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Places Where You Should Turn Your Cell Phone Off

A major part of cell phone etiquette is knowing when to turn your phone off. There are many situations where it’s obvious that you should turn off your ringer. But there are also some situations that you may not have thought of where keeping your phone off is a good idea.

Here are some times when it’s best to turn your phone off or keep it on vibrate…

Weddings - This is one of the more obvious ones. You should focus all of your attention on the people getting married, meaning your phone should be turned off. If you can’t turn off your phone for a couple hours to celebrate the marriage of two people, then you probably shouldn’t be at the wedding in the first place.

Funeral - Similar to weddings. It’s downright disrespectful to be on the phone during a funeral. This also includes wakes, although at a wake you can always excuse yourself and go outside to make a call if necessary.

Movie Theaters - This one is common sense as well. Most movies begin with a warning against using cell phones; however, that doesn’t stop some people from using them anyways. You can always keep your phone on vibrate during a movie, and you’ll probably be fine text messaging during a movie as long as your phone doesn’t beep when you press a button. Of course, what’s the point of seeing a movie if you’re going to be text messaging during it?

Job Interviews - This goes for both the interviewer and the interviewee. When you’re applying for a job, you need to put your best foot forward, and that means not interrupting the interview when someone calls you unexpectedly. As a manager who is interviewing someone for a position, you also want to be respectful and not answer phone calls. If you take calls during an interview, any worthwhile job candidate will consider it rude and probably not want the job.

Meetings - This is dependent on a couple things. If you’re waiting for an important call, you could leave your phone on vibrate and excuse yourself from the meeting to answer. Of course, you want to make sure that the call is more important than the meeting. When in doubt, err on the side of the meeting. Most calls can wait.

Church - This one seems obvious, and yet you still hear at least one phone go off during a normal Sunday mass.

Doctor’s Office - Some people don’t think about this until it’s too late. When you’re sitting around in a public place, you have to be wary of others around you. A doctor’s office is an especially important place, as many people aren’t in the best mood when visiting the doctor. You don’t want to annoy these people with a cell phone ring or loud conversation.

Restaurants - This is one you might not have thought of. Most people go to a restaurant to enjoy a quiet evening out, and as cool as your new ringtone might be, it can definitely ruin the atmosphere.

There are many other places to turn your cell phone off or on vibrate mode, but these are a few common examples. In general, if you’re somewhere where you wouldn’t want to hear someone’s cell phone go off, then it’s probably a good idea to keep yours off as well.

November 26th, 2008, posted by admin