At most meetings today, cell phones are in people’s hands or on the table in front of them. A few companies (and our last President) had a great idea. That is, a person must put his name on a sticky note and attach it to his phone—then leave it outside the room. Now there’s a small thing that can really count when it comes to meeting-efficiency by fostering clear, undivided attention and communication!
July is National Cell Phone Courtesy Month. (Yes, there’s a Month for just about anything.) Anyone who has been rudely interrupted by people on their phones or been run into by a walker (or driver!) chatting on a phone or…well, you know…will appreciate this month.
But, wait. Maybe I’ve been guilty of being a cell-phone jerk, too. Have you? Probably, since we’re all human.
Anyway, the founder (in 2002) of this Month, Jacqueline Whitmore, has 7 simple ways for us to take ourselves out of such jerk-dom. Take a look.
I pledge to be better at this.
Don’t believe that the kidnapping of Frank Arthur Janssen, a prosecutor’s father, was orchestrated via cell phone from prison? How is it possible for inmates to get their hands on and use cell phones, anyway? http://people.howstuffworks.com/prison-telecommunication3.htm describes the widespread problem and lack of solutions. It’s an interesting read.
However, the article glosses over the role of prison guards. As a person who has visited and written to state prison inmates for many years, I hear things from the mouths of those who live it. I’ve been told again and again how some guards run a cell-phone business. A guard brings in a phone and charger, sells it to Joe in cell D222. After awhile, there’s a search of Joe’s cell and the phone is confiscated. Then, that phone is sold to Sam in cell 114. And so it goes. What, the prisoner is going to complain to the warden that a guard stole his illegal cell phone? I don’t think so.
Cell phones are a lucrative business for cell phone companies and for unscrupulous prison guards.