And now I shall proceed to show my curmudgeonly ass.
So I wander into my local Barnes & Noble Travel Section to see if Weird Virginia--Your Travel Guide to Virginia's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets is worth the cover price of $19.95* when I'm suddenly surrounded and aurally assaulted in the narrow aisle by not one, not two, but three people yakking on their cell phones simultaneously.
It felt like a D & D melee attack and there I was without my +5 Gauntlets of Bitch-Slapping.
Now, I acknowledge (grudgingly) that bookstores are not libraries with enforced rules of quiet, that the neurotypical require almost constant social interaction whether face-to-face or electronically (though I'm at a loss as to why), and I've got nothing against cell phones--I'm not that curmudgeonly; hell, I own one myself--but people! Disconnect once in a while! What in God's name is so important that it can't wait till you get somewhere a little less public?
(And I assure you these conversations to which I was forced to bear witness were not emergencies)
Lest you think I am a lone voice crying in the wilderness, allow me to direct your attention to the following:
Cell Phone Etiquette: 10 Dos And Dont's
The Ten Commandments of Cell Phone Etiquette and an update.
'Nuff said? Good. All that's left is to do something about DWMP**
*No.
It's okay--hardbound, profusely illustrated, full o' stuff--but typically superficial for a book of this type; it lacks the kind of depth and substance I prefer in a travel book, though that's not to say it wouldn't make a great gift for someone. I walked out with Redmond O'Hanlon's Trawler--A Journey Through the North Atlantic ($14.95 trade paperback) instead.
**DWMP--Driving With Maryland Plates. Why is it whenever I see people doing something truly outrageous in their car they are (1) drunk, (2) futzing around with their cell phone, or (3) sporting Maryland license plates?
Don't get me started on the cellphones! I, too, have one, although I don't use it much... and I don't even have the number memorized, because when would I ever call it? But these people who can't be without human contact for more than a couple of minutes at a time? Feh.
ReplyDeleteBy the way... I AM a Potter-head (my dad's mom having been a Potter, and, I'm sure, not a Muggle either...), and I finished the book on Sunday evening. Good read! I think you'll enjoy it. It's masterful, the way she ties it all up...
I had to write down my cell phone number--people would ask and all I could do was give 'em a blank stare.
ReplyDeleteGiven the bloodbath I gather occurs in the final Potter book I'm surprised Wayne hasn't written HIS version!
Or maybe he has.
Oh, gosh... I can only imagine Wayne's version!
ReplyDeleteAll I'll say is that it was a very satisfying wrap up, in general.
On the cell phone number--it ticks Jeff off to no end that I don't know it and can't seem to keep it in my head. But I have other, more important things to remember.