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<DIV><FONT size=4><!--StartFragment --><FONT size=4>All,</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>Below is a short discussion from CNN about
wireless manners. Have any other V 2020 readers had similar
expereinces? Any suggestions for handling the most intrusive
ones?</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><BR>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">deco@moscow.com</A><BR><BR></FONT><FONT
size=4></DIV>
<H1>Where are your wireless manners?</H1>
<H3>As public unplugs, rudeness seems to be getting worse</H3>
<P>By Amy Cox<BR>CNN<BR></P>
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Tuesday, October 18, 2005; Posted: 10:58 a.m. EDT (14:58 GMT)</DIV></FONT>
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<DIV><B style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">(CNN) -- The only thing advancing quicker than
wireless innovation may be the rudeness of the people using the technology,
experts say.</B></DIV>
<DIV>
<P>"The more gadgets there are, the worse things seem to get. People get really
wrapped up in their little technological world, and they forget that there are
other people out there," said Honore Ervin, co-author of "The Etiquette Grrls:
Things You Need to Be Told." "Just because it's there at your disposal, doesn't
mean you have to use it 24/7."</P>
<P>A recent poll by market research company Synovate showed that 70 percent of
1,000 respondents observed manner-less technology use in others at least on a
daily basis.</P>
<P>About the same percentage saw the poorest etiquette in cell phone users over
other devices. The worst habit? Loud phone conversations in public places, or
"cell yell," according to 72 percent of the Americans polled.</P>
<P>This world without wires allows technology to ride shotgun throughout daily
life, which, for the most part, is a convenient and useful tool. But it's the
lack of a politeness protocol that has some up in arms.</P>
<P>"Cell phones obviously are the big, big thing. People use them anywhere and
everywhere," Ervin said. "At the movies -- turn off your cell phone. I don't
want to pay $10 to be sitting next to some guy chitchatting to his girlfriend on
his cell phone."</P>
<P>She also cites the growing complaints by her readers and friends of cell
phone use at events such as church services, funerals or school graduations,
"and that's just wrong," she said.</P>
<P>This rudeness has deteriorated public spaces, according to Lew Friedland, a
communications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He calls the
lack of manners a kind of unconscious rudeness, as many people are not aware of
what they're doing or the others around them.</P>
<P>"I think it's really noticeable in any plane, train or bus where you're
essentially subjected against your will to someone else's conversation," he
said. "You can listen to intimate details of their uncle's illness, relationship
problems with their lovers, their breakups and what they're having for
dinner.</P>
<P>"It takes what was a public common space and starts to parcel it out and
divide it up into small private space."</P>
<P>On his frequent bus rides from Madison to Milwaukee over the years, Friedland
said he's watched the arc of cell phone use and rudeness in an informal, but
telling, experiment. A short time ago, if cell phone users were politely asked
to talk quietly, they would comply with chagrin, he said.</P>
<P>"Now I'm finding more and more people are essentially treating you like it's
your problem, like you don't understand that loud cell phone use is normal in
public."</P>
<P>But it's not just phones. As Wi-Fi continues to grow in public places, the
rules of etiquette for use are up for debate.</P>
<P>"In general, Wi-Fi is terrific ... but what is troublesome is when people use
it in cafes or coffee shops, and they just camp out there forever," Ervin said.
"They're doing their taxes there. They'll put together three tables so they'll
have room to spread out. That's just not right.</P>
<P>"If you go to someplace like that, you stay there 20 minutes and then leave.
It's not your living room. Public places are not to be abused."</P>
<P>And typing on a BlackBerry or other PDAs to stay connected is fine, but just
don't use them while talking to someone else, Ervin said. "It makes people feel
insignificant."</P><A name=1></A><A name=rv1></A>
<H3>'Like swatting mosquitoes'</H3>
<P>But what's the proper etiquette for dealing with cell phone faux pas or
people who've shunned you for their BlackBerry?</P>
<P>A low-tech solution is what Ervin calls the "Etiquette Grrls' Icy Glare," a
shooting daggers-evil eye combo.</P>
<P>"It reminds people of school librarians and mean teachers," she said. "If
that doesn't work, turn around and say very quietly, 'Do you mind?' I think most
people are not going to be mean about it because they just don't realize what
they're doing."</P>
<P>As more people reach their boiling points for bad wireless manners, Ervin
said she believes society will shift toward less tolerance for inconsiderate
behavior and less reasons for the "Icy Glare."</P>
<P>"Once the majority of people begin to get annoyed at this sort of thing,
there are going to be rules in places like at cafes for a 20-minute limit for
using your computer and that sort of thing."</P>
<P>Friedland agrees that people have to set the rules but debates whether it
will ever happen. "You can pass legislation about talking on cell phones in
public, but it's virtually unenforceable," he said.</P>
<P>He also said the public has yet to reach its limit for tolerating cell phone
abuse. He sees people more or less resigned to it.</P>
<P>"It's like swatting at mosquitoes essentially," he said. "You can get one or
two, but if there's a swarm of them around you, you just kind of give up or get
out of the way. I think cell phones' use in public spaces is partly having the
same kind of effect."</P>
<P>But Ervin said she has faith that courtesy will prevail over bad wireless
manners.</P>
<P>"I don't like to be too cynical," she said. "Maybe I'm wrong, but I hope
not."</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>