tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post6633369058783309243..comments2024-03-18T20:00:47.729-05:00Comments on Book Chase: Cell Phones and BookstoresSam http://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-17071192647650000952008-08-08T08:09:00.000-05:002008-08-08T08:09:00.000-05:00Callie, (said in my best Bill Clinton voice) I fee...Callie, (said in my best Bill Clinton voice) I feel your pain.<BR/><BR/>I'm afraid, though, that the cat is out of the bag now and it is just about too late to re-train people in proper cell phone usage. We missed our chance to set standards when they first appeared on the scene and now they users have developed a "culture" of their own that will be hard to change...unless some entity hits them Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-83117991369863629462008-08-08T07:52:00.000-05:002008-08-08T07:52:00.000-05:00Oblivious Cellphone Usage bothers the hell out of ...Oblivious Cellphone Usage bothers the hell out of me at both the library and the local bookstore. And on the train and walking at the beach at 6:30 in the morning and ...<BR/><BR/>The rudest example: A tall well dressed woman brings two books to the counter , slaps them down. My co-worker looks at her expectantly. She impatiently taps them with a long red fingernail. R asks in her impeccablecallieharperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06093147732170152100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-19530633046206990942008-08-04T21:17:00.001-05:002008-08-04T21:17:00.001-05:00Lisa, that's what Annie was saying, too...and she'...Lisa, that's what Annie was saying, too...and she's a bookseller in a major bookstore.Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-43054721556250395882008-08-04T21:17:00.000-05:002008-08-04T21:17:00.000-05:00Great points, dreamqueen. The dumbing down of the...Great points, dreamqueen. The dumbing down of the world continues at a frightening pace, doesn't it?Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-57654740736260716602008-08-04T21:15:00.001-05:002008-08-04T21:15:00.001-05:00Jeane, check the web...you can order one from the ...Jeane, check the web...you can order one from the U.K., last time I looked, anyway.Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-19548294076723884692008-08-04T21:15:00.000-05:002008-08-04T21:15:00.000-05:00Leah, those devices already exist. When I lived in...Leah, those devices already exist. <BR/><BR/>When I lived in London, some of the restaurants there supposedly had installed them in the dining rooms so that there would be no disturbances from cell phones.<BR/><BR/>I almost bought a portable version of the thing to use in libraries, train stations and the like but chickened out because they are illegal in this country and would probably have madeSam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-2432914965133136442008-08-04T21:13:00.000-05:002008-08-04T21:13:00.000-05:00Mary, cell phones are addictive, especially to you...Mary, cell phones are addictive, especially to young people. To me, they are just another tether to the office that makes it impossible to escape work. I just don't see the attraction to use the darn things as "entertainment." They are a tool and people need to realize that private conversations should remain private because the rest of us really don't give a hoot about them and their friends.Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-27750809674806001922008-08-04T21:08:00.001-05:002008-08-04T21:08:00.001-05:00That must be tough to take, Annie. I suppose that...That must be tough to take, Annie. I suppose that I'm not really cut out for retail because I would have a hard time with that kind of behavior.Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-47825232862425257062008-08-04T21:08:00.000-05:002008-08-04T21:08:00.000-05:00Jen, I sincerely believe that those folks desperat...Jen, I sincerely believe that those folks desperately need to draw attention to themselves because that's about the only way they will get any.Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-47421529619980134742008-08-04T21:07:00.000-05:002008-08-04T21:07:00.000-05:00Carrie, the day of common sense and good manners i...Carrie, the day of common sense and good manners in public seems to be long gone. That's the main reason I see so few movies in theaters these days...it's not worth the irritation.Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-61205727869304823782008-08-04T21:06:00.000-05:002008-08-04T21:06:00.000-05:00Corey, I held off climbing on the cell phone bandw...Corey, I held off climbing on the cell phone bandwagon for years but was finally talked into getting one by my wife. I have one now and probably use it all of four times a month for a minute or two at a time.<BR/><BR/>It comes in handy sometimes, but it's not a toy that I have to play with all the time.<BR/><BR/>I'm sick of hearing blowhards talk into phones in an attempt to impress those aroundSam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-9232585052486303482008-08-04T21:04:00.000-05:002008-08-04T21:04:00.000-05:00Sherry, it's primarily a difference in volume. Ce...Sherry, it's primarily a difference in volume. Cell phone speakers aren't the easiest thing to hear through, and much like a hard-of-hearing person, cell phone listeners tend to speak louder than normal into their phones assuming that the person on the other end is also having a problem hearing the conversation.Sam https://www.blogger.com/profile/17448913705757509608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-69654855482551663472008-08-04T20:36:00.000-05:002008-08-04T20:36:00.000-05:00I just ignore people and their cell phone conversa...I just ignore people and their cell phone conversations, just as I would politely ignore someone having a loud conversation with his girlfriend or mother or whatever in the aisle next to me.<BR/><BR/>I don't see that it's so very different.Sherryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04664642293286996220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-65582177146488557762008-08-04T14:50:00.000-05:002008-08-04T14:50:00.000-05:00Absolutely! It's just plain rude. I've even seen p...Absolutely! It's just plain rude. I've even seen people steadily talking on their cell phones while a clerk is trying to ring up their purchases.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00795619401977840939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-26160348986502560352008-08-04T14:08:00.000-05:002008-08-04T14:08:00.000-05:00I'm with Corey on this one. I wonder why people fi...I'm with Corey on this one. I wonder why people find cell phones so hard to live without for 5 minutes in a row considering that 10 years ago the majority of us were able to wait until we got home to use our land lines...<BR/><BR/>I'm finding bookstores to be louder places generally these days, however, with the music blasting out of stereo speakers vying for dominance with the wanksters on theirBookphiliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05155882653615842141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-35264577393917580962008-08-04T12:58:00.000-05:002008-08-04T12:58:00.000-05:00I think Leah's solution is a great one. Somebody n...I think Leah's solution is a great one. Somebody needs to invent and market that device! And the first place to put it is in the bookstore.Jeanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02270303640902731044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-8035733527350814242008-08-04T03:19:00.000-05:002008-08-04T03:19:00.000-05:00Wouldn't it be great if some device was invented t...Wouldn't it be great if some device was invented to scramble all mobile signals inside the shop rendering them useless. Maybe just leave the vibrate working and they would have to leave the shop to answer it.<BR/>I work in a theatre box office and loads of people answer or phone others while you are serving them. You have to sit there while they discuss what they are cooking for dinner with a Leahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07401356477073274808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-3585892909758873032008-08-03T23:23:00.000-05:002008-08-03T23:23:00.000-05:00I'm the mother of 4 children. When they were teen...I'm the mother of 4 children. When they were teenagers, I was eternally grateful for the cell phone. When my two daughters went to Europe last summer for a month alone and their father bought them I-phones, I was able to sleep at night.<BR/><BR/>As for the bookstore scenario, there's also the restaurant scenario (what is so difficult about putting your phone on vibrate), theater scenario, standmarytkellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01709107452424099136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-83592275025758344232008-08-03T22:43:00.000-05:002008-08-03T22:43:00.000-05:00They certainly annoy me as a customer, but they an...They certainly annoy me as a customer, but they annoy me even more as a bookseller. They'll ask for help and then chat on their cell while I'm trying give them help or ring up their purchases. And if I ask them a question, they look at me like I'm the rude one. Ticks me off every time.Janda/Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16754631494233387294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-14316189785966423582008-08-03T17:16:00.000-05:002008-08-03T17:16:00.000-05:00I second Corey's comment! I can't stand cell phon...I second Corey's comment! I can't stand cell phones. I neither need to know, nor want to know anyone's personal business. But for some reason, they feel the need to share all their dirty laundry with the whole world. I would love to see them banned in most public places, but I would definitely settle for a reprieve from this rudeness in our sacred bookstores.Jen Forbushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13325129568512353951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-48422853273436627502008-08-03T15:13:00.000-05:002008-08-03T15:13:00.000-05:00I was at my local Borders the other day with both ...I was at my local Borders the other day with both people yakking on their cellphones and chattering at full volume with each other across the aisles. <BR/><BR/>Even if hushed voices are apparently a distant historical relic, how on earth am I supposed to be able to remember an author's last name when I'm being regaled as to the sex life/paternal conflicts/sibling rivalry of the IDIOT PEOPLE WHO Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38656633.post-18116875622653454212008-08-03T14:32:00.000-05:002008-08-03T14:32:00.000-05:00I could rant for days about cellphones and the boo...I could rant for days about cellphones and the boors who use them publicly but I'll keep this short. I wish they'd never been invented, the cellphones AND the boors.Corey Wildehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05566740230330395590noreply@blogger.com