LAS CRUCES >> You know the person, the one that turns their cell phone on right in front of you at the theater, or is talking away in a restaurant to someone else even though you are seated at the table with him or her. How about the store clerk who is chatting loudly while you wait to ask a question or even the person sending a text in the middle of church? You must resist the urge to snatch the phone away from said person and hurl it against the closest wall, despite how good that might feel.

Yes, we all have cell phones (or at least most of us do) and we all are guilty of a faux paus or two or three. Yet, that does not excuse rude behavior.

We are smack dab in the middle of Cell Phone Courtesy Month and the time has come to take a look at what is and is not acceptable.

Robbie Blinkoff is an anthropologist for Context-Based Research Group. He told that we are in a time of flux as far as figuring out what is appropriate usage of our technology.

"People are defining new rules and new behavior for what's personal and what's private," he said. "Technological change leads to social change, but there's always a lag."

Almost 70 percent of people in a poll by market research group Synovate said they observe bad cell phone etiquette every day, reports.


Reyna Salinas said an evening can be spoiled by cell phones.

"It irritates me when I go out to hang out with friends and everyone is on their phone," she said on Facebook. "The only way to get around it is to play that game where everybody stacks their phones on the table and who ever uses their phone first has to pay the bill."

That's an interesting idea.

Another one is what the Prince Charles Cinema in London started to do last year. The venue uses movie "nijas" who, dressed all in black, keep an eye out for rude behavior, like the use of a cell phone. In California there is even a restaurant that offers a discount to patrons who agree not to use their cell phones while there.

Sally Lopez hates it when she is talking to someone but they are texting someone else.

"Or when you can hear a person's conversation in public, you just want them to shut up," she said.

Stephanie Mon hates it when people talk on the phone while using public bathrooms while Diane Fisher-Archuleta is upset when someone comes to visit but has their phone glued to their ear.

"They could have just stayed home," she said

Christina Melendrez Castillo said that she sees bad cell phone form in stores.

"I'm a cashier and when people come to pay, it would be nice if people weren't on their phone," she said "It holds them up in line and I feel sorry for the people behind them. Besides, I don't need to hear your business."

Brook Stockberger may be reached at 575-541-5457