Do you talk to the person or persons that are at your table while in a restaurant? If so, then why is it so wrong for a person at the table next to you to have a cell phone conversation if he/she is talking no louder than you? I just do not understand it. It is like "it is fine for me to come to a restaurant and have a glass of wine, but how rude of you to come in here and have a beer.

I think a lot (not all) are offended because they cannot eavesdrop on both sides of the conversation. Other people are offended because the phone talker is too loud and that is justified, just as a conversation between two or more people at a table is offensive if it is too loud.
((D))8-)

jorr, yes I was saying that some apartments including those rented by owner (VRBO) do not have land lines. I called one owner since I didn't really understand that, and he said because "everyone carries a cell phone these days" they had removed the expensive land line and no longer had to worry about the billing later for long distance calls and getting into arguments with renters who complained. Since then I've seen it several times.

At the same time I'm talking about hotels that now have a "connection charge" for the first time you pick up a phone in your room. It may be something like $15. Pick up the phone once in your stay to call a local restaurant tnd that call may have cost you $15.

I know many people who don't have land lines at home these days. That part doesn't seem particularly unusual.

Does anybody remember those TV commercials from about ten years ago where a man hiking in the mountains makes a cell phone call? Wow, how amazing that was. Ever since than I thought about how stupid that is. Then alone comes the recent Samsung TV commercials showing how you can listen to music on your cell phone while relaxing at a mountain lake in Peru. What a cop out! I have to listen to that canned crap in the elevator and in the office. He could have just as well vacationed in the elevator with his boss and a brochure.

I can be a grumpy 'it used to be easier' person about a lot of things but I wouldn't give up cell phones for anything. We bought each of our kids one when they turned 13 and the peace of mind it's given me is incredible. Now I know they can call if they need a ride, are going to be late, etc.

When my car broke down on a deserted stretch of Wyoming (during a snowstorm) a few years ago, my cell phone was gold.

It's also made traveling easier, knowing that my elderly mother can call if she needs anything. Much easier than our past method of mapping out hotel phone numbers ahead of time.