Mind Your Cell Phone Manners We've all experienced the uncomfortable feeling during a conversation with someone who is talking on their cell phone to someone else. The conversation can become awkward and unproductive. Advances in cell phone technology have made us connected to the world no matter where we are, but when does this connection become inappropriate for the world around us? The desire to be continuously connected with this communication device has degraded our good manners. While I'm at the grocery store, my wife can call me and remind me about the eggs or butter that I always forget to bring home. 15 years ago I never would have used the pay phones that lined the walls of a grocery store to call and ask if I remembered everything. The cell phone has changed our lives by making communication available wherever a person is. Virtually everywhere you go, people are talking on the phone, checking their social networks, or texting a friend. In addition to the ease of communicating with friends and family, the willingness to contact emergency services or locate someone in an emergency can help save lives. In her article, CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen describes ways to use our phones to help us in an emergency. By entering medical information and emergency contacts into the phone, medical personnel have the ability to obtain information to properly and effectively treat a patient if the patient is unable to communicate. GPS systems in cell phones can also help locate someone if they are unable to provide details about their whereabouts. There's no doubt that cell phones have improved the ease of communication, but as easy as it is to be within arm's reach of your family and friends, it's just...a piece of paper...good manners that We show how respectful others are shocked by the little piece of technology in our hands. Put down your phones and remember that our society still requires undivided attention and respect in the form of good manners. Works Cited Cohen, Elizabeth. “Five Ways Your Cell Phone Can Save You.” CNN. Cable News Network/Turner Broadcast System. November 4, 2010. Web. November 16, 2013Eyrin, Pamela. “Modern Etiquette: Mobile Behaviors for Cell Phone Users.” Reuters.com. Thomas Reuters, 22 July 2013. Web. 22 November 2013 Hadgraft, Beverly. "I stopped!." Good Health (ACP Publishing PTY Limited) (2012): 62-65. Comprehensive Consumer Health - EBSCOhost. Network. November 22, 2013. Kendall, Diana. "Sociology in our times: the essential elements". Ed. Marco Kerr. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2013. PrintMintz, Steven. “The History of Private Life: An Overview.” Digital history. November 19, 2013. Web. November 19. 2013