LETTER: Turn the cell phones off

Editor,

The cell phone. It’s the new “girl’s best friend.” Glamorized by cheesy, teen, chick flicks, it has become a fashion faux pas to be without one on your ear, or at least matching your outfit. It’s an accessory. It’s like a cheap pair of oversized ’80s style earrings, only one is lost.

I regularly see a couple walking together down a hallway on campus. Holding hands, they stroll through the corridors of the building. There is something wrong with this picture. In his right hand is a cell phone, and in her left is a cell phone. Both are highly involved in conversation with the person on the other line. Unfortunately, this scene is repeated every time I see them.

As the world becomes more technologically advanced, people become more socially detached. Regular conversation manners fly out the window once the cell phone rings. They become too self-important to hang up or let it ring. Rather, they whisper a “sorry,” letting themselves be controlled by a group of silicone chips in a plastic container and an aversive stimulus.

USU may need to have another “Coming Out Day” party thrown for the cell-phone dependent. I wonder what the picture will look like on the front page of The Statesman. I doubt it would have very many quotes since everyone would be talking on their cell phones. If they had a band play, it would be from a cell phone, jimmy-rigged to a mic, playing another rousing beeping of Beethoven’s Fifth.

What I am getting at is, I paid a lot of money to go to school here. When I miss an important lecture statement because your cell phone is ringing, that is one more question wrong on both of our exams. If someone is having a discussion with you and your cell phone rings, you have voice mail. Maybe it is time USU requires all students to take a course in courtesy and manners.

Dr. Phillip C. McGraw (Dr. Phil) says it best, “Turn ’em off, you self-involved twits! Turn ’em off!”

Chad M. Bohn