1 in 8 Take Fake Phone Calls to Avoid Talking to Others 160
A survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that people are lying 13% of the time when they say they have to take a cell phone call around you. That number jumps to an inconsiderate 30% in the 18- to 29-year-old age group. The survey also found that 42% of the 18-to-29 group "have had trouble doing something because they did not have their phone nearby." More than a quarter of survey respondents...sorry, I have to take this call.
18-29 year olds are disrespectful (Score:2, Interesting)
The most interesting fact from this article is that 18-to-29 year-olds are much more likely to use cell phones as an excuse to not talk to someone. This jives with my experience in real life. Finally, now it is possible to agree with our grandparents that young people are more inconsiderate than old people.
People in that age group seem to think that they are entitled to do anything they like, as if their feelings are more important than everyone else's. Instead of treating people with respect, many young people seem to think that it's acceptable to ignore the person making the request. This happens in dating, where childish women give out fake numbers; in friendships, where some idiots have decided it's acceptable to commit to something and then not show up; and in family life, where you invite people to a party and they can't take five seconds from their self-centered lives to apologize and inform you that they will not be able to attend. A year after I graduated college, a co-worker and I scheduled a bowling outing for about 30 people; despite being the organizer, she decided not to show up and was unreachable on her cell phone because "someone from Pittsburgh suddenly showed up at my house and I had to give her a place to stay."
When people pull stuff like that on me, I tell them to get lost - but they keep doing it because others are willing to put up with this crap. It's bad enough that people cut short in-person conversations to take cell calls. But it says something about how low our society's expectations are for our youth that we accept one third of that age group being so self-centered that they can't be bothered to talk to you even when they don't have anything else to do.
I have never done this.... (Score:4, Interesting)
but I have made certain that someone would call me at a certain time in order to extricate me from a situation.
Re:I don't believe it... (Score:3, Interesting)
I see this crap all the time and find it tremendously disrespectful. I fall in that 18-29 age group, though at the upper end. I have a few friends at the lower end of that spectrum and they're worse than my older friends. I generally don't call those younger "kids" very often. Why would I want to invite someone to be a guest in my home who is going to eat my food, drink my beer, and ignore me? Then when they can tell you're getting irritated, typically after you point it out at face value several times, they might engage in conversation for a minute or two. Though when they do, you can tell they're not really involved in the conversation, but just waiting to talk. I don't need those types of people in my life. They're always looking for the next big party or next best thing instead of enjoying the company they're with.
So that being said, it's no surprise 3 of my best friends are in their 50s, and a couple others in their 30s and 40s. I'm by far the youngest in my normal social circle.
Re:We have a system at work like this (Score:4, Interesting)
Interesting comment from an anonymous coward.
Anyway, telling people at your workplace to "fuck off" will likely lead to a talk with your boss or HR, disciplinary action, or termination. Workplaces don't like employees who "aren't good team players". Of course, they never do anything about the obnoxious loudmouth who keeps interrupting people who are doing real work so he can make himself look important.
I'd say the fake phone call is a good workaround for this problem.