|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: cell phones
|
Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
|
Posted
Ecclesiantics posting with a hellish condiment (Hosts: feel free to transplant it).
As I frequently do, I took communion today at the 12:30 at my local Cathedral. It takes place in an intimate side chapel (very nice modern reconstruction). It was a small group of nine(?) of us, spread through an area that accommodates about fifty of us. Just before - seconds before - the Lord"s Prayer, during a moment of splendid, contemplative silence, a cell phone went off. By the time the woman fished it out of her purse, the "spell was broken". The priest waited, then continued to the Prayer. For me, at least, all following was emptily pro forma.
What should the (Anglican) priest have done? My incorrect instinct would have been to say, Class dismissed, and then consume the communion. But that would be churlish. He handled it as gracefully as possible - waiting, continuing without comment or frosty tone.
But really, no phones at the dining table, ergo....
In her defence, she didn't take the call.
Thoughts?
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
| IP: Logged
|
|
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
|
Posted
The priest did the right thing.
At a midday service, when people might be on their lunch break from work, it would not be inappropriate for the priest, when greeting the congregation, to gently remind 'em to make sure their phones are off or on 'silent'
IJ
--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Fr Weber
Shipmate
# 13472
|
Posted
Believe me, I know from annoying interruptions. It is very difficult to pray when an electronic noisemaker goes off at an inopportune time.
But you know what? People have managed to pray with shells whistling overhead, and bombs exploding. And I have no doubt those prayers were heard.
I'm extremely picky about aesthetics, because I think we ought to be offering our best to God in church. I don't like irreverence or sloppiness when it comes to the liturgy. But when something like this happens, your job is to shrug it off and keep going. If the priest had closed up shop and consumed all the elements himself, it would have been worse than churlish; it would have been a petulant gesture of sacrilege.
--------------------
"The Eucharist is not a play, and you're not Jesus."
--Sr Theresa Koernke, IHM
Posts: 2512 | From: Oakland, CA | Registered: Feb 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Emendator Liturgia
Shipmate
# 17245
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Fr Weber:
If the priest had closed up shop and consumed all the elements himself, it would have been worse than churlish; it would have been a petulant gesture of sacrilege.
![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif) Well said, Fr Weber - couldn't have said it any better!
--------------------
Don't judge all Anglicans in Sydney by prevailing Diocesan standards!
Posts: 401 | From: Sydney, Australia | Registered: Jul 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Fr Weber:
But you know what? People have managed to pray with shells whistling overhead, and bombs exploding. And I have no doubt those prayers were heard.
I would think that frequently shells and bombs would not have been a distraction from, but occasion for, prayer.
For the record, the hoarding of the sacrament was a facetious attempt to express my displeasure.
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
Well since you want my thoughts, I'd say that if this is the worst thing that happened to you this week, you lead a very blessed life. Pro-forma? It sounds like the complaining of someone who is working on creating a devotional mood, rather than worshiping the living God (credit: Screwtape). God forbid my liturgical hard-on get limped by a cell phone.
![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif)
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
|
Posted
Actually, seriously worse in this young week, but not relevant to the discussion here.
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
| IP: Logged
|
|
Augustine the Aleut
Shipmate
# 1472
|
Posted
As my university friends from Rathmines would have said, offer it up. The priest should have ignored it-- if properly vested with a maniple as well as stole and chasuble, it's easy.
Posts: 6236 | From: Ottawa, Canada | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
|
Posted
And had an aspergillum been in use, it could have soaked the thing in electronics-shorting-out holy water.
And had the incense been thick enough, it could have gummed up the circuit boards with the same effect.
--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
|
Posted
At these noon weekday eucharists, people sometimes have a very reason to be there, every bit as important as your contemplative thingy. Or perhaps you thought her satanphone also interrupted God?
Was there a confession and absolution? Perhaps she confessed and you confessed, and all was forgiven? Is it too much to ask?
(It might have been more apt for the phone to go off just before the peace)
--------------------
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
This happened once at Compline on Holy Friday, during one of the most solemn moments of the canon, when the ikos was being read reflectively.
It was the priest's phone - vibrating, to be fair, but in the quiet it was very obvious.
It seems that his son was visiting home from university and wanted to picked up from the train station. He then proceeded to phone everyone in his family, without success, and was confused about where they could all be that would prevent them from answering.
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Scrumpmeister:
This happened once at Compline on Holy Friday, during one of the most solemn moments of the canon, when the ikos was being read reflectively.
It was the priest's phone - vibrating, to be fair, but in the quiet it was very obvious.
At my church, it was during the time of silent prayer on Ash Wednesday -- the priest's phone serenaded us with the Trout Quintet.
--------------------
"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
|
Posted
Just a thought, but the lady who so destroyed the OPer's contemplation of the Sacred Mysteries might well have been snatching a few minutes' worth of spiritual sustenance herself, perhaps taking time out from a demanding job situation?
Under such circumstances, forgetting to switch off her phone is surely forgivable...
As for the clergy who forget to turn their own phones to 'silent' during worship, who knows but that the message might be one of urgent pastoral need, to be dealt with a.s.a.p. after the service.
IJ
--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Oblatus
Shipmate
# 6278
|
Posted
A T-Mobile phone rang (tum-tum-tum-TEE-tum) just before the point in our solemn Mass at which the organist customarily improvises; I believe it was when the Gospel has been chanted and the Gospel group is about to return to the sanctuary. The organist immediately repeated the T-Mobile ringtone at the right pitch and proceeded to improvise a fugue on it. It was completely brilliant. I want that to happen again.
Posts: 3823 | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
|
Posted
As very few people phone me at any time, I nearly always forget to switch my phone off (mea culpa). But it did happen to me some years ago when I was presiding at a Sunday Eucharist: I had just said the opening greeting when my phone rang to my great embarrassment and everyone else's amusement. I switched it off immediately of course but when I checked it afterwards it was the churchwarden of a neighbouring church saying they were expecting me for their mass, at the same time. It was their mistake, not mine, so at least the sin was not compounded.
Posts: 12927 | From: The Pool of Life | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
georgiaboy
Shipmate
# 11294
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
quote:
Originally posted by The Scrumpmeister:
This happened once at Compline on Holy Friday, during one of the most solemn moments of the canon, when the ikos was being read reflectively.
It was the priest's phone - vibrating, to be fair, but in the quiet it was very obvious.
At my church, it was during the time of silent prayer on Ash Wednesday -- the priest's phone serenaded us with the Trout Quintet.
I can give you aces and still beat this one -- the day: Palm Sunday; the moment in the liturgy: that kneeling silent prayer time just before the end of the Passion Gospel; the ring-tone of the phone: the 'Lone Ranger' theme from William Tell; the perp: a woman in the nave with a VERY large purse, scrambling frantically to get to the phone; the witness: moi, in the rear choir gallery, looking down.
--------------------
You can't retire from a calling.
Posts: 1675 | From: saint meinrad, IN | Registered: Apr 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
|
Posted
Oh, ours was on Maundy Thursday - tail end of the vigil as people were beginning to come in for midnight Compline - not once but three times, same phone
--------------------
Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Callan
Shipmate
# 525
|
Posted
I leave my phone at home on the grounds to avoid those sorts of incidents.
It did, however, go off the other day during a pastoral visit. I diverted it to the answerphone using my Apple Watch. Needless to say, the wife spotted me looking at my watch, and concernedly asked if I had to move on to my next visit. They were quite amused by the explanation, which was nice. Some of my lot still think that a mobile phone must have a bloody long wire and switching if off with one's watch would be one step removed from witchcraft.
If a congregational phone goes off, I ignore it on the grounds that they will be sufficiently mortified without me adding to their embarrassment. I did have a phone go off during a funeral once. Afterwards, the Next Of Kin apologised on their behalf. I murmured something about these things happening. "I don't know why they left it on" replied the NOK, "we're all here!"
But broadly speaking, IME, it happens rarely and if it does happen it's not because the owner decided to muck up the service at a key moment. Let him (or her) who has never got something wrong in a fit of absence of mind throw the first stone.
--------------------
How easy it would be to live in England, if only one did not love her. - G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 9757 | From: Citizen of the World | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Callan
Shipmate
# 525
|
Posted
There's a brilliant anecdote in the quotes file, btw, about a young woman who turned up at Mass at a Convent, and went through a series of very elaborate devotions, clearly, and I quote, "auditioning for a new Harry Enfield character 'considerably more Catholic than yow'". Moments after the Priest arrived and started the service her phone went off, again quoting from memory, "not quite 'bring your daughter to the slaughter' but nearly as inappropriate". Needless to say it was at the bottom of her bag and she seemed to spend an eternity fumbling for it whilst the Reverend Mother glared daggers at her.
I will see about hunting it up when I have a bit more time on my hands. If the Shipmate who originally posted it comes across this, can I just say that it has given me hours of amusement and is a wonderful story, brilliantly told.
--------------------
How easy it would be to live in England, if only one did not love her. - G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 9757 | From: Citizen of the World | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Callan
Shipmate
# 525
|
Posted
Here is the glorious thing in it's entirety:
quote:
Originally posted by Twilight:
Rosamundi's story: quote:
Easter Saturday Vigil Mass, in a convent chapel, very quiet, very peaceful, very beautiful. I was sat behind someone who appeared to be auditioning for a new Harry Enfield character, "I'm considerably holier than thou." Chapel veil, scapular the size of a small tablecloth, very ostentatious devotions before Mass.
Just into the first reading, her mobile phone rang, incredibly loudly, with possibly the most inappropriate ringtone ever, not quite "Bring your daughter to the slaughter," but close. And, of course, the wretched thing was buried at the bottom of her bag, so it took forever to find it, and I nearly ruptured something trying not to laugh whilst Reverend Mother glared daggers from the front.
"I'm considerably holier than thou." ![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
--------------------
How easy it would be to live in England, if only one did not love her. - G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 9757 | From: Citizen of the World | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by georgiaboy:
I can give you aces and still beat this one -- the day: Palm Sunday; the moment in the liturgy: that kneeling silent prayer time just before the end of the Passion Gospel; the ring-tone of the phone: the 'Lone Ranger' theme from William Tell..
Perhaps she was confused by Calvary and Cavalry.
![[Biased]](wink.gif)
--------------------
"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by georgiaboy:
the perp: a woman in the nave with a VERY large purse, scrambling frantically to get to the phone; the witness: moi, in the rear choir gallery, looking down.
God created water balloons for moments like this.
--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
churchgeek
Have candles, will pray
# 5557
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
Oh, ours was on Maundy Thursday - tail end of the vigil as people were beginning to come in for midnight Compline - not once but three times, same phone
...and then a cock crowed? ![[Two face]](graemlins/scot_twoface.gif)
It is an annoyance when phones go off, but a forgivable one nowadays. Use it as an opportunity, if it distracts you, to practice not letting such things distract you. And to exercise charity. I think of the exercise in meditation that, when thoughts or feelings arise, you notice them and dismiss them without judgment. I think that's also a good way to handle distractions in church.
--------------------
I reserve the right to change my mind.
My article on the Virgin of Vladimir
Posts: 7773 | From: Detroit | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
quote:
Originally posted by georgiaboy:
the perp: a woman in the nave with a VERY large purse, scrambling frantically to get to the phone; the witness: moi, in the rear choir gallery, looking down.
God created water balloons for moments like this.
To throw at judgmental tongue-clickers?
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by churchgeek:
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
Oh, ours was on Maundy Thursday - tail end of the vigil as people were beginning to come in for midnight Compline - not once but three times, same phone
...and then a cock crowed?
It is an annoyance when phones go off, but a forgivable one nowadays. Use it as an opportunity, if it distracts you, to practice not letting such things distract you. And to exercise charity. I think of the exercise in meditation that, when thoughts or feelings arise, you notice them and dismiss them without judgment. I think that's also a good way to handle distractions in church.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
I managed charitable when it went off the first time. Was struggling with charitable when it went off for the third time and hadn't been put on silent or turned off. Of course, it was at the bottom of a bag, and returned there between calls.
--------------------
Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Fineline
Shipmate
# 12143
|
Posted
People being human and variable, there are plenty of opportunities for interruption in a church service, not just from mobile phones. I once knew a woman with diabetes who would sometimes eat something in a church service when her blood sugar was low - she would get glares from some people as she ate her biscuit. I currently go to a church where a chap with learning disabilities attends, and he yawns and burps quite loudly at inopportune moments. I'd say any idea of a spell that can be broken is more an emotional thing, which is all very nice, but in reality, our faith is far more about having patience with human foibles and loving and accepting each other when we don't necessarily feel like it.
Posts: 2375 | From: England | Registered: Dec 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by churchgeek:
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
Oh, ours was on Maundy Thursday - tail end of the vigil as people were beginning to come in for midnight Compline - not once but three times, same phone
...and then a cock crowed?
It is an annoyance when phones go off, but a forgivable one nowadays.
Balls. I don't understand why, except if they are waiting for an important call or having to be contactable for the wellbeing of some other person or of themselves, anyone has to have a phone on all the time.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:
Balls. I don't understand why, except if they are waiting for an important call or having to be contactable for the wellbeing of some other person or of themselves, anyone has to have a phone on all the time.
Having the phone on is the default. It's a phone - its purpose is to be on, and to be a communication device. Most people want it to be on most of the time, so that they can be called. If someone wanted to have his phone off all the time, why would he carry a phone at all? (Wait - that's me. And I don't carry a phone.)
However, most people don't get many calls, so don't think about the fact that their phone is on, so don't think to turn it off. And it's a surprise for them when someone calls in the middle of a church service, concert, or other inappropriate moment, because they're not expecting a call.
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
I have a feeling some of you wouldn't last 10 minutes in an Orthodox Divine Liturgy. People come in late and go out to the facilities or to start the coffee, people mill about venerating icons and lighting candles, children race across from mom to their godmother or auntie or favorite older teen, the lector starts the wrong epistle and is corrected by the choir director*, and so forth. It's really not a place for quiet still contemplation. We have other services for that, and you have a prayer closet. And no, my cell phone has never gone off in a service.
_____________________________
*not that I've ever done that. ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by churchgeek:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
[qb]
It is an annoyance when phones go off, but a forgivable one nowadays.
I put it to the group this way... Would you tolerate your children bringing their cell phones to the dinner table? "Oh, well.... that's kids these days..."
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pangolin Guerre:
I put it to the group this way... Would you tolerate your children bringing their cell phones to the dinner table? "Oh, well.... that's kids these days..."
Kids have a choice about bringing their cell phones to the table. They can leave them in their room. A woman who walks to the noon mass has to have her phone with her. What's she going to do, park it in the vestry? This analogy doesn't work.
[ 10. November 2016, 02:35: Message edited by: mousethief ]
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pangolin Guerre:
I put it to the group this way... Would you tolerate your children bringing their cell phones to the dinner table? "Oh, well.... that's kids these days..."
Most people I know "take their phones to the dinner table" because their phone is in the pocket of their pants, and they take their pants to the dinner table.
I can guarantee that if I carried a phone, it would be in my pocket at the dinner table. If I didn't keep the thing in my pocket, I'd find that I'd continually leave it behind.
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
If someone wanted to have his phone off all the time, why would he carry a phone at all?
I carry a very basic one in my purse, turned off. Its only purpose is if I have to make an outgoing call in case of an emergency such as a flat tire or dead battery.
--------------------
"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by Pangolin Guerre:
I put it to the group this way... Would you tolerate your children bringing their cell phones to the dinner table? "Oh, well.... that's kids these days..."
Kids have a choice about bringing their cell phones to the table. They can leave them in their room. A woman who walks to the noon mass has to have her phone with her. What's she going to do, park it in the vestry? This analogy doesn't work.
1) How do you know that she must have the phone with her?
2) She does have a choice: train herself to turn the damn thing off. I have done.
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
| IP: Logged
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:
Balls. I don't understand why, except if they are waiting for an important call or having to be contactable for the wellbeing of some other person or of themselves, anyone has to have a phone on all the time.
Having the phone on is the default. It's a phone - its purpose is to be on, and to be a communication device.
Not solely, or even primarily.
It's also most people's primary timepiece (fewer and fewer people wear watches these days), an alarm, a torch, a research tool, an entertainment device for games, film, and music, among other things, which is why I completely understand this:
quote:
However, most people don't get many calls...
But it also means I don't recognise this at all:
quote:
...so don't think about the fact that their phone is on, so don't think to turn it off.
I seldom receive phone calls. I even joke that when it rings I don't know what the noise means or what to do, but I use my phone all the time for all of the reasons listed above, and I receive text messages, audible alerts for news, weather, and other apps, and sometimes yes, I get phone calls.
I couldn't imagine going into church, the theatre, the cinema, or any other place like that and not switch my phone to silent mode (not vibrate, but silent). It's just part of what you do if you have a phone, as well as being basic good manners.
[ 10. November 2016, 06:10: Message edited by: The Scrumpmeister ]
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
|
Posted
Exactly . Basic good manners. And specific points: if you're not expecting a call, why have the phone on? Maybe it is a torch, research tool, games unit, and so on, but why do you need to have that all ready to go, all the time? I am pretty sure that I don't remember seeing many people 25 years ago carrying with them at all times a bicycle lamp, encyclopaedia, and Monopoly set, just in case they wanted to use them.
[ 10. November 2016, 07:59: Message edited by: Albertus ]
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
|
Posted
Hmmm ... while I accept all the etiquette points, rarely use a mobile phone myself, and agree that people should not be bound to electronic devices, could I say:
- My wife never switches on her phone unless she expects me to ring her. This has meant that, at times, I have needed to contact her but that she is not receiving my calls. That makes the whole thing pretty pointless.
- Many people are expected to be "available". Our son, for example, is a casual Theatre Technician. In the past he has lost at least one potential job because he was out with us and had switched off his phone. I'm sure the same is true for plumbers, electricians etc.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pangolin Guerre:
How do you know that she must have the phone with her?
She wouldn't have the phone at all if she didn't feel she needed it, and wouldn't have the ringer on unless she felt she needed to answer calls. I'd say the burden of proof is on the person who wants to change someone else's behavior, not me.
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gracious rebel
Rainbow warrior
# 3523
|
Posted
I compromise. I keep my phone on vibrate at all times. Due to my job I could be contacted at any time by potential clients, so I could miss work, or potentially turn up at the wrong place/time if I couldn't be contacted, so need to be aware immediately if I have missed a call/text, so that I can get back to them.
I would find it far too fiddly to continually be turning the ringer on and off, or switching to silent, so I use the vibrate feature only. Yes it is audible in a quiet environment, but not obtrusive (IMO). Occasionally I have received a call or text while in church, I feel the vibration, mentally note it, then attend to it at the end of the service. What is the problem with that?
--------------------
Fancy a break beside the sea in Suffolk? Visit my website
Posts: 4413 | From: Suffolk UK | Registered: Nov 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Callan
Shipmate
# 525
|
Posted
Originally posted by Albertus:
quote:
if you're not expecting a call, why have the phone on?
If my powers of telepathy were sufficiently developed to tell when someone wanted to get in touch with me at any time, I wouldn't have a mobile phone in the first place.
quote:
Maybe it is a torch, research tool, games unit, and so on, but why do you need to have that all ready to go, all the time? I am pretty sure that I don't remember seeing many people 25 years ago carrying with them at all times a bicycle lamp, encyclopaedia, and Monopoly set, just in case they wanted to use them.
It's what the kids call 'technological progress' daddio! ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
--------------------
How easy it would be to live in England, if only one did not love her. - G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 9757 | From: Citizen of the World | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
|
Posted
I don't think anyone is claiming that people shouldn't silence their phones in church, concerts, lectures, and whatever else. I am claiming that it's easily understandable when people accidentally leave them on.
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
| IP: Logged
|
|
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
|
Posted
Indeed. What I find intensely irritating (among many other things) are the people who, on receiving a call on their mobile - be it text, email or whatever - immediately stop listening to what I'm saying in order to answer the bloody thing, without so much as a by-your-leave.
A quick 'Excuse me, I need to take this call' is OK, of course, as it might well be important, but just breaking off is so rude... ![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
IJ
--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pangolin Guerre:
2) She does have a choice: train herself to turn the damn thing off. I have done.
You see, this is the sort of thing I hear again and again in these discussions. "I did it, so everyone can and ought."
That's a fallacy.
You may be superlatively gifted with a perfect memory and/or a completely uncomplicated schedule free of distractions like children and elderly/disabled people needing attention. Fine for you.
But "woman with a capacious purse" in my experience always means "woman with a huge load of responsibilities," most of them for people (that's why you carry the huge freaking purse, right? So you can shove everybody's nappies, Cheerios, doctor appointment cards, Social Security paperwork, meds, etc.in there. Believe me, you don't do it for the sheer pleasure of carrying a honking big bag.
And if you're carrying that load of responsibility, with the complex schedule that goes with it, well, you're almost certainly going to need to be available 24/7 because you are primary contact for children and/or elderly/disabled people--let alone the standard issues of work and family. So you carry a phone. And God forbid, in your busy schedule you occasionally forget to turn it off. Probably because you were fumbling with the purse and the baby carrier, or because you were giving an arm to the elderly woman you drive to church Sundays. Or possibly both.
And your phone goes off at an embarrassing time, and you mentally kick yourself for forgetting, and as you dive for the phone you see the judgemental face of a pew-mate who has neither children nor dependents nor a shitload of crap he absolutely must tote from place to place on a tight schedule. And who nevertheless believes he shouldn't cut you any slack.
That sucks.
--------------------
Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Callan:
Originally posted by Albertus:
quote:
if you're not expecting a call, why have the phone on?
If my powers of telepathy were sufficiently developed to tell when someone wanted to get in touch with me at any time, I wouldn't have a mobile phone in the first place.
quote:
Maybe it is a torch, research tool, games unit, and so on, but why do you need to have that all ready to go, all the time? I am pretty sure that I don't remember seeing many people 25 years ago carrying with them at all times a bicycle lamp, encyclopaedia, and Monopoly set, just in case they wanted to use them.
It's what the kids call 'technological progress' daddio!
It's called unnecessary sodding about which puts you in thrall to people who want to sell you yet more stuff.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
|
Posted
Lamb Chopped:
![[Angel]](graemlins/angel.gif)
--------------------
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:
Exactly . Basic good manners. And specific points: if you're not expecting a call, why have the phone on?
For the reasons mentioned. Mainly, it's my only timepiece and I don't fancy having to wait 2 minutes fit it to boot each time I want to know what time it is.
On more than one occasion, it has been useful at the choir desk for candlelit night services when it has become apparent that the available light wasn't enough for some singers to see the music properly.
I was also able to take it off silent long enough to use music app to get the note needed for the next piece when a running fork wasn't available.
There are all sorts of reasons why a phone might be on in church.
My former bishop used to read the texts of the service from his iPhone instead of a book.
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Callan
Shipmate
# 525
|
Posted
I once forgot to bring the readings with me to a funeral. Luckily they were sent by e-mail so I was able read them from my phone. My heart missed a beat afterwards when I realised that I hadn't put it on silent and I could have been interrupted by 'Gangam Style'!
--------------------
How easy it would be to live in England, if only one did not love her. - G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 9757 | From: Citizen of the World | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
|
Posted
True story: my husband and his parents are in a moment of silent reflection in church just before communion. My mother-in-law’s granny phone goes off (one of those ones with the extra loud ringer for the stricken in years and hard of hearing). My mother-in-law flaps loudly, creating more noise than the original phone. “[Husband], turn it off! Turn it off!”
My husband takes it off her and puts it on vibrate. What he didn’t realise that was putting it on vibrate doesn’t stop it from ringing. Next time it rings AND vibrates. My father-in-law then sits on it to try to muffle the noise.
So: that annoying person with the loud phone may be disrupting your church service, but at least they’re providing an entertaining story for their nearest and dearest .
--------------------
Rent my holiday home in the South of France
Posts: 3696 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Utrecht Catholic
Shipmate
# 14285
|
Posted
One good advice, leave your Phone at home or in your car.
--------------------
Robert Kennedy
Posts: 220 | From: Dordrecht | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view
