Thursday, February 19, 2009

Toss Up

It's that time again....Mama Kat's Writing Workshop. This week I decided to write about my biggest pet peeve. Below is the actual prompt.

What's your number one pet peeve? Develop a punishment for anyone caught in the act.

This was a tough one. I had a difficult time narrowing it down to one pet peeve. Stupid people? Parents who don't parent? Southerners who can't drive in the rain let alone the snow? Text messaging while driving? Students asking me a question that I have answered already over three times? Cell phones that ring during church or at the movie theater? Do you see my dilemma?

In my quest to pinpoint my own pet peeve, I casually asked Matt about his. Instantly, he responded - stupid people. Duh! I should have known that was coming. This is coming from the man who said if he ran for president his platform would be to sterilize everyone at age 13. In order to have children, one would have to apply to get the sterilization reversed. Do you think teaching at an alternative high school had any lasting effects on him?

Anyway, back to my pet peeve. After much consideration...drum roll please...my number one pet peeve...would have to be.....

CELLS PHONE THAT RING DURING CHURCH AND AT THE MOVIES
Let's talk about church shall we? It's church. CHURCH! However, if you need more of a reason, our choir director begins Mass by asking everyone to please place their cell phones into silent (I REPEAT silent) prayer mode. Cheesy? Maybe, but even the cheesiness doesn't get people to respond. Come on people. It's not like you forgot about the cell phone you carry 24/7. They're practically attached to the side of your heads. You know you have it, so turn it off.
Even the movie theaters ask you to silence your cell phones. You can't see the previews until their message is flashed across the big screen for at least two minutes. I believe the word is SILENCE. Not turn the volume down or whisper as your finish your phone conversation or place another call. Better yet, when it rings how about actually turning it off instead of answering the call and striking up a conversation. If you are going to talk on the phone or text during the entire length of the movie, they why oh why did you pay $9 to WATCH a movie?
If you are so addicted to your cell phone, that you can't turn that piece of plastic off for an hour or two, then you should pray my punishment never becomes a law. There is no fine for a first time offense or an increased fine for a second. There isn't jail time or a special class for cell phone addiction. In fact, your only punishment is that NEVER, NEVER AGAIN will you have a cell phone. You simply lose your phone...forever. Hand it over baby!

1 comment:

KatBouska said...

My cell phone never rings. Very few people know that number, so when it went off in a movie theater I FREAKED out!! Totally scrambled to find it and the whole time I was thinking, "Oh my gosh I'm that person...I'm THAT PERSON!!"

Now I make sure it's always off.

And I like how on your quest to figure out which pet peeve you were going to write about, you managed to mention them all. GREAT list!!