Follow 'The Bathroom Rule,' and Perfect Texting Etiquette Will Follow

How about just learning NOT to be on the damn phone all the time? What's so important that you have to blab/text 24-7?

steve you are the man i agree totally what did people do before this techno ball and chain came out? they interacted in person we need to be free of the cyborg invasion and talk to flesh and blood

How rude is it to carry on a conversation with a third party while engaged in a face to face conversation.

I had a dear friend who used to do it all the time until finally I told him that when he came by to see me I assumed he wanted to talk to me and not leave me hanging while he answered text message after text message.

I feel the same about those people who call on the phone and then place their hand over the receiver and proceed to talk to people in the room with them, while I am waiting for their attention to return to me. I usually hang up on them when they do that.

TOTALLY agree with commentors 1 and 2. I don't agree completely agree with the so-called "bathroom rule." How appropriate is it, for example, to start texting when you're at the counter being assisted by a bank teller or at the register making a purchase, especially when there is a line of people in back of you? It appears that people have lost all sense of what is appropriate and what is not appropriate with regard to cell phone use, whether it is calls or text messages. I was recently on a bus when a college student was having an arugment with her boyfriend via ciell phone and for some reason she had put the call on speaker. The entire bus was able to hear remarks like "what the f*** are you so upset about anyway?" I'm sure most of us were left wondering why she thought everyone would be so interested in her call.

I agree with Steve. There are some converstations that can wait. I was in a grocery store bathroom this weekend and realized the woman in the stall next to me wasn't talking to someone else in the bathroom but going over the grocery list with her husband. Is that really necessary? Is this really the place to have this conversation? Do I not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a public bathroom? If it's illegal to video tape or photograph someone in a bathroom, how is it okay to broadcast what goes on in there outside the bathroom? Really. (This is the 3rd time in less than 2 months I have been in this same situation.) Put down the phone. There is very little that is so important you can't excuse yourself to go to the bathroom.

All the texting fools out there will probably find themselves having to have hand surgery, it’s no joke!

it takes longer to text some one than to TALK to them on the phone. the phone is a TALKING device. either call and talk, or don't get a cell phone. i feel like, if some one can't take the time to actually TALK to me over the phone, then don't bother "texting" me. i don't do "texting" any more. it was fun at first, but now it's a pain in the ass. it makes me feel like, oh, well, i'm just not important enough to actually TALK to. wanna "text" me? send an e-mail instead. leave a message on my voice mail if i don't pick up. but "texting"? no more. either talk to me or e-mail me, but again - i don't do the "texting" any more.

I don't take calls when I am involved with a personal situation. Then at my earliest opportunity I return any calls I have received. Manners are not being taught these days. It is almost like they are passe. I'll almost bet that 90% of those under 30 these days do not know who Emily Post was. But then, most people learn their manners from their parents, so we can only assume that is where the fault lies. LOL. -- Edgar

This phone situation is getting rediculous. I see entire families out together in restaurants that don't even look at each other because they are all either texting or talking on the phone! Then the poor server comes up and can't even manage to tear them away from the phone long enough to get their orders! I don't understand what people talk about ENDLESSLY!

i dont think theres anything wrong with texting while using the tolite.i read wen i have a tummy ache i read wile using the tolite.u can text as long as u dont drop the phone in the tolite lol

Someone at this very moment is texting this story, or a comment about it, to someone else..and one or both are probably in a bathroom.

When, exactly, did the tide turn, and so many of us become such rude, self-absorbed idiots? Before there were cell phones, we didn't see people lining up at phone booths so they could prattle on and on about nothing. Why can't these things wait until you can sit down in the privacy of your own home, your car, your office? It is everywhere. Walking down the street; jabbering while shopping; phones ringing in funerals, during lectures, in meetings, in movie theaters and out to dinner; and having the nerve to be angry when others tell them to please be quiet. (It's not that unlike horses that walk around and poop at the same time.) Among the rudest ones are the ones who, in the middle of a transaction at the store, the bank, the post office, continue to carry on a conversation on the phone as if the person helping them didn't even exist. I'd be fired, because I don't think I could put up with that behavior for long....

I leave my phone at home, or if I go somewhere, it stays in the car.

Does that have anything to do with using toilet paper before leaving the bathroom?

There are only a handful of people I text on a regular basis and usually just to get information across, not to gab or gossip. I may reply to business or personal emails as well.

I never text while at dinner or engaged in a conversation - that's pure rudeness. In a social situation I may glance to make sure a text or phone call it isn't an emergency, but I won't sit there and text back and forth with people.

Never at a register or in line anywhere. Respect those that are trying to help you. Don't be rude. Because they're in the service industry doesn't mean they're your servants!

There is only one rule that should apply to these situations - COMMON SENSE! The problem is that most of these offenders don't have any!

I don't have time to stand here and flirt son.

People have lost the art of common courtesy. It is a real shame. When you are at a retail establishment buying something, have the courtesy to speak to the person who is serving you. Don't ignore them and talk on your phone. That is the ultimate in rude behavior. I see it at the grocery store all the time. I actually had a woman behind me in a movie talking on her cell while I was trying to watch the movie. SHe talked for about 15 minutes until I asked her to leave the theater if she needed to talk on the phone so I could hear.