“..Grow up. Cut this antisocial networking..(There can be few ruder acts than twiddling with your BlackBerry at dinner)..”
“..Mid-morning on Wednesday: my wife and I are on the train.
Seated near us is an agitated guy, late twenties, on his mobile; he’s arguing with his live-in girlfriend, Carol.
Apparently, she’s accusing him of being overfriendly with a barmaid.
We, his fellow travellers, are obliged to digest this tale in all its intimate detail.
I offer a stage-whispered heckle: ..
..“Dump him, Carol!”
Can’t be sure if he heard.
Now here is a paradox.
I still believe it is discourteous to use a mobile in a busy train compartment.
Others, however, have no shame in conducting private phone conversations in front of strangers.
And if you object, that could well be an infringement of modern etiquette.
I am not a grumpy Luddite.
As a musician, I couldn’t tour as I do or make records without advanced technology.
I have a website where I upload an infrequent diary .. and I take a mobile on awaydays and holidays.
Use, however, is one thing; abuse something else.
There is surely no more ill-mannered act than twiddling with a BlackBerry while in conversation at dinner.
What can be so crucial that you must divert your attention from real people to check your in-box?
Handheld electronics, anthropologists would probably say, are a kind of validation.
A shiny box with twinkly lights .. shows the owner is modern and important..”
go to source/story>>Grow up. Cut this antisocial networking | Steve Harley - Times Online