Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Oh, No She Didn't!

I will be the first to admit, my dear Cake Readers, that I, like half the English-speaking population out there, have a bit of a love affair with my cell phone. It’s with me almost everywhere I go: tucked under the pillow at night, laid by the side of the bathtub, slipped into my beach bag, chilling in the cup holder of the boat—hardly anything is off limits.

Notice I said hardly. That is because, my friends, there is one final place in the world where my phone will not make an appearance. It is the one last hold-out, the final frontier of inappropriateness which I can not—ney, will not—cross.

I speak of . . . the public restroom.

In a time not too long ago, a public restroom was a place where one went, took care of business, and went on their way. There was no eye contact, no chatting with strangers (with the obvious exception of asking for a square to spare when necessary, of course), and certainly no subjecting fellow restroom goers to the every detail of your life.

But that has all changed. That last, final holdout of etiquette has not only been breached, it has been stomped to the ground and set ablaze. I ask you: How in the name of all that’s sacred did we come to the point in our civilization where someone thought it was okay to bring their cell phone into the public restroom and actually use it?!

Only yesterday I was in the restroom at HomeGoods and some mutton-headed idiot came in, chatting away with her boyfriend on her cell phone. She continued through my flushing of the commode, of my hand washing, and my overly loud hand drying. She continued through her own business (wink, wink), through her own flushing, and through her own halfhearted one-handed finger washing. As I glared daggers at her, for the first time in my life considering confronting a perfect stranger in public and illuminating their horrible misdeed, she breezily pushed on past me, never pausing in her discussion.

Oh dear Lord in heaven, what have we come to??

WHEN did it become okay to broadcast your business, not to mention the business of others, to whatever god-forsaken soul is on the other end of the line? When was it no longer an embarrassment to allow those you are having a phone conversation with to hear you enter the echoing confines of the restroom, to relieve yourself (which by the way, can not help but be an audible task), and to flush the toilet?

As far as I’m concerned, talking on the cell phone in a public restroom is tantamount to bringing a recorder, a microphone, and an audience with you. Why, oh why would you do that to your fellow restroom goers? What happened to modesty, discretion, and oh, I don’t know—common sense?

And by the way, what is so unbelievably important that you can’t call that person back in a few minutes? Or that you can’t wait outside until such time that this incredibly vital conversation is completed?

Is the person you are talking to about to be forced to walk the plank by Somalian pirates, and your ill-advised Big Gulp of hours earlier is in coming back to haunt you? Are you attempting to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records by having the longest uninterrupted conversation via cell phone ever recorded? Are you trying to prove to the world that you are the most vile, unrepentantly rude person to have ever walked the earth? Really – that was the one you were going for? Well, congratulations, you’ve succeeded!

*Big breath*

Okay, so rant mostly over. If any of you are guilty of this, I beg you: please, in the future, have a teeny, tiny care for the unnamed men and women who are unlucky enough to have to use a public restroom in the first place: The ONLY call that has any business there is nature's!

So, am I the only one who is offended by this? What is your pet peeve?

I made the most fabulous 18th century recipe this week that I was planning on sharing, but in light of the topic, I felt if best to save the Chocolate Puffs for next week ;) See you then!

18 comments:

  1. Will you think less of me if i'm having hysterics? So funny. People share way too much thesedays.

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    1. Amen to that! And I'm rather glad you're in hysterics - that means you see the absurdity of the whole thing, lol! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing a laugh with me :)

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  2. Somalian pirates! Bwahahah! Hilarious. And too too true. I am with you in the nature's call being the only call to make in a public restroom. And speaking of rude...audible computer key typing on the other line while I'm supossed to be having a phone conversation. Not cool. Please don't multitask me.

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    1. I'm sorry, what were you saying? I got sidetracked by the text I was writing while reading your comment... ;)
      And I totally think you should have a shirt printed with that as your slogan, lol!

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  3. A few years ago a friend of mine was sitting on the loo, and heard someone say "Hi, how are you?" He was rather perturbed as it's not really the done thing to speak to the person who just happens to go into the next stall but tentatively he answered "Uhhh Hi, I'm fine" Then the voice from the next stall said "Mate, I've got to go some "D(**head" in the next cubicle is talking to me!" Needless to say the conversationalist emerged with a mobile phone.

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    1. Oh good lord, that is insane! Your poor friend, I would have been so mad . . . although, at least it got the idiot off the phone! As for me, I think I am going to start flushing the toilet over and over until the idiot either hangs up or leaves ;)

      Thanks for dropping by!

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  4. Ummm. I've done that before. I am now shamed properly and will never, ever do it again. ;D

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    1. *GASP* YOU?!! Well, then - I see you in a whole different light now! I suppose I can continue being your friend, so long as you remember your shame and never do it again ;)

      Man, you think you know someone!

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  5. And here I thought the signs at restaurants about not talking on the phone when placing an order were ludicrous.

    Where is the common sense people?

    Okay, I will admit I am not addicted to my phone. I don't reroute calls from my home phone to my cell phone when I leave the house. And I pay per minute of use instead of having a plan because it's cheaper. My cell phone is for emergencies.

    I'd better be dying before I'd use my cell phone in a public restroom.

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    1. *Shaking head* Common sense, indeed. Yeah, I'm not a huge talker on my cell, but I can't stand not having all my social media crap around me, lol. I only have 400 min and never use them all, but I have unlimited data!
      And I agree on the dying part - I will give a pass if the call is to 911 ;)

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  6. Even tho I don't talk on the phone in the bathroom, I do wonder if you have a serious point about them. What's stopping those people from recording others using the facilities?

    I already have a phobia of public bathrooms and this just *does not* help. At. All. :)

    Anyway, you're safe when I go, because my phone doesn't. hee!

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    1. All I have to say is, I'm glad I'm not a celebrity. I'd *never* use a public restroom for fear of a cell phone invading my privacy and ending up on TMZ!

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  7. I hate, hate, HATE when people use their phones in the bathroom. It is bad enough when someone does it in the privacy of their own home (which people have been doing for YEARS), but it is by far worse to have them do it in public. And I have been on the other end while people have done it. In fact, my father was once talking to me on the phone, and I heard a weird echoing sound and couldn't figure out what it was...until I heard a flush. At that point, I hung up on him. Yep. I hung up on my father, because he was rude and disgusting enough to be using his cell phone while he was in a public restroom taking care of his business.

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  8. OK, I have never heard of anyone doing this before. Maybe I live in an excessively polite part of Dallas? Doubtful. I need to be more aware of this, though.

    I get really annoyed by people using their bluetooth headsets, because I can't always tell just whom they are talking to. At the State Fair, I thought one woman had multiple personality disorder--she was screaming and yelling and having a conversation with a tree. I pulled Liv aside and started walking rapidly the other way. When my husband caught up with us, he was like, "Wow, loud bluetooth conversation, huh?" And I was like "oooooh. Now I get it."

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  9. LOL Erin! Oh no, she didn't! That's incredibly rude and like you, I think it's offensive to the other people in the restroom with you. Why would you do it?

    Ugh, that just makes not want to go to a public restroom even more!

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    1. As if we needed another reason, lol! ;) Thanks for stopping by!

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  10. I was actually requested by a woman in the office building I work at to not use the restroom, because she was currently on the phone. I'm baffled by this, because currently my office is the only on occupied on that floor, and there are plenty of little nooks to conduct phone business that don't include the pee hole. Needless to say, I declined her request and informed her she was welcome to continue, while I piddled. She huffed and left the bathroom. It's a bathroom, for goodness sakes! Where people peeee and pooooooo.

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    1. Craziest. Story. Ever. What is WRONG with some people?? Well, I'm glad you didn't give into her - she was definitely in the wrong!

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