Excerpts from “Wireless Etiquette: A Guide to Changing the World of
Instant Communication” by Peter Laufer. The book can be purchased via
the Internet on Amazon.com or by calling 1-800-359-7031.
“The basic rule in polite society is easy and obvious: when you are
interacting with a companion in the flesh, that in-person relationship
always has priority over a telephone call ” – page 30
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“Taking calls and phone conversations (especially in a loud voice) are
particularly offensive in a restaurant dining room. If you choose to
accept calls during a meal, the best alternative is to answer the phone
as you’re excusing yourself from the table and tell the caller to hang
on for a few seconds as you find an appropriate place to talk. Hold your
conversation outside of the dining room, or even outside of the
restaurant on the street. A terrific alternative is a telephone booth ”
– from a section subtitled “restaurants are not phone booths” on page
32.
“Start important business meetings by announcing that you’re turning
off the ringer on your phone and that you expect your colleagues to do
the same.” – page 34
“Before the advent of wireless technology, we used to advise the
secretary, ‘Hold all calls!’ Keeping your mobile phone quiet during a
meeting is the logical extension of that common practice.” – page 34
Laufer reports on page 37 that a train engineering firm in the United
Kingdom created some “phone-proof railroad cars by covering the car
windows with a metallic microfilm that the mobile phone radio waves
can’t penetrate.” Meanwhile another foreign company created a jamming
device that can be purchased by theaters and other organizations.
