Hard to concentrate on the issues in Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting in Floyd.
Too many cell phones ringing.
Too many people attending the crowded meeting didn’t have the common courtesy of putting their phones on vibrate or simply turning the damn things off.
So phones kept ringing. Former Supervisor Kerry Whitlock’s phone rang twice in less than an hour. Burks Fork Supervisor candidate Joe Turman’s phone rang at least three times. Other phones went off multiple times during a 66-minute public comment period and throughout the day.
Good grief folks. Is it too much to ask to turn the things off or at least put them on vibrate during a public meeting? Is simple courtesy or common sense a thing of the past?
3 thoughts on “Turn the damn cell phones off!”
Doug,
The key sentence in your article is “Is simple courtesy or common sense a thing of the past?” Apparently, common sense is not so common anymore.
Recently, I attended a rather large meeting in Richmond. When the speaker opened the meeting, the first thing he did was ask that everyone turn off their cell phones. Not a minute later, during the opening prayer, no less, a cell phone went off. It that weren’t bad enough, the ring tone was a silly tune.
I don’t fault anyone for making mistakes. The only people that don’t are listed in the obituaries. But when the same mistake, especially one of disrespect, occurs more than once in a matter of minutes, it becomes negligence, complacency and thoughtlessness.
I doubt your post and my comment will do any good, but we can always hope.
Doug,
I have to take some responsibility here. Mine was actually the first to go off. I almost always keep mine on vibrate and so I never have to change it before meetings. I had forgotten I had changed the ring last night because I was expecting a call and was afraid I would doze off and miss the call. Of course I changed mine to vibrate immediately. What amazes me is how it can happen to same people multiple times. I noticed this in another meeting a while back where the same persons phone rang over and over.
Ring-Ring-Da La dinda dinga and other hits get to me too!
Thanks for making this topic one you chose to write about.
It is nothing less than old fashioned rudeness…at best.
Thanks
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