Do You Ever Want to Shove Peoples Cell Phones up Their Butt?

Updated on October 20, 2011
ღ.. asks from Detroit, MI
24 answers

So, I went on the field trip with my daughters class last Friday! It was super fun btw, I am so glad I was able to go and the precious kid could have held my hand the whole time! I love that shes still sweet!
Anyhoo, since I had to scramble for a babysitter last minute, I wasnt assigned to a group to volunteer, so I just tagged along with my daughters group who was already assigned to a mom.
This mom was compulsively texting the entire time! I was walking around with this woman for about two hours and I think she said about 2 words to me while the kids ran around and played. I mean, I didnt expect her to be my best friend, but geez! It made me crazy! I just thought about how hard it was for me to be able to go on this field trip and how bad I appreciated being there and she couldnt take her hands off the phone the enitre time to pay attention to her kids field trip. Why was she even there?
I think its extremely rude to constantly be on the phone like that.
I think there needs to be a mandatory class when you purchase a cell phone to tell you when its appropriate to act like a 15 year old on the phone!
Whos with me!?

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So What Happened?

I am pretty tired and salty this week! lol I need a nap! Thank you all though for letting me vent! ;)

Thanks Mama! ;)

Featured Answers

D.D.

answers from New York on

She was there so she could brag about how wonderful she was to be on her child's field trip. Kind of like those parents who take their kids to the park and talk on the cell phone the whole time instead of playing or interacting with their children.

6 moms found this helpful

B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

Oh yes!
I am SO with you!
My husbands office is particularly texting oriented and I understand about being on call - but a text at 11pm regarding what type of donuts to bring in the morning is NOT an office emergency.
On occasion I've asked him how much it would cost to replace his phone and I have dreams of handing him the cash, taking the phone and smashing it to pieces with a hammer with immense satisfaction!
People pulling OUT of a parking space with the phone glued to their ear is a pet peeve of mine.

6 moms found this helpful

J.A.

answers from Erie on

Now Molly, shock collars for kids, and shoving cell phones in people's behinds----I'm thinking someone is having a bad week???

(totally kidding! I thought the shock collar thing was hilarious!)

I think cell phones have made people become very rude. A class in cell phone etiquette would be a good thing!

5 moms found this helpful

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C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

If that had been at our school function? the leader would have taken the phone away from her...the reason she is there is to PARTICIPATE not to text...and yeah - I would've said something to her or taken the phone away from her myself...damn the torpedos, full speed ahead...this is time she won't get back with her kid(s) and they will remember that the phone was more important than her.

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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

YES! I was a a coffee meeting with teachers when SD was in 5th grade. This was when bluetooths came on the scene. The guy next to me was laughing at weird times. I realized he was listening to someone on his bluetooth, and not the presentation for the parents. This was important stuff! Middle school and growing up and how to help your kid! I was stunned that he would take the time to be there but not BE there.

Or, more recently, SD was sitting next to a couple who were surfing the internet on their phones and not paying a smidge of attention to Sir Terry Pratchett and she was stunned. She said, "They PAID to be here! What was so interesting that they couldn't pay attention for an hour to SIR TERRY PRATCHETT!" It was just rude.

If you are doing a job (watching kids on a trip) then you do the job or don't bother to volunteer.

I also agree that if you can't put down the phone (which now includes a small computer), then you will miss so much. Anybody see Hook? I applauded the wife when she threw his phone out the window. She was angry that his kids were growing up and he was missing it.

At our dinner table, there is nothing more important than the meal/family time. Phones OFF. No texting under the table. No phones buzzing on the sidelines to be glanced at. It's our time and we can spare 30-40 minutes a day for each other.

I think if the mom had a work situation and needed to be on the phone then she should not have been at the field trip. She was not doing what she signed up to do.

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S.S.

answers from Cincinnati on

That was rude. What I hate is when people text during a movie. The sign at the theater says turn off your phone...not turn the ringer off your phone. I don't care if your not talking on it the light on the phone is very distracting.

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A.L.

answers from Charleston on

When will the novelty of phones wear off? Seriously, I would have really made my tongue bleed from biting it not to have said something to her about her phone being more important to than her kid. Those type of people amaze me. Her life and her kids will pass her by and 30 years from now, she'll wonder why she has no memories of her kids growing up. DUH - she was too busy looking at her damn phone! I think schools should make it a mandatory rule that if you are chaperoning a field trip, cell phone should be used only in an emergency. If you can't abide by this rule, you shouldn't volunteer to go. In my opinion, as a chaperone, you are not just there to be with your kid, you're there to make sure all the kids stay safe and are accounted for. How could she do this? She had no clue of what was going on around her and basically expected you to do it for her.

I held out on getting the texting feature on my plan until 3 months ago, and the only reason I added it was because my kid's schools send alerts and messages this way now! UGH! I HATE IT! I despise when people are so consumed looking at their phones when in the presence of others. I don't get it. It is so rude and ridiculous. I was having a conversation with my SIL who was here on vacation, and who I see once a year. She spent less time "talking" to me than she did texting other friends from back home. ????? I do not understand this. We get along great, but seriously, is that text that important to interrupt time with your SIL/friend/husband/whatever that you just have to text back? Good lord, some days I wish it were 1980 and cell phones were just a luxury item for the rich and famous. :)

5 moms found this helpful

A.J.

answers from Williamsport on

Since becoming a mom, I seem to be always driving and doing kid stuff. THEREFORE, I really almost never carry my phone. Or, it's off in my purse for an emergency. I don't use it driving, I don't need it for the hour we're at the park, or with a school group, etc. Therefore, the texting moms stand out to me. If I had urgent business I'd field my texts while at the park, and maybe that's what they're doing. Maybe they're CEO moms and this is their only "break" to sneak some texts while the kids play...and granted one of mine is 2, so I need free hands, and maybe theirs are older....But I've often been idly left "alone" if my kids dash off and some nice looking moms are around to chat with, but they're all texting :(
Actually, we were at a park the other week, and there was a birthday party going on. All the parents looked fairly upper class yuppy-ish, and ALL of them, especially the dads, were texting! They were barely talking to each other OR their kids! It was like, the kids spinning on the tire swings yelling at the parents to look, but no one heard them! It's so the modern version of Cats in the Cradle....those kids will be texting and ignoring their parents soon enough :)

4 moms found this helpful

F.H.

answers from Phoenix on

I took my son last week to an indor play yard that is about 20,000 sf. It was Fall break and I took 3 kids for his bday. Anyway, "my" kids were running around, it was crowded with tons of kids and parents. Most of the parents just find a spot to sit so the kids can find them if they need them. There was a little girl that was crying and saying "mommy..." over and over. I see her at a distance and she is walking in my direction. She literally walked past 8-10 parents who just sat there (some glanced up from their phones, you couldnt talk, it was too loud, but they were playing or texting or something on them) but NONE of them tried to help her. She gets to me and was so distraught I asked her if she needed help finding her mommy and ended up leaving my spot and taking her to the front so the staff could help her. I walked past all the other parents and couldn't believe that no one else bothered to do this. I guess their phone was more important. I guess I just thought I would feel horrible if this was MY little girl and was "lost" and couldn't find me and no one helped her. So sad. I just think some people are in their own little world and can't be bothered with what is happening around them. So yes, I am with you! =)

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J.W.

answers from Houston on

I agree with you it was rude! People are staying in touch with others electronically when there is a live person to interact with! I don't get it!

Yes I have a phone with email, FB, music, TV and games on it but interacting with live people comes first. I am going through cancer the phone is wonderful for passing the time while getting a treatment but I chose people over a faceless conversation.

Having a face to face conversation seems to be a dying act. I have seen young people texting each other while they are in the same room. Then there is the fact this mother is missing interaction with her children. Do her children need to get cell phones for her to pay attention to them? How sad!

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C.J.

answers from Dallas on

First of all I am SOOO happy you got to get to the field trip!! Yeah!
And second of all - I agree with you there. I turn my phone off. sometimes leave in car to keep from doing the rude phone/txt/facebook thing.
However, even in work emergency, I have told the other adult - "so sorry, I have a thing at work - ugh!"

Anyways, that mom just missed out on a day she can't get back by having her head buried in a phone. I feel a little sorry for her. The days are long, but the years are short.

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N.C.

answers from Dallas on

I prob would have said something then made a stink about it to the school. Her job that day was to watch over a group of children. I wouldnt feel safe sending my child somewhere were someone isnt doing what they are supposed to do. SCARY!

4 moms found this helpful

G.T.

answers from Redding on

I've always thought it was rude for moms to be on the phone while with their kids. The kids beg for attention and don't get it from a distracted mom, just like being on the phone while driving. It's awful. Now you see all these little 2yr olds with their playphones stuck to their ear practicing to be like their parents. It's pretty rude and ridiculous if you ask me.

4 moms found this helpful

C.J.

answers from Milwaukee on

We had two parents that did that on the required parent involvement days at our school last year. It was SOOOO annoying and they WONDERED WHY their kids were sitting in the "quiet chair" everyday!

I'm SORRY but NOBODY is that freakin' important to need to text THAT MUCH!

4 moms found this helpful

J.P.

answers from Lakeland on

So my first thought is that wouldn't a parent go along on a field trip to help keep an eye on the kids?
I think it is rude that people are always on the phone talking or texting. I can't stand being in line for something and the person in front of me can't stop talking and the cashier is waiting along with everyone else in line.

3 moms found this helpful

B.S.

answers from Lansing on

I know and I used to wonder why there were signs at every cash register/take out place I went. I always think, really you need to talk on your cell while your cashing out or ordering food???? I can't believe how rude people are with their phones.

Good thing you were there to oversee the kids she was watching.

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D.B.

answers from Charlotte on

.

3 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

I am with you.. I cannot stand the rudeness of cell phone users. The texting.. in front of each other is like they are speaking on the phone in front of you! That we are not as important as the other person.

I always silence my phone. It drives me insane when someone just answers their phone with out excusing themselves from others.

I guess the school will now need to start ending a list of responsibilities to the parent volunteers that when they are in charge of kids.. "no cell phone should be in use unless it is an emergency concerning the children in their care. "

Good grief.. I call it "breast feeding the parents". They have to be instructed on common sense..

3 moms found this helpful
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☆.A.

answers from Pittsburgh on

It's rude. No O. is THAT important.

BUT...it could have been a can't-get-out-of-it-work "situation" or emergency.

Maybe her kid *wanted* her to be there but it was a bad day to be away from work? (Just trying to give the benefit of the doubt, here!)

But if she's a sahm--just plain rude!

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J.B.

answers from Atlanta on

I feel this way pretty much every day and have had to exercise extreme self control on many occassions not to rip one out of someone's hand and smash it to bits.

2 moms found this helpful
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D.H.

answers from Louisville on

Grandma T - I have seen this w/my own little grand! You should see the look on her face in a pic of her under 2 years of age with a toy cell up to her ear! And let me tell you, it took some doing to get that stopped once she came here - esp until bio moved out. That was pretty much all she ever heard from those two - lots of cussing, etc on the phone!

1 mom found this helpful

M.M.

answers from Tucson on

Totally with you. Sucks to hear a mom would be like that, specially when she is supose to be keeping an eye on a bunch of kids.

Glad you got to go and had fun! BTW love your family picture. Too cute and you look great!

1 mom found this helpful

L.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

YES!!!! My HUSBAND'S!!!

My husband owns a business, and his personal cell phone is also his business phone, and people call him all day and night long. And if they're not calling, they're texting. Sometimes I want to shove that phone up HIS butt! But I know that for his business, it's a necessary evil, but no less annoying!

Compulsively texting while chaperoning a field trip = unacceptable.

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D.H.

answers from Detroit on

oh my gosh!
I am a nurse, and let me tell you, patients are the worst! They come into triage (I work on an OB unit), and the entire family/friends want to know what's going on. It's hard to get through the paperwork without them talking or texting on their phones. And even during labor! Once they have their epidurals and are comfortable, instead of resting, they're texting/calling. If they've been pushing more than 5 minutes, the "support people's" phones are ringing off the hook! give us some time, people!
ugh
I could just go on and on, sorry! LOL
D.

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