phone courtesy

TRX
September 5, 2013
I've been seeing this for years - but it was just cellular phones, to start with. I guess at 53 I have a different social context than current society, but if I'm talking to someone and they answer their phone, start talking to it, and five minutes later they're *still* talking to it, I assume they're finished talking with me and walk away. For some reason, they think this is rude.

I mean, I can make allowances for "Yes, honey, I'll be home shortly", or "the reset switch is in the back", or "so take her to the doctor then", but five minutes of "yeah, uhuh, yeah" tells me they're no longer interested in what I'm saying. And I have better things to do than stand around like a third wheel.

Corollary: in the middle of a phone call and they suddenly put you on hold. Ten minutes later, I'm still on hold.

And, as always, the people who never, ever answer their phone, but expect everyone else to answer when it's convenient for them to call back.

TRX
September 12, 2013
That guy is everywhere. He's the one who will park 1/2 inch away from your car, when you're parked 50 yards away from any other car. Or the one who will stand next to you and bump elbows when you're trying to use the end of a long row of urinals. Or sits at the next table in an otherwise-empty restaurant, loudly demonstrating his lack of table manners.

Why, yes, I *am* getting crotchety in my advancing years...

TRX
September 6, 2013
> In a work meeting situation, one trick to engage folks is to
> design activities that require active participation.

Yegodz. I thought it was only one particularly annoying former manager that did that - I didn't realize it was widespread.

I'm here. I'm listening. I'm not going to play "Simon Says" because someone is afraid they're not getting enough attention.

That's even worse than "even though we've covered everything on the agenda, we still have to sit here for another twenty minutes because that's how long we're scheduled to use the conference room."