ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > November > 15 > Entry
Is your career going down the toilet?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It may be….
If you don’t use good judgment about what is professional and what is not. Cell phones have certainly opened up the world of communication and provided accessibility which is unparalleled in history.
However, I have to ask myself repeatedly if anything is so urgent that it must be discussed from the bathroom stall.
More and more, you find people in the corporate environment so compelled to perform that they can’t even take a 5 minute personal time-out in the bathroom!
Unfortunately if you are the recipient of a phone call that begins or ends with a “swoosh” - you may not feel completely respected by the caller.
The worse news is if you are gossiping about the unnerving bad habits of your boss or co-worker, you may find your career going down the drain once you realize that the “Gossip Busters” didn’t reform ‘Busybody Betty’ who just overheard every word! Let’s face it cell phones are addictive as are bluetooth headsets!
I have often got in the elevator with someone who looks like they are talking to themselves, when in fact their headset is just covered by their hair or a hat! Call me crazy but this really throws me for a loop! It’s so hard to tell when this culprit is talking to me or the person on the line.
I too think I am saving time when I call people walking down the hall, speeding down GA 400, or jetting onto Hartsfield’s runway. The question we all need to ask is are we doing ourselves any favors? After all, communicating is about more than picking up the phone.
It is about being ‘present’ in the conversation and actively listening to the other person. Focusing on the topics of discussion and responding in a articulate manner is something that chronic cell phone users may have forgotten.
Most would agree talking on the toilet is not professional, but the bigger question is are you using your cell phone as the business tool it was intended to be…not just for timely but effective communication?
Do you make calls while you are using the bathroom or have you been a recipient of toilet talk? Know any incessant bluetooth headset junkies?
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By stupid blog
November 15, 2006 10:20 AM | Link to this
This is a stupid blog.
By Quiet please!
November 15, 2006 10:25 AM | Link to this
My boss is a serial bluetooth headset user! To the point where it borderlines on rude.
I think he has glued it to his head because he even leaves it on his ear to attend meeting!
By Operator
November 15, 2006 10:37 AM | Link to this
I think this blog entry is hilarious! Regardless of where people are using their cell phones, they can be SO insensitive be being so loud! Using your cell on the john is disturbing not only for the person on the other end of the line but also for others using the facilities! Esp. when u know that coworker!
By Fulton
November 15, 2006 10:43 AM | Link to this
I agree, 100%!! The cell phone craze has gotten waaay out of hand. Either people are not paying attention to the conversation, what they’re doing or where they’re going and it can be very problematic, i.e. crossing the street while engaged in a heated conversation. It’s also annoying to listen to loud or argumentative phone calls, especially in enclosed, public places; banks, trains, etc…not to mention grown adults with these loud friggin’ ringtones!! AAUUGGGHHH, that drives me nutz!! I can’t wait until Atlanta catches up to the rest of modern civilization and bans cell phone talk while driving w/o hands free device!! Guess I’ll add that to the list of synchronized lights and public smoking ban too.
By carolyn
November 15, 2006 10:53 AM | Link to this
THis is just the beginning of the new life we are creating for the new century. People are not thinking they are just reacting to the next new craze, taking time for yourself is the best thing you can do for yourself and people around you. It makes you think better, respect others better, and I bet your kids would love you more if you would give them some of that time you spend on the cell phone.
Wake up people!!!!!
By Joy Johnson
November 15, 2006 11:12 AM | Link to this
When I purchased my very first cell phone I made the firm decision that I own the phone—it answers to ME. For months I did not even share my cell phone number, preferring to use it for outgoing calls only, at my convenience. It never rang but was always there when I needed to make a call! Of course after a while I began to share my number, with family, friends, and finally co-workers. MISTAKE. Hubby was a talk-a-holic who called just to keep busy in rush hour traffic. Work associates (Mary!) confused my numbers in their “contact” lists and called the cell instead of my office at times. NOW the cell provider themself (Cingular) has begun to send messages I neither want nor need, but am interrupted by whatever cr*p they’re advertising. There’s a dentist in College Park whose office number is similar to my cell (His is 629. Mine is 626…) I receive no fewer than one call per day, even on weekends, looking for the dentist. I’ve been tempted to make appointments for him just for fun but haven’t had the nerve yet! I adore new technology including Blue Tooth even as it turns us into walking talking robot-looking people at the mall. The problem is not with the technology. It’s with people who have never learned manners, or those who do no consider the comfort of other people in their surroundings. The ego-maniacs who need discuss work or their love life between salad and entree while I try to enjoy a quiet dinner are simply rude, ignorant people who now have a new vehicle with which to display their ignorance. I simply request a different, distant table. And at the market, as they chat seemingly to themselves, I listen as closely as possible and stare them right in the eye as they talk. It’s MY WAY of enjoying the new technology without using any precious “minutes.”
Joy Johnson
By Cletus Snow
November 15, 2006 11:26 AM | Link to this
I have learned to hate them with gusto,I have stopped carrying mine 80% of the time.The answer to I couldn’t get in touch with you is, use my voicemail,I’ll call you at my convience, not yours. When I do carry my cell, I leave the ringer off.The world survived millions of years without them, 1 or 2 hrs wont hurt.
By frank123
November 15, 2006 3:06 PM | Link to this
I’m an attorney and I only use my Trac phone for emergency calls from my wife and kids. It is more peaceful and relaxing.
By 55 Year Old
November 15, 2006 3:29 PM | Link to this
Got downsized into retirement after 25 years in management for Fortune 100 company. Had always been assessed as “more than satisfactory” and “qualifies for promotion” in my work. I found out I was backfilled by someone 20+ years younger for less pay. That is the America and the corporate workplace in which we now live. I am better off without them and they have lost a very capable and effective employee, not that the senior management really cares.
By markscottmusic.com
November 15, 2006 4:05 PM | Link to this
I was sitting in a Starbucks one time and this lady at the next table was having a screaming, crying breakup with her boyfriend via her cell phone. She’s all like “Why are you doing this… I love you… whaaaaaa….” I felt bad for her kind of, but she was the one acting like she was all alone. I’d have taken that one outside… or maybe to the john.
By GenXDen
November 16, 2006 10:09 AM | Link to this
Gotta chime in on this one! I just LOVE it when there’s a person in the bathroom carrying on a conversation in a rather vociferous fashion! I go out of my way to flush, cough, run water….whatever. Eventually I hear the “click” of the folding flip phone. Aaaaaah. Music to my ears. I think we should all take a lesson from Frank123. He makes a very good point.
By pr ashworth
November 17, 2006 2:53 PM | Link to this
This has nothing to do with with thls link. I actually wanted to start a new subject, however. I don’t have time. I have been out of work for a while. I am over qualified or under. I do well in interviews. After about 15, you chill and ask questions. Questions maybe they never got before. My situation is this I have been on what I felt were to successful interviews last week. I have received my Dear Jane no thank you, but you re great letters yesterday and today. My question if anyolne reads this is - If you put down on a application, please do not contact a supervisor, as when you left the supervisor would have rather you have probAbly dropped dead outside the door. No my doing. A lot of a…..ing. Any suggestions. I think that person may be blackballing me, but I have no proof. I have over 25 years of exp. ion my field, good with people, goal/detail oriented, but to get the job, I need a target on my back, almost. Any IDEAS?