12 Most Inappropriate Times and Places to Use Your Smartphone

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Are you that guy or gal who always seems to have their phone glued to their ear? Don’t get me wrong, I love technology but I don’t think that my decision to get an iPhone was very smart. Why? Because I can’t put it down! Know the feeling? Then you just might be guilty of some of these. I know I am guilty of one or two but we will just leave it at that.

1. The Movies

So the canned intro already told you to shut off your ring tone and I thank you for doing so but…we can still see the glow of your screen from several rows back. Put it away please! If you cannot wait 2 hours to check your email or respond to a text, then you should excuse yourself from the theatre or rent movies to watch at home.

2. A First Date

This really applies to any date. What gives with whipping out your phone and putting it on the table alongside the knife and fork? I don’t get it. Yes, I know you turned your ringer off. Man, do I feel special. How about keeping it in your pocket or, better yet, in the car and give me your undivided attention?

3. Church

Do not text, send or respond to emails or check the weather while you are at church. I’m not a churchgoer myself, but this is so disrespectful to the ‘house’ you are in and the people around you. We see you doing it out of the corner of our eyes, so knock it off!

4. When Someone is Talking to You

Ever catch yourself in a conversation with someone and then their phone dings and they look and just have to respond? You find yourself talking to someone viciously tap tap tapping away at the keys now nodding at everything you are saying. Hello?!? Are you listening or is the person you are texting just way too important? If so, maybe I should leave you alone so you can talk to them.

5. In a Meeting

All joking aside, are you seriouslyt texting me from your crotch while your manager is holding a department meeting? Why? If you are that bored, then add something to the meeting! Make a suggestion about an alternative format or ask a question about something he/she is discussing. If your manager believes the meeting is important (and not all are, I am so with you on that one), then you should too. So pay attention or take it outside.

6. At a Wedding

Someone invited you to their wedding and you are on your phone. I’m not talking about at the reception party; I am talking about the ceremony. I am Greek so I understand looooong ceremonies but just pay attention or pretend you are anyways. The bride and groom didn’t just invite everyone they had an address for; they wanted you to be there. So, be there! *if you are someone’s date to a wedding this is a major, over-the-top, o so bad no-no!

7. While You Are Getting Your Teeth Cleaned

Mouth wide open, toothpaste flying, bright light shining in your eye and you are on your phone typing away. Really? You need to work every second of every day literally that you can’t take out 20 minutes to have your teeth cleaned without using your phone?

8. In the Bathroom Stall

We can hear you! Why are you talking on your phone in the bathroom stall? Yes, maybe you really are not doing your ‘business’ while on the phone and are seeking a private location, but it’s really gross and weird for the rest of us that need to use the facilities.

9. During an Interview

Are you serious with this one? The person interviewing you steps out to use the loo and you scramble for your phone so you can check your email, listen to a voicemail and respond to all the ever so important text messages you got during the last hour? You might not get caught but you could and even though that person has left the room, you have no idea who else may walk by or walk in. If the opportunity means anything to you, wait until you are back in your car or down the street.

10. While Driving (texting only apply unless there are other people in the car)

I have a couple rules on this one. First of all, I cannot stand those cars with Bluetooth and the drivers of said cars who answer calls on it while you are the passenger. SO awkward! Even if I so much as sneeze, the person calling will know I ( or someone) is in the car and can hear everything. And it makes me nervous to call my driving friend in the future for fear my voice will be amplified in surround sound. Second, don’t text and drive but especially don’t text and drive when other people are in the car. We can see you not paying attention and we don’t like it. If you want to text and drive and risk your own life, by all means (well, don’t do it because we don’t want to see anything happen to you). But with me in the car? No way buck-o.

11. Standing in Line to Check-Out

Oh how obnoxious this is it erks me so bad! True, I have had my phone go off while standing in line but I rarely answer and if I do its to say ‘I’m checking out and I’ll call you back.’ That’s all you have to do. I guarantee you will not be in line forever so just wait a second and then call when you are outside.

12. In Bed

Ok, if you are alone, then do it by all means, what do I care. But, if you are lying next to someone, please don’t pick up the phone and start chatting in bed. Texting and emailing also is a no-no. If you must react, pick-up or respond, then get out of bed and do it.

Truth time! What are you guilty of and what smartphone usage behaviors do you think are inappropriate?

Featured image courtesy of yago1.com licensed via creative commons.

Christina Pappas

Christina Pappas is a Inbound Marketing Professional with a passion for content marketing, lead generation and social media. She is an avid blogger at The Content Cocktail which focuses on how to leverage a vendor agnostic approach to lead generation in order to increase conversions and bottom-line revenue. Christina is a marketing communications and lead generation professional who has spent most of her career at B2B technology companies and in the hospitality industry.