Hands-Free Means NO HANDS!!!

Today was a do-nothing day. Señorita came over to finish her 5 page assignment that was due LAST WEEK at 10:45am, and though I let her into the house, I crashed again and didn't emerge from my room until 1:00pm--class, by then, was basically a write off. Instead, I accompanied Señorita to school for her to sneak into her class 1/2 an hour LATE, after slipping her LATE assignment into her prof's box. While she was in class, I was going to study but found Boo instead and had chocolate milk with her in one of York's new buildings. My time was better spent that way anyway. :)

To get to the point, Señorita and I went to catch bubble-tea before my volleyball practice and were seated opposite a pair of older (not elderly but older) chinese ladies. At first, no big deal, but then one of the ladies' cell phones starts ringing. No big deal...until she lets it ring 10 times while examining the caller ID slot and fitting her hands-free set into her ear before finally flipping open the phone to answer it. Then what do I notice? Lady HOLDS the phone up to her mouth still to talk.

You must be thinking, "Well, DUH, you've got to hold the phone up to your mouth so that the other person you're speaking to can hear you!" Yes, that is true, but NOT WHEN YOU'RE USING A HANDS-FREE HEADSET!!! Lady holds this phone out in front of her mouth as though it's a compact and she's checking her lipstick. I stared bewildered at Lady for quite some time while Señorita glanced between the Lady and me and laughed. Finally she closes her compact phone and goes back to stuffing her face full of over-priced chinese food, and I am able to continue my bubble-tea drinking and pestering the waitress for bringing Señorita the wrong drink.

Next thing you know, Lady's phone rings again, and of course I'm already gawking to see what she does. 10 rings later, after examining the caller ID and fitting in her hands-free, she flips the phone open to answer it. This time, she leaves the phone on the table while she has her conversation--Señorita and I quietly applauded Lady for her seeming competence this time. I say "seeming competence" because this show of intelligence didn't last for long. Lady put down the phone so that she could hold the mouthpiece of her hands-free right up against her lips. Again, I stared bewilderedly at her. I myself own one of these hands-free sets and I know that it picks up EVERY little sound, and it wasn't even like the tea shop was loud at all to begin with. Besides, Lady's a chinese person talking on the phone and god knows they talk loud enough for the WORLD to hear what they're conversing about.

Personal Etiquette Summary:
    1.    If you receive a phone call in a not-so-loud restaurant, answer it quickly so the ringing does not disturb other patrons.
    2.    If answering a phone call in the middle of a meal, you need not keep stuffing your face while talking so that gawking patrons can see what you're eating and what stage of digestion it's in.
    3.    If answering a phone call while out with another friend, keep the call short and get back to your physically present friend--she was there first (poor Lady's friend had to wait about 10 minutes total while Lady was on the phone).
    4.    A hands-free head-set is a device used to keep your hands free for uses other than holding a phone to your ear...don't use your hands!!! These men may look like dumb-asses, but at least they have it figured out...

On the plus side, however, I had bubble-tea and a good gawking laugh with Señorita before hitting the courts. :)