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Study finds many people talking on mobile phones are faking it |
axxxr
Joined: Mar 21, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Londinium
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Via: cbsnews
You know all those annoying people who talk into their cell phones as if you weren't standing right next to them? It turns out that many of them aren't really talking to anybody. The New York Times recently described research at Rutgers University as well as the Ethics and Public Policy Center that found that a great number of cell phone users are faking it.
A number of people make fake phone calls on their cell phones just for the benefit of those around them. Someone who's late for work may enter the office talking to "an important client" to cover her tardiness. Others pretend they get a call when they don't want to talk to someone who's standing right in front of them. Not surprisingly, some of those big deals you hear people negotiate on the phone are just done to impress those within earshot. Men will pretend to be on a call as they walk over to hit on a woman. Women will pretend to be on a call to avoid getting hit on by men.
Maybe this sounds like a creative use of technology to you, but I think it stinks. It was bad enough when I thought people were being rude, talking loudly about their personal lives to someone while looking right at me. Now I find out that they're being rude and not even talking to anybody!
Many of the cell phone tricksters say they pretend to be on a call just to be noticed. Until now, whenever I've seen crazy drivers on the phone swerve all over the road or come to an inexplicable stop, I've always felt they were just making a call that could probably wait until the drive was over. I'd pull up next to them and give them the traditional shake of the head and dirty look. Now, it turns out that my look may be exactly what the "caller" was hoping for. They're not putting our lives in danger because they're ordering a pizza delivered to their house. They're doing it because they want us to notice their new blouse or tie.
We're all probably pretty understanding when someone we're sharing an elevator with is talking baby talk into his cell phone, ending with, "Daddy will be home soon." But now that we know that "Daddy" might not even have a kid, and might be talking to the weather forecast, we may not be so forgiving next time.
And that's a problem, because next time, "Daddy" might be real, and I don't want to tell some guy to get off the phone because he's faking it only to learn that he's really talking to his sick kid. So, these fakers have the potential to make the rest of us the bad guys.
The only way to deal with this is to fight faking with faking. When you're waiting to get off a plane and the guy next to you makes that "We're just pulling into the gate, and I'll call you from the baggage" call, you can top it with "This is the last time I fly commercial. I'll meet you at the helicopter."
When that obnoxious businessman shouts into his phone, declaring he's about to make a fortune because he was clever enough to buy Amalgamated Apple Sauce at 12, you can always talk into yours and say, "What's that? Amalgamated Apple Sauce is down to 3½? Well, at least I sold in time."
And maybe we'll be tempted to resort to the ultimate defensive tactic. When we're surrounded by callers talking away on their electronic pals, we can always take out our cellular and say, "I understand, Mr. President. All personal, civilian cellular calls should be terminated ASAP. I will notify the people around me immediately, sir."
Maybe that will at least give us a few minutes of silence — until one of those phone fakers "needs to be noticed."
[addsig] |
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fatreg
Joined: Jul 26, 2003
Posts: > 500
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its the only way to get out my shop at lunch time to pretend to be on the phone!!
works everytime!
fatreg
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Residentevil
Joined: Feb 29, 2004
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From: Raccoon City, USA
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This mobile thing is getting worse by the month.  . I would call them cell phone boosters. 
Tough times don't last, tough people do!
Free Tibet |
masseur
Joined: Jan 03, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Sydney, London
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one of these days I'm going to have to study psychology (i.e. other than my real life experiences) 'coz I'm sure this is an example of stuff that is going on all around us all the time!
I think they call it "Human Nature"!
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slattery69
Joined: Jan 03, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: north east england
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some strange people around i tend to talk more quietly when i m on the phone and people are round as i dont wish to offend anyone. i often get the person on the other end asking me to speak up |
haynesycop
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: > 500
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i agree 100% when i am on the phone in a public place, i speak very quietly, you dont want people knowing your business, people often ask me to speak up too
the other day i was shopping in town and this women was on her mobile and she was soooooooo loud, everyone could hear everything, its like people are putting on a front
very pathetic |
masseur
Joined: Jan 03, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Sydney, London
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much the same here... and I NEVER use ringtones, only vibrate, ever since the mid 90's when I got my first moto startac
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the_poet
Joined: Nov 02, 2004
Posts: 92
From: Big Rock in Irish Sea famous f
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Yeah !!
Classic displacement, in the 'old days' when you were talking to someone and you or they ran out of steam you just said ' ok see you around' and moved on.
nowadays people start fidgeting with a mobile, especially if they know you well enough to worry about whether you would take the humph if they suddenly had to make a call.
Lets face it, even on vibrate most of us can hear it buzzing, and those service lights on a bright sunny day are not big enough to suddenly notice if you have it on silent and it starts flashing madly.
The classic throw is when they pull it out and you say ' Wow haven't seen one of them before' and get them to try to bore you to death about it and then walk off when they're mid flow with a cheery ' Must go nice talking to you, see you around.
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mustafabay
Joined: Sep 27, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Egypt
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I agree you don't need to talk very loud. Maybe we need phones that flash when ringing and flash another color when during a call, but them people wouldn't want them. I agree with the nice phone method :-D
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knight4led
Joined: May 27, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Califonia, USA
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I must be in the minority here because I have never faked a call. I admit to making those "I'm on the ground, I'll call you when I have my baggage" calls, but they were all real. I knew there had to be some faking going on around me, but I wonder if this article over emphasizes it. I mean it doesn't really give a statistic, could be as low as 10% fakers...
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Posted: 2005-04-25 17:58
