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SECOND-HAND CELL MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH
Dear Les,
It stresses me out when people talk-yell on their cell phones, like on the train, in the elevator and at the movies. Short of grabbing their phones and stomping on them (the phones), what can an innocent victim do?
411
Hello 411,
You’re not the only one with overheard one-way phone conversations on your mind. No surprise, but researchers at the University of York and University of Pennsylvania report that train passengers surveyed in a pair of 2004 studies said that louder phone talkers are more annoying than softer-spoken ones. And conversations with imperceptible importance like, “We just landed.” and “I can’t wait till Christmas,” verses the more meaty “We won’t make the meeting cause we’ve been sitting on the runway for two hours,” and “Santa stole my credit card” were found to grate more greatly on the nerves of innocent listeners like yourself. Their findings also suggest that we humans have a programmed need to hear complete conversations and are more aware of, distracted by, and stressed from, dialogue we can only hear one side of, whether its content is vital or pointless.
So, here’s advice for breaking up second-hand cell stress and other bothers sparked by others: don’t speed dial that victim mentality! Instead, use self-defense tactics whenever possible: sit in cell-free cars, whip out your music device to block their calls, and if sheer mental strength can overpower audibly irritating one-way chatter, pity the party who’s self-worth might be tied up in others knowing that he/she has places to go, people to meet and things to do. If you feel safe and up to it, you could also ask the phony to quiet down or remind them that they’re in a no-cell zone if that’s the case.
Perhaps a little prevention and self-examination would be our best call against the hazards of second-hand cell. We should remind conductors and drivers to make the courteous cell phone use announcement before the trip gets underway. Let’s lobby movie theaters, restaurants and airlines to enforce phoning rules. Might more media campaigns make a difference: “These are your fellow commuters’ brains on overheard phone calls.” It’s also important for those of us who get stressed by bad mobile manners to model thoughtful cell phone use. Do we exit to the entrance, sidewalk or stairwell to take and place calls? Do we switch on our library voices when others are in earshot? Are our vibrators on?
Les
11/06
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