I saw this article today, and it got me to fuming again. Personally, I've found cell phones irritating for years. First, it was because those who had them were typically pompous and arrogant as[/i]sholes who carried them more for a status symbol than for their practical use. Then it became more of an irritation based on what this article talks about.
I do not talk on my phone while driving. It's fu[i]cking dangerous. I don't multitask well to begin with, but driving a 3,000 pound vehicle and talking on the phone is a recipe for disaster. If my phone rings I let the voice mail pick it up, and once I'm parked I'll check the message.
The other thing I don't do is have long conversations in public places. At first, this didn't bother me so much as I figured "What the hell, if they want to air their private bullsh[/i]it out in public so be it." As time went on it bothered me more and more. If someone is walking in a grocery store talking about how they think so-and-so's husband is cheating on her, or how thier mother's gastic by-pass surgery went, guess what? I don't fu[u][/u]cking want to hear about it.
I was in the grocery store Friday night (because there's much fewer people there, and less people means less people to **** me off) and I ran into one of these people. I'm going along throwing the typical bachelor food in my cart and meanwhile there are stockers in the isles restocking the shelves. No biggie, I work around them and they work around me. I come down this isle and this fat ***** is parked with her cart talking on her phone. She's going on about her brother's court date and how he's getting screwed over by his ***** of an ex. Meanwhile, I'm stuck behind her and now another person is behind me. Normally I would say fu[i]ck it and turn around as these types of people never notice you, and if they do it's not their problem.
So after about 30 seconds or so of her not noticing me, I pipe up with a polite "Excuse me m'am" (military training, be polite even if they don't deserve it). And she kind of half turns and you can tell by her glazed look that she's only about 20% aware of me, and continues on with her conversation. Finally, she turns and says "Do you mind? This is a private conversation."
I'm a red-head, so I have a temper. Typically I keep it in check pretty well, but if you give me time to get steamed, I'll snap.
So as she's turning to dismiss me and continue on with her private conversation I say "If you want a private conversation I suggest you have it in a private place, not in the middle of the fu[i][/i]cking grocery store."
She looked aghast, and finally moved her fat *** out of the way. The guy behind me busted out laughing.