I have a brother named James who used to be incensed about the rudeness of those with cell phones. Every day, James would go to the same diner in New York City and have his breakfast, coffee and read the paper. All of a sudden there was a huge influx of ringing cell phones and HELLO?, Hi, Yeah, Okee gee wah... all sorts of greetings would flood the restaurant. It drove him to distraction.
And then came BERNIE, BERNICE and BERTRAM. The heavy hitters.
One day, I go to the diner with him and hear, "Watch this.". It is 3:15PM on a Wednesday and the phones are lit up. James reaches into his backpack and "HELLO??? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YOU THERE? HELLO>>HELLOOOOO!!!" and they race for the sidewalk. James had purchased three devices to END calls for three minutes. It was so much fun. The screamers on the bus, the subway. Next to you in the theatre. Cut it off. They may have been illegal, but well worth the penalty. Talk about power.
On June 8, 2012, my mom passed away. She asked for a memorial service and High Mass. In the midst of the service, THE 1812 OVERTURE is blaring from someones phone and he answered it. We waited and the priest asked if it was OK to proceed when he hung up. SIDEBAR: James has a phone now. Many, many rules but he caved.
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