[Publib] Cell Phones in the Library

[K.G. Schneider]

Some weeks ago when one of our staff members was "busting" a cell-phone user
for talking on his phone in the library, he noted that it wasn't fair
because people were talking in the library all the time.  
 
And you know, he was right.

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Thank you for approaching this problem as one of behavior, not of device. I
never turn off my cell phone in a library--I simply mute it and only
(quickly and quietly) answer urgent phone calls, instant messages, and
work-related email. I ignore signs telling me to turn off my cell phone much
as I would ignore a sign telling me to take the battery out of my watch (if
I wore one--my cell phone also being my timepiece these days). 

A little mercy for people who at least look chagrined when their ringers go
off is nice, too... it's not as if the devices are smart enough to know
we're indoors, and like walking around with a sticker on my blouse that says
HELLO MY NAME IS KAREN because I forgot to take it off after a meeting, some
of us mean well but are a tad absent-minded.

As for the people who insist on yelling into cell phones, I believe, but
cannot prove, that these are often the same folks cramming their SUVs into
parking spaces clearly labeled "COMPACTS ONLY."

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at bluehighways.com