonderful performance, about every 15 minutes or so. On a crosstown bus in Manhattan, I heard a young lady tell her listener and every rider about her multiple sex partners; on a train to Albany, I was kept awake by a noisy businesswoman bitching out her staff and family, cosying up to colleagues, and making life miserable to everyone in the compartment. I see men walking down Broadway with a phone glued to their ears gesturing madly and trying to hear what's going on. I saw a lady at the corner of 82nd and Amsterdam throw a noisy fight to the world beyond her cellphone as she bitched out her listener in public. Can't all this crap be done at home?

These idiots shouldn't be allowed to buy theatre tickets; they should be forced to pass a strenuous quiz to get a license to attend a live performance of anything. Beating's too good for them. Bring back lethal injection for terminal stupidity.

[Jane2]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 8:11am

The only solution is blocking the signal and I'm afraid it won't happen. You should see how many cell phone lights you can see going on and off constantly during a show. And the patrons get an attitude if you remind them to turn off the phones.

[DAME]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 8:23am

At theaters they should just start arresting people for disturbing the peace.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 8:27am

elmore3003 - I couldn't have said it better. Cell phone usage is destroying what was left of the dignity of humanity. Cell phone usage encourages people to be even more selfish and greedy. I wish they'd never have been invented. I don't know one person who uses theirs concientiously (sp?).

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 8:47am

I agree with those who suggested actually blocking the signal. Its the best possible solution and its not only being considered for NY theaters but also movie theaters as well. If people can not responsibly shut off their cell phone than it should be up to management to take action.

[hak]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 8:49am

i thought i heard that they passed a law about celphones, with the penalty being a really steep fine & eviction from the theatre.... ?

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 8:53am

Sorry for seeing this so late Undi.
I find that in Chicago cell phones rarely go off at the ballet.
Not that it never happens but there is an announcement before the performance begins and most people turn them off at that point.
I have to say that when I went to see The Da Vinci Code last weekend one man's cell phone went off twice and he took the calls! He got out of his seat, walked to the hallway that leads out to the theatre lobby and proceeded to speak full volume. He was so rude! I know that the people around me and I had a momentary fantasy of smashing his head against a wall and taking care of things that way but we just put up with his selfish, inconsiderate actions. How hard is it to at the very least turn one's cell phone on vibrate and go all the way out to the lobby? And of course if something is that urgent why go to a play, movie or ballet in the first place?
Sorry to say that cell phone use in theatres is just another side of the incosiderate behavior of society in general.

[freeadmission]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 10:08am

Like I said.. people managed before cells and dealt with it just fine. Convenience has replaced respect.

I'm afraid you hit the nail on the head. Our society is plagued by a gross lack of respect.

*scowl*

[Elphaba]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 10:18am

I've also never heard this happen at the Opera......it's absolutely ridiculous that this should happen.

[bwaylover86]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 10:26am

I love T-mobile- and I had t-mobile and verizon at the same time with two different phones for a couple months and the service was just about the same with only a few incidents like this- but I never get service in a theater and I assumed it was a block of some sort. My sister has verizon and we go see shows together a lot and she always has service- so maybe there is some sort of block and verizon gets around it or something? which to me is just wrong because if there is a block or whatever its there for a reason- like so a phone doesnt go off and disturb the entire cast and audience of a show.

Even when my sister and I went to see RENT 10, there were cell phones being used. Some were for pictures- (which is a WHOLE other thing with the cell phones: besides ringing and talking on them, taking pictures with them is distracting for people sitting around you as well-) but the person sitting next to me was text messaging through the entire performance- and these were $500 a ticket, I am sorry but I would not pay that much to sit and text message. It's getting ridiculous. I mean I feel weird now if I go out without my cell phone- but I know when it is appropriate to use it!!

[beacon1]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 10:51am

Don't these people tell their friends/family where they are going to be? That if something comes up to either wait or to expect to leave a VM on the phone that will be checked at intermission or afterwards?

When folks answer the phone and proceed to have an inane conversation that is so incredibly rude, arrogant, and inappropriate that I want to smack them. A society of egotists.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 11:01am

GO DAME! **throws pom-poms in the air and does split** HOORAH!

[lamentingenvelope]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 11:02am

I think a lot of times with cell phones the problem is people turn just their RINGERS off, put them on silent, but don't turn off their text message ring/voicemail ring/whatever. Just TURN THEM OFF, people. If you have a real emergency going on where someone may need to reach you quickly (i.e., grandma's in the middle of surgery and Aunt Tutu's gonna call if something goes wrong) you shouldn't even be at the theatre. Save your battery and save some embarassment.

Seriously, I've been to shows where people are surfing the web on their little sidekicks or whatever, and also complaining about the crappy signal. (???) I don't get it. Can you really not survive without your email or whatever?

I don't understand the texting phenomenon either. I go see plays on school field trips a lot and half the kids are sitting there texting each other. It's like, if you hate the show that much, go out in the lobby and talk to each other, or sleep or whatever but don't ruin the show for me with a million little cell phone lights.

[morosco]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 12:34pm

Take a look at the link below. A company that sells cell phone blockers of every size. They even have a small portable model that you can tuck into your pocket to block cell phone usage within a certain radius. The legality of these products are questionable but perhaps a wave of the future.
Phone Jammer

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 7:40pm

They should jam the cell messages AND ADD THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE AT THE OPENING OF THE SHOW "The use of cell phones or recodring devices in this theater is illegal. Incomming cellular phone service is jammed in this theater."

If the doctors are too stupid to make other arrangements, they deserve the massive lawsuits they will get (but the theater management should be off the hook).

[MOXIEINTHECITY]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 9:31pm

I really wish theatres and movie theatres would make people leave their cell phones at the door. I did jury duty a while back and they made me give them my cell phone before I could get through and go upstairs. Even the vibrating rings make noise.
Psstt...ever have a tryst with a broadway actor/actress?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 9:32pm

Who was the composer who smacked someone with a playbill for talking? We should all try that for talking AND for cell phone ringing. .

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 9:34pm

People should also know that TEXTING is just as bad. My sister texted her boyfriend for the first 15 minutes of Wicked because he lost a talent show. Get over it and stop wasting 100 dollars!

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 9:38pm

DAME- did you really do that?

[JerseyScoundrel]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 9:44pm

Does it really matter? Its none of our business anyway.

Posted: 6/3/06 at 9:50pm

This happened before the curtain went up - there were some young girls sitting a few rows behind me that were listening on a cell phone (I think it was a football game), and when their team scored, they gave a LOUD cheer!! Even though the show hadn't started yet, it was still annoying (to me). :) They turned it off just a second before the orchestra started up. Oh well. Another annoying thing is cameras! There was a mother and son sitting a couple seats away from me, and sonny was snapping pics like mad, even after the announcement "no cell phones, etc". The usher told him to stop, and left. Sonny takes the camera out again, and takes more pics. The usher goes back to him and gives him a really dirty look. Mom just slinks down in her seat. Way to go mom for NOT teaching your son theater etiquette.

[mint0621]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 11:48pm

The good thing about cell phones going off at the ballet (especially the NYC ballet) is that the audience is made up mostly of cranky elderly women who don't mind swatting at the perpetrator with a playbill or calling over an usher creating a scene to get the cell phone turned off.

[Mamie]

Posted: 6/4/06 at 1:08am

I remember this subject came up a couple of years ago. (Actually, it comes up a lot). At any rate, I mentioned that there were rooms called 'shielded enclosures' that are built to prevent signals from passing through the walls. Wireless phones would not work in one of these places. It turned out that the subject of making all theatres shielded had come up and was knocked down by the fire department. They said that having the building constructed that way would prevent the fire department from using their communication devices in emergency situations.

I can understand this - so the answer is a shield that can be turned on and off. Any budding designers/engineers/inventors out there?

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/4/06 at 1:20am

Cell phones broadcast on one very narrow channel. The Fire Department uses a totally different channel. Turn off one and leave the other. The Fire Drepartment and the Police are always trying to stop the public from doing things like blocking cell phones and they usually lose in court, grumble about it and adapt. More Homeland Security bullying.

[Mamie]

Posted: 6/4/06 at 1:30am

"The Fire Drepartment and the Police are always trying to stop the public from doing things like blocking cell phones and they usually lose in court, grumble about it and adapt"

They didn't lose this one. I remember it being a featured story in the Times.