New lows in cell phone behavior:
Dude sitting near me at a cafe today. A casual sort of cafe, granted, at which you fetch your own water and such, but a cafe nonetheless. There are tables, there are chairs, people eat at them. Food is brought. This guy....was on his cell phone, but instead of just the usual loud barking on the cell phone problem, he was actually--barking loudly on this cell phone but also--walking the aisles between tables, hands on hips. Like...it's 1984 at the bullpen at Goldman Sachs and he's trying to get Gordon Gekko to buy. Pacing. Yelling at times. Passing by high chairs with noshing babies and arguing into his phone. As if the cafe were his office. I couldn't believe how rude it felt. I indulged in passive-aggressive--yet effective!--glaring and shocked head turns. Probably just as obnoxious, but I had a hard time controlling myself. It felt like a new low; had I been the manager I would have asked him to take it outside. He eventually quieted down a bit and sat down, but it goes without saying he was on the phone during my entire meal. GodDANG, the restaurant (movie theater/transit system/whatever) I'm going to have someday is going to be run like a freakin ship. Tithing poles and ruthless smashings for malefactors.