23 Irritating Things About Cell Phone Communication

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Cell Phone Communication

When People:

  1. such as my staff, co-workers, friends, etc. feel I should be connected all the time.
  2. are multi-tasking (i.e. driving).
  3. use the phone in inappropriate places — during a church service, funeral, formal setting.
  4. talk loud in public places; or speaking loudly to compensate for bad reception – without consideration for others in the surrounding (train, subway, etc.).
  5. leave their phone on the desk or dinner table like they are expecting a call.
  6. constantly check for calls.
  7. call me when there is a lot of background noise: Traffic, walking downstairs, on StairMaster.
  8. drop calls because of bad signals; poor connections – reception fading in and out.
  9. stay on longer than three minutes.
  10. mumble; don’t speak clearly.
  11. just start talking without asking if it’s a good time to talk.
  12. talk on the cell phone when interacting with other people (e.g. at the grocery store, in line at the bank).
  13. don’t tell you that you are on speaker phone.
  14. talk but don’t listen.
  15. answer a cell phone call during a meeting, conversation, while driving with you.
  16. yelling at other drivers or kids in the back seat when on the cell phone in the car.
  17. don’t allow time to respond when asked a question; talking over you.
  18. answer in a nasty tone if the call came at a bad time for them without accepting the fact that they left the phone on.
  19. make irritating sounds: Blow their noise, clear their throat.
  20. have loud ring tones.
  21. have long conversations in public areas; people going on and on in general and when saying goodbye.
  22. call me when they know I’ll be in the car.
  23. talk socially to me for long periods without consideration of my limited phone minutes.

So now that you are reminded about what’s irritating about cell phones — don’t be guilty of doing those things.

Smartphone Photo via Shutterstock


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9 Reactions
  1. This list seems a bit harsh. Talk longer than 3 minutes? How cheap are you that you’re worried about your minutes that quickly? Talk but don’t listen? That is a general issue that goes far beyond cell phones. The author needs to lighten up.

    • Martin Lindeskog

      Good call Robert! 😉 The good thing with mobile devices is the freedom of choice and the on/off button! 🙂

  2. Some of what you’ve listed can irritate me too, while some concern me, like when someone’s driving and looking down at their phone. On some occasions, I’ve seen some texting. It can wait. It really can.

  3. Thanks for this great list.

    In my house, it’s the teenager. (s)

    My kid and her friend don’t seem to (so far) have the ability to sit through an entire movie without having a cell phone right by their sides-and to make things worse, texting on in constantly.

    Really?

    How can one watch a movie without watching a movie?

    Ridic.

    The Franchise King®

  4. What is your real core issue? lol 😀

  5. Don’t agree with #11. If it’s not a good time to talk, don’t answer and if you need to answer, remember you’re an adult too, speak up and say this isn’t a good time to talk.

    #23 – limited phone minutes? Aren’t all cell plans “unlimited” now. Especially if you’re a small business you should have unlimited minutes.

    • Not everyone has unlimited minutes. I, for example, am limited to 450 minutes–or 7.5 hours–per month. Not that I’d ever go anywhere near that.

  6. Forgot one. Using a phone at a movie, play, or concert. That’s a biggie.
    You’re irritated your staff expects you to be available all the time. Same attitude for your boss?