COLUMN: Cell phone etiquette a matter of courtesy

“OMG txt me l8r.”

“UR my BFF.”

This is the new valley-girl speak, an indecipherable spew of letters and symbols that will ultimately turn the English language into a dribble of abbreviations and acronyms.

It’s an unavoidable occurrence made possible by an influx of technology to the masses.

Besides the destruction of American English as we know it, affordable cell phones are giving millions of young people a means to make adults’ lives miserable with the almighty overage charge.

But as college students, we are at the crossroads – old enough to pay for our own plans, but still young enough to generate bills of thousands of dollars because of excessive text messaging.

For many, text messaging is the preferred method of communication. It’s very noncommittal. Just send out the feeler. No need to talk to people. And it comes in handy during class, too.

When we’re one in the faceless crowd of an auditorium, we unconsciously bring about the downfall of society as we send message after message to fellow students around the country sitting in the same type of situation.

Is it wrong to text during class?

Sure is. It is a slap in the face to teachers.

Does it happen, though?

In every class, every day, everywhere around the country.

Text messaging during class, no matter how disrespectful it is, is less of a distraction than another product of the cell phone age – the Fergie-song-ringtone class interruption.

We’ve all been sitting in class, doodling, snoozing or – heaven forbid – taking notes, when the reverent academic atmosphere is shattered by the notes of the chorus of a random Top 40 hit.

“How come every time you come around my London, London Bridge wanna come down like London, London, London.”

“Sorry.”

This would be a good time for a public ostracizing.

First for the musical taste, then for the complete disregard for the vibrate function that God created specifically for this purpose – to save classmates, family members or anyone within a mile radius from vomit-inducing ringtones in the “Now That’s What I Call Music Volume 69” collection.

We need to remember that, despite their convenience and apparent live sustaining power, cell phones can turn into annoyances. We all know there’s nothing more annoying than thinking someone is talking to you, but when you try to reciprocate, they scoff at you, turn and point snobbishly to their Bluetooth headset.

Alexander Graham Bell would be appalled.