I love this story.

Cell phone use in public..

One of my pet peeves is people talking on their cell phones loudly and as if they were in their very own living room rather than at the market or other public places. A lady I met on an airplane ride Amy Alkon apparently hates this also, Amy has a blog and often has breakfast and writes at one of our local coffee shops. Amy is quite a "personality" not a shy woman and she is eccentric and quirky, one of those people you kind of remember when you meet her.

Just by coincidence we sat next to each other on a flight to Washington D.C. she was on her way to Paris and I to Raleigh North Carolina. It turned out that Amy lives but a few blocks from me and drives a classic car and blogs .... so we chatted and got to know each other.

The other day she overheard Eva Burgess give out personal details loudly while she was on the phone at the Rose Cafe, she immediately took out pen and paper and jotted down the information Eva was giving out over the telephone and giving out details like her full name and phone number and what time she was meeting a friend and where and she needed to pick up her glasses.

Guess what Amy did? She posted all this on her blog. Wow! I've often felt like doing this but never had the nerve.

Eva Burgess Is Getting Glasses!

And she is picking them up Saturday after 4pm! I know this because she was bellowing into a cell phone about it next to me in acafefé. Apparently, she's not only inconsiderate, she doesn't seeem to mind giving a lot of personal information, starting with her full name, to a total stranger.

She continued, Eva and Ken Hashimoto have insurance there," she said under a flexible spending account. We just have to pay by the end of the year, she said. And then she most helpfully bellowed her phone number -- 347-886-2157 -- perhaps because she's lonely and wants total strangers to call and ask how her glasses are working out for her.

Hey, Eva, can I have your bank account number and your log-in so I can transfer a few bucks to my account? I'd like to get a pair of noise-canceling headphones in case you sit next to me again.

This issue comes up all the time in my life it seems wherever I go people are glued to their phones. Oh yes when I first met Amy she was at the airport yaking on the phone for quite some time, I remember wondering what on earth does this woman have so much important things to say to somebody and talking about it for such a long time. I was far enough away from her that I did not hear the details thank goodness and I had my iPod in my ears, that is my personal tool for combating this problem. I just don't want to pollute my mind with strangers personal business.

I am so nosy that I want to bud in and join the conversation sometimes I've done it but I still do not like it. The worse is when somebody has ear phones hidden and suddenly they start talking, years ago they would have arrested you if you carried on an imaginary conversation. I'm often asking the old .... "are you talking to me?" when they look at me annoyed that I'm listening to their conversation. Duh what do you expect?

I am sure this Eva Burgess was plenty annoyed that her conversation was announced all over the world. Maybe next time she won't do it. It's not just this country but I've seen it done wherever I've traveled. Every body has a cell phones these days. Perhaps I too have been guilty of this but it does not mean that I like it.

Well the story even made the Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116855242776974364-OeszoAs0Sa3YsO80IOEwzj7Vfg8_20080112.html