Dear Lee – Sick of the Phone-ies!

I've just switched career paths, from clinical healthcare to medical sales. It's been a bit of an adjustment, but the biggest is that it seems like everyone is attached to his or her cell phone. It doesn't seem to matter who they're speaking with – a colleague or potential client – they not only leave their phones on, they actually take calls in the middle of conversations! I think it's incredibly rude! Is it just me, or is this completely acceptable behavior?

Sincerely,

"The bells! The bells!"

I hate cell phones.

There – I've said it. Even though I'm sure that statement is going to make me very unpopular – because everyone and their dog seem to have one – I'm sticking with my opinion. I hate cell phones that much.

Cell phones bring out our loudest, rudest, and most obnoxious tendencies. Who hasn't sat next to someone on a bus who's screaming into a cell phone for the entire trip? Thank you, but I did not need to know what she said after you said what you said.

Or who hasn't been interrupted during a lovely conversation over a lovely dinner by a dinner companion who feels it's perfectly all right to answer his or her cell phone – and then proceed to make plans to go out? Excuse me? Aren't you already "out"?

Yes, I understand cell phones make our lives more convenient. We can contact other people at any time, and they can contact us at any time. But who among us – with the possible exception of transplant team members or that guy who carries the codes to nuclear warheads – is so important that they have to be available 24 hours a day?

So, no … it's not you. It is incredibly rude.