Ten years ago, everybody was getting home after work to a fixed answerphone
and nobody ever left a message. Now, everywhere you look -on trains, on
buses, in shopping centres, in restaurants, at wedding receptions- what
a miracle! What a transformation! So many happy people talking away into
their mobile phones. Connected at last!
However, on some social occasions, from just a meeting of two friends to
a funeral, mobile phones can be the enemy. They mean that people are not
joining in, they're imposing, they're disrupting. It would have been better
if they'd brought a book with them, which they could get on with quietly
in a corner. SWITCH THEM OFF. Liberate yourself. The missed call won't be
someone saying your house has burnt down. If you can't control yourself,
"check" your phone out of sight of the others, in the toilets
perhaps.
It's perfectly obvious -but how often does it happen?- if you really have
to either make or receive an urgent call during a social occasion, you
should explain the situation to the others at the outset. When the time
comes, remove yourself from the scene to deal with the call. Whatever
you do, apologise.
And now, here is an appeal to the good, too-silent majority. Don't put
up with it. Don't suffer in silence. If you come across some rude mobile
phone addicts, don't hesitate to interrupt and ask them to move away, to
switch off. If they are passengers in your car, stop, ask them to get out,
especially if it's raining.
In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions. (?)
a) Why is the use of mobile phones sometimes seen as an antisocial
behaviour?
According to the text, there are some social events, such as a funeral,
where the use of a mobile phone is inappropriate as it is an imposing and
interrupting element for those people which are not part of the conversation.
Ayuda: La respuesta la encontramos en el segundo párrafo,
donde explica aquellas situaciones en las que el uso de un móvil
puede ser visto como una conducta anti social, debido a que a veces es un
elemento perturbador y/o excluyente.
Vocabulario: according to: según; events:
situaciones, such as: como por ejemplo, inappropriate:
inadecuado.
b) What does the text recommend doing about inconsiderate mobile
phone users?
The text recommends us not to put up with those people who use their mobile
phones inconsiderately and so ask them to move away when they receive a
call or even tell them to switch off their mobile phones.
Ayuda: La respuesta la encontramos en el último
párrafo en el que se nos anima a hacer frente a los adictos al teléfono
móvil de varias maneras.
Vocabulario: put up with: soportar; switch
off: apagar.