Cell Phone Courtesy Month: Have We Come a Long Way, Baby?

Is it just that I'm not around rude yakkers much anymore, or have people gotten better at cell phone etiquette? It's Cell Phone Courtesy Month and I think we've made some progress but could definitely do better. 

Back when I was a frequent train passenger and commuter, I heard some doozies from people talking on their phones in trains. A much-too-common-theme when I lived in England was listening to wannabe hipsters bragging to friends about their drunken exploits in London while I tried to block out the noise (this was pre-Ipod) and read my magazine in peace.  

Fast forward to New Jersey a few years later. A teenager sitting next to me on the train actually told the person she was on the phone with that she couldn't discuss something because "it wasn't appropriate for the train". My eyebrows must have shot up in surprise as I tried to pretend I wasn't listening from behind my book. 

July is apparently "Cell Phone Courtesy Month". Normally if you designate something as "National Anything Month" it happens by act of Congress. This one is slightly less official. It was dreamed up by Jacqueline Whitmore, an "etiquette expert" who runs the Protocol School of Palm Beach, Florida. She lists ten helpful rules of cell phone etiquette, to which I have added a few of my own: 

1. Thou Shalt Not Kill -- Back in December 2008, I wrote about the new "no texting while driving" law in CA. Let's not use both hands to text when driving a vehicle that could kill someone if driven carelessly. 

2. Thou Shalt Not be Inappropriate -- We could all take a lesson from that NJ teenager I overheard on the train and just draw the line at discussing personal things in public. 

3. Thou Shalt Not be Loud -- As Miss Whitmore puts it "Avoid Cell Yell". No one needs their volume set at 11. A normal speaking voice works fine on the cell. 

4. Thou Shalt Try to Help Out -- Whitmore reminds us to be Good Samaritans when we can. I called 911 the other day to report an elderly man walking on Highway 17 who was wobbling and weaving towards traffic. The dispatcher told me someone else had already called (another Good Samaritan) and police were on their way. 

5. Thou Shalt Not Take Photos in Church -- Clearly, we need to set some rules for taking photos on our cell phones. Time magazine's recent article about the Obamas search for a church home in Washington mentioned presidential discomfort with the three-ring circus that happens when they attend church. On Easter, President Obama went to St. John's Episcopal Church in D.C. where worshippers snapped photos of him with their cell phones on their way up the aisle to receive communion. I'm an Episcopalian, and believe me, we should know better. Really. Snapping photos with your phone has no place in church. And making someone famous feel like they're on display while worshipping is just wrong. 

Maybe cell phone etiquette boils down to two simple rules: 

First, do no harm. And second, help others when you can. 

This is an original post to SVMoms. When not thinking about cell phone etiquette, Erica struggles to teach two toddlers to be courteous and blogs at wellthoughtoutspot.