Alright, so I'm probably a bit irritated about this right now because it just happened. I bought B a nice grill for his birthday, and we wanted to have a few friends over to christen it. You know, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, potato salad...you get the idea. It ended up being a small group of 7 including us. (The food came out great, by the way!)

Well, one guy showed up (after not completely confirming that he was coming, probably searching for a better deal out there) and literally entered our house talking on his phone. And proceeded to do so for the next 5 minutes, ignoring us and the other people there. He didn't even say hello to me when I opened the door for him.

He talked on and off all night, occasionally through dinner (he at LEAST got up from the table), and even took breaks to sit in the other room and watch the hockey game on TV that he switched the channel to. (We didn't care too much about that, there wasn't anything on and nobody but him was watching anyway.)

I'm kind of left wondering what we could have said to him because of his obvious rudeness. After the second or third extended phone conversation, one of our other friends there said sarcastically (cell-phone guy was busy elsewhere chatting someone up, of course) "I love it when I go to other people's houses for dinner and talk on my phone the whole fuckin' time!" The rest of us heard him and from what I could tell, totally agreed.

What should we do or say next time (if we even bother to have him over again)? Has anyone else had to deal with this? It's not like he HAD to take the calls, he's not a doctor or anything. Douchbag.

***EDIT***
I forgot to mention that this guy is single, so it was not a girlfriend or wife on the other line. He is also military, but not high up enough to be really important so as to NEED to answer his phone in case of some random national emergency. So it wasn't a business emergency, just pure rudeness.

I can understand if someone checks to see who is calling or answers quickly and tells the caller they'll get back to them later because they're busy, but not having a whole conversation. UGH.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Phoenix,

I've been in that situation. On several occasions, I have asked to see the offending cell phone feigning interest in it. When I finally get my hands on it, I just put it in my pocket and continue doing what I was without skipping a beat. I have yet to have anyone not get the point and it helps me avoid blasting them with sarcasm.

JSG, that's great advice

I fear diplomacy where not my predestined field ... I wd just kick this guy out of the front door and crash his machine on his head...

One guy I knew behaved like that once at RESTAURANT with a group of friends and me. We did not make any overt comment at the time, but he was never invited again.

quote:

Originally posted by Snowflake:
JSG, that's great advice

I fear diplomacy where not my predestined field ... I wd just kick this guy out of the front door and crash his machine on his head...

That is precisely why I didn't say anything! He would have ended up with a broken phone or worse, haha. Poor B had to endure an expletive-laden tirade when all of the guests had left.

If you are throwing the party and someone got rip roaring drunk -- What would you do? You do have every right to tell the bonehead to get off the phone or get out -- invited him not the person on the other line. You do not have to be diplomatic.

I think cell phones should be put on vibrate when you are attending any kind of event. It really disturbs me when I hear cell phones go off in church, especially when they don't know how to turn them off and the ring gets louder and louder. The movie theaters have to tell movie goers to silence their phones, but it should be common courtesy at all events.