Hello, mind p’s and q’s !

We all own mobile phones don’t we? Maybe you are looking at one right now. Either admiring it or thinking you must update your farewell. Are you sure you know how to use the gadget? Talking about mobile phones, let’s begin with how to tal k into a mobile phone. Or let me give you a small pointer about mobile etiquette...an incident might help, right?

Just a few days ago I was sitting with family at a popular eat out. Behind me was a pretty girl looking impatient obviously waiting for some one. After a few minutes she picks up the phone and asking quite loudly in a sugar coated voice, drawing circles with her fingers on the table “where are you? Am waiting…” I just had this weird smile plastered over my face when I caught my mum looking at me saying “Why do they have to be so loud? Is this why they have mobiles….” then I drift off.

Are you thinking whether you are loud too? Perhaps a way to deal with this is to hold the phone away from your ear and closest to your mouth so that only you and the caller hear the conversation. It can be particularly embarrassing for everyone around you. Now let me draw your attention to yet another rather unpleasant incident. Isn’t it quite normal to borrow phones to make a call just because the call rates may be lower on your friends mobile or when your phone just went dead?

That is perfectly alright provided you wiped the phone before you returned it. Hmm…You haven’t done that right?

Well imagine how repulsive it can be when you would have spat over the mouthpiece of else’s phone while conversing? In fact recent research points out those acne outbursts on that good-looking face of yours could be directly transmitted by the lakhs of bacteria that live in your phone. are harbouring inside your phone. talky device. That brings us to the smses. I don’t know how many of you are fond of receiving those unlimited senseless forwards especially the ones that tell you that you come from animal planet...You are ugly...and the ones that say that you are just blessed to have the sender as your friend...yeah. Right! Neither are they original nor do they make any sense whatever. I am sure all of us get irritated when they come at an odd time when we are expecting an important message or we are in the worst of moods.

Once it so happened that my friend who regularly sends me forwards just send me a forward with a “goodnight” at eight in the morning. I called him up and said that he should have taken minimum care to delete the goodnight!Oh… and don’t even think of saying to these regular forwarders that you loved a particular message. Because they will ensure that they spam your inbox!!

The story doesn’t end with the ownership of latest N-series what really matters is decorum and the manner in which you handle your savvy-device is what really brings out the pizzazz in your cellular suite.

Make sure you have your etiquette in place because if you don’t, you know who’s watching you!

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu