At the meeting I mentioned in my previous blog, I was sorely tempted to whack an ill mannered attendee with a(n Emily) post, or at least whack her phone. That wouldn't be fair, of course, her phone wasn't the problem, all of us had phones. What this careless caregiver failed to notice was that she was the only one answering her phone. She must have assumed the rest of us were unpopular because she obviously didn't assume she should silence her phone. "Clueless Clara" got up three times during a two hour meeting to rush past the speaker and answer her phone in the hallway. Since she works in home care, I know she was not being called to perform emergency surgery and I am pretty sure she was not waiting for an organ transplant, since those facilities do not usually call their clients "Grandma".
At least she had the courtesy to leave the meeting to converse. I was in a multi-agency meeting where the director of the local hospice program was asking us to visualize the final peaceful moments of a loved one, dying at home, surrounded by family. Not only did an attendee answer his phone, he continued his conversation in what he presumed was a quiet voice. I know it was not work related because those conversations seldom involve grocery lists and end with "I love you."
Whenever we are asked to give input about staff meetings, I request beginning with a reminder of phone etiquette. A crash course in considerate communication could be summed up simply as knowing when to be silent. Perhaps in the future they will invent apps that link the phone's ability to pick up signals to the owner's. Now that would be a smart phone.
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