Re: [pct-l] ADZPCTKOP, Section A, cell phones

["Richard Calliger (510.502.5552)" <calliger@infolane.com>]

At 5:13 PM -0000 11.21.99, Robert E. Riess wrote:

>
>On the subj of cell phones, I agree with Sly that a loud and intrusive call
>from the top of Whitney is inappropriate.  One might just walk away, but why
>should one be made to feel the need to walk away?  I  I was
>recently in the grocery store checkout line, a place from which I was
>reluctant to walk away, when  a fellow initiated a call to try to patch
>things up with a girlfriend who had apparently dumped him.   Looking around,
>I saw several other people who were embarrassed by this behavior.  When I
>told the man, as politely as I could, that he might want to keep such
>conversations private, I was informed that I should mind my own business.
>Case closed.

No-  case not closed it looks like! Where is the sensitivity to your fellow
wo/man here!
Obviously the other party was talking to this man in line for an important
reason.

  I think it is perhaps an assumption that "other people were embarassed"
unless they said
something specific.  Cell phones today are here to stay and will be
used extensensively in the backcountry.  (And gorcery lines- been there/done
that= I can buy her a gift if she wants to see me!!)  (Who is preaching no
cell phones
in the backcountry with an RV full of modern appliances and gear? Come on
now-- give me a break!!)-- my kick off party in 1973 was done on a campfire
with an old grill and plastic bottles and paper cups to hold some wine.

So this seems to me to be a very *selective* case of discrimination against
high tech again- we have had that thread too. There is no turning back
and people will always do smart and not-so-smart things, that is to
be accepted.

I think if the man and woman were trying to patch things up I would be
cheering for him in the grocery line. NOT scolding him to go elsewhere.

DIdn't you see Sleepless in Seattle???  Again it's human feelings and
behaviour here that is important to the caller and being ignored by a
few that are *demanding* to control them. We can always walk away
from the caller, eh? That's not hard to do.  And again, batteries
only last so long.

Cell phones allow warm, close and comforting communication, for the
most part, where none was heretofore possible.  Issues can be handled
as they arise!  I don't think, in either case, the phone was being abused but
perhaps the listeners were over sensitive. I don't mean to
push anyone's button here, I  just feel that the cell phone users are
getting a very bad rap and the other side should be mentioned.

Loud calls are relative and subjective :-).  A whisper duing a silence on the
trail can be loud and abusive when you are watching a fox
or bird. A normal call in the backcountry can *sound* like shouting if
you just finished an exerting, pristine climb.  Doesn't mean it IS loud!
Give me a break again!!  An acquaintance of mine made $750 on
top of Whitney selling time on his cell phone.  Looks to me like
the *majority* of people like them!!  (Just trying to be objective here!)
We plan C people can just keep climbing/hiking and pretty soon
they will be left Cellless in Seattle.

And I guess no one wants to take this conversation off-list like I
asked (since I started it from Sly's first post) so we will have to wait
for Brick to yell at us! :-) <smile>

I side with the man in line.  Mind your own business unless you have somethng
positive to say.   I hope the couple got what they wanted.  He sure did
not want or need any  flack from someone standing in line, he had enough
problems
clearly.  It was *rude* ("more rude") to scould him.

Empathy and understanding of others **first** should rule you
actions/reactions before
anyone takes umbrage against another human being for doing what they do,
even if it is seemingly rude. (Talk to them later AFTER and don't make a public
(ie this list) to-do about it!

World would be a more peaceful  place algorithmn used.

Now, if a person is swearing or clearly being pornographic in front of
children,
then by all means "clean his clock" (and I will be there to help  but
that's  a different story.

--Rich Calliger

PS-

The people in the homes on the highway where I detected and called
911 were sure glad when the firedept. put out the fire before it could
spread to
their property... And the fellow on the trail that had a heart attack- his
family
was appreciative that I was there and called 911 for a medivac...(even though
he did not make it).  I sure hope I wasn't talking too loud then to disturb
my fellow hikers.  ;-)


--RJ Calliger

Mi Wuk Village, California
"At Home in The Sierra Nevada Mountains on the PCT/JMT"

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