It amazes me how much people in this country have forgotten about basic, common sense manners.
WARNING RANT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!
The following rant is about a person whom I respect, and admire. He is funny, bold, and is able to see solutions to problems no one else could. All of these things said however he has one serious flaw. Technology! This man has the ability to carry on so many conversations its remarkable, but its always at a cost. Here is a typical conversation with my friend.
Me: (dialing friends number) Ring Ring, Ring Ring
Friend: (picks up the phone having a conversation with someone else. Sit patiently waiting for several minutes for friend to finish conversation with other person.) Hello?
Me: Friend hi its Jason. How are you?
Friend: Im fine Jason. How are you?
Me: Im doing well. Hey listen I was calling to ask if you could….
Friend: Hold on Jason I have another call. (sitting patiently again waiting)(After several minutes hes back) Jason?
Me: Yes I am still here.
Friend: Sorry about that. What were you saying?
This may sound rude, but every time someone asks me to hold while they answer call waiting makes me want to scream at them as loud as I can “NO I WONT HOLD I WAS HERE FIRST!!!! THEY CAME IN LINE SECOND AND MAY LEAVE YOU A VOICE MAIL!!!!”
I hate call waiting! Just because someone calls does not compel you to answer it! Our society has conditioned us to think that way, but its not a cold hard fact of life. Use your voicemail people its there for a reason!
I have another friend who I took to lunch a few days ago. He spent the first ten minutes of lunch staring at his phone looking at email. I tried to start some general conversation, but his phone had his attention. Now I too have fallen victim to this from time to time, but COME ON PEOPLE!!! PUT THE PHONES DOWN!!!
What stunned me even more was when I bought lunch for both of us. He is a friend and we had not been out in some time. I paid both portions of the ticket, and didn’t even receive a thank you!!!
I thought that maybe I was over reacting, so I conducted a very scientific poll on the internet using twitter, and after tallying the results I found that….wait for it….it is polit, expected, and good manners to say thank you after someone buys you a meal.
WAKE UP PEOPLE! The internet, your phones, call waiting, email, and whatever else is out there is making you forget decent polite manners.
FIX IT!
Rant has now come to a close, thank you for tuning in.
Ugh! I’m with you, there, Jason. I hate this whole crazy cell phone phenomenon, where people spend more time either looking at their phones to see who might’ve called or otherwise texting than actually talking to a human being face to face. I’m wondering when they’re going to start surgically implanting blue tooths and such into the customer’s ear canal so that they can just be plugged in 24/7. Paging, Sarah Connor!
I think call waiting sucks, personally, and would only switch over if the other person calling was a relative that I needed to have call me back. It is rude, though, when someone breaks up a good chat to answer it. Then, they’re not really listening to what you’re saying.