NEW DAY NEW LESSON

It’s week 7 of the Kindness Club.
Thanks to all of you who have been reading and joining in even if you are not posting or commenting. It is your actions that matter the most.

Last week’s Kindness Club prompt was to be a courteous driver and/or pedestrian. I hope you were all able to be courteous drivers and pedestrians. Remember to continue to be courteous and conscious of your actions while out and about.

This week’s prompt is to be courteous cellphone users.

I am hearing a lot of gasps. I think I am gasping a bit myself.

I think this prompt is going to be kind of hard for most everyone. Why? Because we have turned into a culture where talking to anyone, anywhere is commonplace.

I am sure most of us cringe when we hear a cellphone ring in middle of a funeral. We get annoyed when a phone rings in middle of a movie.

So why is okay for us to be talking everywhere else? And don’t get me wrong, I do it as well. I also don’t think too much about either, which is what prompted this week’s Kindness Club prompt.

When I am food shopping, I don’t really want to hear all the intimate details of someone’s doctor’s exam. When I am at the hairdresser, I want some quiet and not to have to listen to someone spilling their guts about their troubles to someone on the other end of the phone. When I am on a bus trying to nap, I really don’t want to hear someone talking loudly on their cellphone. (Seems we all get really loud when we don’t hear the other party well because we assume they don’t hear us either.) And you know what? I am quite sure others feel the same about me and my cellphone.

So you get the point. These days we rarely think twice about where we are talking on our cellphones and whom we may be bothering.

My sister also pointed out to me that texting messages is also not without issues. Texting has become second nature and sometimes we don’t realize we are being rude by texting while we are having a conversation with someone else. Someone also mentioned the other day how rude it was for someone to be texting while in middle of a meeting. It really shows a lack of respect for the people around you.

I sometimes long for the simple times before cellphones. The quiet. The ability to disconnect. I am not saying that cellphones don’t have good points, they sure do when used right. Like when you try to figure our where the heck your teenage son is after his curfew has come and gone. Now you just ring his phone again and again till he answers. But that’s a story for another day.

This week your challenge which I hope you accept, is to pay attention to your cellphone use, both calls and texts. Make a conscious effort to be courteous and not cause annoyance to those around you.

Write a blog post about your experiences and come back on Sunday to link up your posts. (I will leave the McLinky up from Sunday till Sunday.)

If anyone who is not a blogger wants to join in please feel free to email me at and I will put your story up on my blog.