I really hate it when people use their mobile phones in the library, in flagrant disregard for the signage that asks them not to. But maybe soon it won’t be a problem for us, as well as for cinema and theatre-goers, thanks to a special paint that has copper-filled nanotubes suspended in it, that the manufacturor claims will block mobile phone signals.
2 thoughts on “The Librarians Strike Back”
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I think the main problem about cell phones is that people tend to forget where they are and tend to use loud voices.
I’ve talked all the way through a movie in the theatre in a soft whisper without my friend sitting next to me noticing. Despite wasting my money, i wasn’t rude to anyone else.
I’ve also walked into the library and had someone walk past me, nearly yelling a conversation to someone else. That’s clearly not appropriate.
It’s all about being considerate, polite and nice. It’s not about banning actions. It’s about banning rude people.
I understand your point, Daniel. But as a public-funded service, we can’t ban people (for anything short of physical assault on staff, at least), or even enforce the no-phones rule by anything more than going up to people and asking them repeatedly to take the call outside or switch it off. We tend not to bother with those considerate enough to turn off the tones and talk very quietly, but as you say, some people have no sense of their surroundings whatsoever. Just goes to show that all that hype about the British being polite is a load of rubbish!
Glad to hear you’re a library user, though; they’re a dying breed!