# Cell phones?



## semiller

Is is true that cell phone use is banned in some restaurants and other public places in France/Europe?  It seems as if I did hear that driving and talking on the tel. was illegal (hopefully so), but I could be wrong.  Thank you much!  Merci bien et bon week-end!


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## Like an Angel

From what I know the answer is *yes, it is*, countries like Norway, Australia, don't remember which else, but maybe some native could help us, I hope something like this happens in my blessed country!


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## Agnès E.

Bonsoir semiller 
Yes, indeed. They are forbidden in French theatres, movie theatres, etc. and in "café-théâtres", for instance (someone always ask before the show to switch them off). I've never heard anything about restaurant, nevertheless.
Driving and phoning altogether is illegal and you get in big trouble if you're caught, it's expensive ! 
I cannot tell for the rest of Europe, I have no idea about it. Let's wait for further info !


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## garryknight

Using a cellphone while driving is illegal in the UK, but there are quite a few people still doing it, especially in central London. I nearly got run down by someone doing a 3-point turn while on the phone.


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## mogu

In Spain it´s illegal too (while driving) if you aren´t using an accredited free-hands .

They´re forbidden at cinemas or theatres by warning posters (but you aren´t going to be fined for that). At this point peolple use to be civiliced.

they are allowed in restaurants and , in general , every place where a call noise doesn´t  bother. (well , noise or electromagnetic radiation , such as  hospitals , planes ...)


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## semiller

Thanks for the responses.  If you haven't figured out my opinion on the topic, I'll share it with you.  Cell phones have gone way too far in society.  It seems as if everywhere you go, you can hear a beep or tune.  Between cell phones and car alarms, I don't which is more annoying.    Thanks for all the responses.


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## te gato

Sadly..this is not the case here...YET...

All we have here are 'Careless Driving Laws'...
where you could be yacking on your cell phone..reading the morning paper..getting caught up on the work you need in the office first thing in the morning..drinking your coffee..adjusting your CD player..yelling at the kids in the backseat...giving the finger to the driver next to you...not paying attention...go through a red light..kill someone..and you get a $1,000.00 fine..that is it...
Nice to know just what your life is worth...
I'm sorry..I find it very RUDE..for people to have their cell phones on in a movie...where you have payed $15.00 (here) to see the movie and all you hear is the person on the cell phone behind you... or in a restaurant...trying to enjoy your meal...

te gato


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## garryknight

te gato said:
			
		

> I find it very RUDE..for people to have their cell phones on in a movie


On a train the other day while I was trying to read a book, out of the 8 people in my section of the compartment 5 were talking on their phones, 2 of them so loudly that I couldn't hear myself think. And the guy opposite me was shouting in Chinese. So I couldn't even eavesdrop on his conversation!!!


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## te gato

garryknight said:
			
		

> On a train the other day while I was trying to read a book, out of the 8 people in my section of the compartment 5 were talking on their phones, 2 of them so loudly that I couldn't hear myself think. And the guy opposite me was shouting in Chinese. So I couldn't even eavesdrop on his conversation!!!


Hey garryknight;

Man..that bites..If they are going to talk on their cell phones..and loudly..they should at least have the courtesy to do it so you can listen in on the conversation...  
The problem I have when this happens...I start answering for them....thinking..'I would not have told them that!'..I would have said....or...'that is not proper grammar'...I even spoke this out-loud one time..then who looks like the idiot..giggling to herself on the C-Train.... 

te gato


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## Narda

I wish there would be laws here.  People talking while driving have been responsible for accidents.  Also, about four weeks ago I was attending a business meeting and the two big heads in the room never stopped answering their cells.  It was a rude way of demonstrating their lack of interest in the meeting and also their low appreciation for the person in charge of the meeting.  Was ugly.  Yesterday, it was not as bad, but the cell phones were ringing and people stopped cold to see who it was.   Even if they didn't answer it was an interruption and recovering the lost time is not easy.

I love my neighbor dearly but she comes to talk to me (once in a blue moon) and we get constantly interrupted by her cellphone.  

Maybe I am just a phonophobic or very old fashion, but I do not answer the phone if I am at the table and if I am talking with somebody... whoever... I don't answer.  I call back, but goodness, do I get upset with cellphones.  Now, don't take me wrong, I have one.


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## cuchuflete

Years ago I got tired of hearing my friends and myself complain about the awful quality of television programs.  No I don't have a television, and when others start talking...still after all these years...about the awful quality of television programs...I smile.

When I was a child, my parents forbid us from answering the telephone during dinner.
"If it's important, they will call back."  That was the only reason given, long before there were answering machines.  It was a good reason.

Now I have an answering machine, and use of the telephone is still forbidden during mealtimes.  Often, if I am in conversation with a friend or neighbor, the telephone rings and is ignored.  That's what the answering machine is for.

I dislike cell phones, and the rude behavior with which they are accompanied.  I do not own one.  I survived for a few decades without one, in relatively health and comfort.  That they are now readily available is not sufficient reason for me to own one.  Yes, they might make it easier for others to reach me when I want to be paying attention to another person or my garden or a good book.  But, "If it's important, they will call back."

Cuchu


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## te gato

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> Years ago I got tired of hearing my friends and myself complain about the awful quality of television programs. No I don't have a television, and when others start talking...still after all these years...about the awful quality of television programs...I smile.
> 
> When I was a child, my parents forbid us from answering the telephone during dinner.
> "If it's important, they will call back." That was the only reason given, long before there were answering machines. It was a good reason.
> 
> Now I have an answering machine, and use of the telephone is still forbidden during mealtimes. Often, if I am in conversation with a friend or neighbor, the telephone rings and is ignored. That's what the answering machine is for.
> 
> I dislike cell phones, and the rude behavior with which they are accompanied. I do not own one. I survived for a few decades without one, in relatively health and comfort. That they are now readily available is not sufficient reason for me to own one. Yes, they might make it easier for others to reach me when I want to be paying attention to another person or my garden or a good book. But, "If it's important, they will call back."
> 
> Cuchu


Hey Cuchu KIA;
I feel the exact same way you do..I do not have a cell phone either...they will call back...

te gato


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## Agnès E.

Bonjour Cuchuflete, bonjour Te Gato,

Well, I must confess I have one, and that this hurts my personal feelings on the matter. But it helped me once I had a car accident (I live far in the country, and my husband works one hour and a half drive away from home...). I could call a garage, call my insurance company, and call my daughters at home to say I was going to be a bit late, don't worry ! 
So, now : I bring mine each time I go out of the house, leave it "off" and check regularly messages... that's why message boxes are for, aren't they? 
It is a sort of safety device for me, not just an "accessoire de mode" (fashion accessory ?). And I feel better since I have got one, can you believe it ?


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## te gato

Agnes E. said:
			
		

> Bonjour Cuchuflete, bonjour Te Gato,
> 
> Well, I must confess I have one, and that this hurts my personal feelings on the matter. But it helped me once I had a car accident (I live far in the country, and my husband works one hour and a half drive away from home...). I could call a garage, call my insurance company, and call my daughters at home to say I was going to be a bit late, don't worry !
> So, now : I bring mine each time I go out of the house, leave it "off" and check regularly messages... that's why message boxes are for, aren't they?
> It is a sort of safety device for me, not just an "accessoire de mode" (fashion accessory ?). And I feel better since I have got one, can you believe it ?


Hey Agnes E;

Then you are a special one..give yourself a pat on the back...you do not have yours on in movies..and whilst people are trying to eat their $150.00...they saved up all year...special occasion dinner...Thank you...

te gato


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## gaer

It's so bad that outside the room in which I teach, people talk on their cell phones right across from a sign that says:

"Please do not use cell phones here."

I can't tell you how many times I have had to step outside and say:

"You are talking so loud, I'm having trouble teaching."

What I want to do is to rip the thing out of their hands, throw it on the ground and grind it to pieces with my shoe…

As for the idiots who talk on cell phones while driving, I wish people got thrown in jail for doing it. I've lost track of how many times I've nearly been killed by these fools.


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## Agnès E.

Reading this thread, I just realised how we do not use cellphones the same way on each border of the "big pond"... 
Here in France, as far as I know, people do not have such bad manners regarding the cell phone use; I guess it comes from our delay of using it, compared with you Americans. I mean: new devices and new technologies are usually much more expensive here and take longer to enter our habits (is it proper English? ) So, we watch you first and then adopt the technology with a "time-lag" that enables us to understand what is right and what is not that right...
Regarding cell phones, I did not want one first because I watched what a plague it can be to people around; when I got one (only because we live in a rather remote village) I decided not to become addicted to it; and that was not very difficult, cell phone calls are veeeeeeeeeery expensive in France, haha !


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## fetchezlavache

i'm not sure you're right agnès, there are all over the places, in france as well, in cinemas and restaurants, trains etc... and i live only in an average-sized city. you can't have peace anywhere now. stores, pharmacy, doctors' waiting rooms, etc...


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## belén

fetchezlavache said:
			
		

> i'm not sure you're right agnès, there are all over the places, in france as well, in cinemas and restaurants, trains etc... and i live only in an average-sized city. you can't have peace anywhere now. stores, pharmacy, doctors' waiting rooms, etc...



Maybe it was a coincidence, but a couple of years ago I was in Paris and I met a group of French people, we spent a couple of days together and I discovered that they all used their cellphones in the "silence mode", that was such a nice thing, because the music on the cellphones can be so  unbearable. I came back to Spain telling everyone "oh, we should be like the Parisians, they just have their phones on the silence mode and everything is so much nicer...

Reading Fetchez's post I see that it was probably just a nice group of people but not a general French costume 

Here in Spain, yes, although it is illegal to drive and talk on the phone, and the tickets are getting bigger and bigger, people are still doing it, it drives me nuts..they just think they are SO important and their calls are SO relevant that they put our lives in danger   

In the movies...just twice it has happened to me, the first time the person just turned the phone off, the second time it happened, the person was sitting just besides me...and he coldly answered the phone and spoke in a normal tone (he didn't even whisper..for God's sake) "hey I cannot talk now, I am watching a movie!"....grrrrrr... 

I am just waiting for a machine to be invented (if it doesn't exist already) that will disable phone reception in places such as cinemas, theaters, hospitals...etc..


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## cuchuflete

There was a thread in this forum a few weeks ago, though I cannot recall the name, that talked about cultural development, freedom, selfishness, and many other topics.  It was one of those classic Cultura Forum conversations that eventually had little to do with the title of the thread, but was fascinating.  Some people discussed the growing egotism of individuals in modern cultures.

Agnes, you use the device for very sensible reasons, and you do so with consideration.  That is perfectly fine. There is no need for guilt for being civilized.  


People who bring cell phones into restaurants and theatres should be strapped into chairs, and forced to watch movies of car crashes caused by cell phone use.  The dialogue should be very interesting.  Once the 'prisoner' in engrossed in the film, five or six people should sit down next to him or her, and begin their own cellphone conversations.

Abrazos sordo mudos,
Cuchu


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## LV4-26

I do have a cell phone but I could perfectly do without it since I always forget to take it with me 
I understand what Agnes means : we bought it after I had a car accident and wasn't able phone to say I would be late and so on...

Now when people talk to each other over a cell phone what's the first thing you hear them say (that you wouldn't if they used an ordinay "fixed" phone)?
"_Where are you_ ?"
In French :
- _Allô ? T'es où ?_


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## Agnès E.

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> I do have a cell phone but I could perfectly do without it since I always forget to take it with me
> I understand what Agnes means : we bought it after I had a car accident and wasn't able phone to say I would be late and so on...



Thank you for the compliment, Cuchu, and thank you LV4-26 to understand what I meant, haha !



			
				LV4-26 said:
			
		

> Now when people talk to each other over a cell phone what's the first thing you hear them say (that you wouldn't if they used an ordinay "fixed" phone)?
> "_Where are you_ ?"
> In French :
> - _Allô ? T'es où ?_


And no mod comes to say: off topic, go away!  
Yes, you are right LV4-26, that's the main thing which makes me crazy about cell phones: "Guess where I'm calling from!" "If you could see where I'm calling from!"
When you think about the price of these calls, arghhhhh...


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## fetchezlavache

hehehe. i bought mine because i'm a single mom and i wanted to be able to let 'la crèche' or 'le centre aéré' (day care) know if i was going to be late from work, to pick up the little monsters. schedule is pretty tight in the evenings.

now my daughter has one, so she can ring me and let me know she made it safely to school, or that she'll be late home because she's going there and there.

i always take it with me, but it's almost always off; which drives my friends bonkers because they say 'what's the point of having a mobile if it's always off'... i think only certain professions (doctors for instance) _must_ really be reacheable whenever. 

we vulgum pecus can perfectly wait till we're home to place our phonecalls and chat to our friends...


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## Fezman

I am in total agreement with your daughter having one for school etc. but i really don't see why you must have your own phone off most of the time. It is easy enough to screen incoming calls so you talk to who you want to talk to when you want to talk to them. My Mother used to do exactly the same thing.....until i was in a bus accident and she didn't know until she turned her phone on 4 hours later!! Touch wood you never have to go through the same thing but i'm just saying that if it can happen to me...


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## Narda

Hey Cuchu!  We do not have a TV either!  Best decision ever made!


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## cuchuflete

Narda said:
			
		

> Hey Cuchu!  We do not have a TV either!  Best decision ever made!



Hola Narda...another Vox clamentis in deserto!!  well that means there are at least two of us in this country!  Do people look at you like you are crazy?  Happens to me frequently!

abrazos,
Cuchu


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## Narda

They do, I make a good conversation topic!  Nobody understands how we can live without it when they have a set (including TiVo boxes) in each room.

By the way our oldest son does not have one in his apt. either.  That makes three of us!


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## garryknight

And while we're on the subject... !!!videophones!!!

It's no longer just the extremely tacky (and usually loud) ringtones these people insist on regaling us with, nor the shouting "I'm on the bus [train, bicycle, elephant, rocks, whatever]" just in case we were too deaf to notice the awful ringtone, now it's the giggling and snickering over the video clips they play back endlessly, showing their friends how clever they are to be able to video themselves (yes, we know you're videoing yourselves: the raucous laughter on the video clip is just a sqeakier version of the guffawing noises bouncing off the walls of the bus [train, bicycyle, etc]). But things are looking up: I've noticed a few of them watching the video clips while crossing the road...  

Hmmmm.... I wonder if they need any more participants in the next series of _Grumpy Old Men_?


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## fetchezlavache

i'm their female rep' in france garryknight. boy i wish i could find the whole series on tape. i love that program, but i've seen only 2 'episodes' i think.


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## Cath.S.

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> Hola Narda...another Vox clamentis in deserto!! well that means there are at least two of us in this country! Do people look at you like you are crazy? Happens to me frequently!
> 
> abrazos,
> Cuchu


Hi Cuchu and Narda! 
I don't own a tv either - people also look at me like I'm crazy, they ask me if I don't get bored, and it makes me laugh very loud!  
I used to own a cellphone but I don't anymore, a normal "still" phone is more than enough to me. 
Fetchez said that even though she lives in a medium-sized town they're all over the place, I live in a ridiculously small country town, and people don't seem to be able to take a stroll down the street without clutching one. They phone from stations, shops, restaurants...
Could cellphones be a sort of cigarette substitute? Something reassuring, something to hang on to?
Maybe that's the reason smoking in public places was prohibited in our country : to give cellphones sales a boost!


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## garryknight

fetchezlavache said:
			
		

> i love that program


They're currently showing _Grumpy Old Women_ over here. You can guess what they grump about most.  Yes, you're right.


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## cuchuflete

garryknight said:
			
		

> They're currently showing _Grumpy Old Women_ over here. You can guess what they grump about most.  Yes, you're right.



Let me guess....their husbands forget to put the cover of the cell phone in the 'down' position?


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## garryknight

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> Let me guess....their husbands forget to put the cover of the cell phone in the 'down' position?


Not even close, I'm afraid. I should have said "You can guess what the grumpy old women grump about most bitterly". And, of course, it's grumpy old men.


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## cuchuflete

garryknight said:
			
		

> Not even close, I'm afraid. I should have said "You can guess what the grumpy old women grump about most bitterly". And, of course, it's grumpy old men.



That's the beauty of language.  We just said exactly the same thing, in totally different words.


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## gaer

fetchezlavache said:
			
		

> hehehe. i bought mine because i'm a single mom and i wanted to be able to let 'la crèche' or 'le centre aéré' (day care) know if i was going to be late from work, to pick up the little monsters. schedule is pretty tight in the evenings.
> 
> now my daughter has one, so she can ring me and let me know she made it safely to school, or that she'll be late home because she's going there and there.
> 
> i always take it with me, but it's almost always off; which drives my friends bonkers because they say 'what's the point of having a mobile if it's always off'... i think only certain professions (doctors for instance) _must_ really be reacheable whenever.
> 
> we vulgum pecus can perfectly wait till we're home to place our phonecalls and chat to our friends...


I do the same thing. I have a cell phone, and I take it with me in any situation where I need to stay in touch with someone else who has one, for reasons of safety or even to avoid a misunderstanding (where to meet, for example).

But the rest of the time, my cell is at home, plugged in, and I don't even take it with me. As for keeping it on all the time, no way. I even unplug the regular phone at home when I don't want to be reached. 

G


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## Like an Angel

Well, actually I have two cell phones -and used to have three!- and they are very very useful, the matter is that almost everybody seems to be so disrespectful. It happens always -and when I say always means *always*- when I'm in a class -it doesn't matter which class!- there is always a cell phone ringing, and I don't like that at all. When I get into a class or at the cinema, theater, etc. I turn them off, I leave them on just in case I'm waiting for an important phone call that can't wait, but in that case I ask to my teacher if I can leave it on, and I leave in silence mode to don't disturb anybody... anyway, I have to struggle with this everyday and it seems it's going to be like this for ever!... 

What I hate most is that my boss says "why didn't you answer me" and I say "well, I was inside the bank and it's forbidden to talk on cell phones there" he says "c'mon, everybody use their phones at banks" there is when I get green of angry and he laughs "oh sweet Mariana, you are so proper, so legal, relax yourself!"... anyhow...


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