Mark Twain once said: “There’s nothing quite so annoying as other people’s bad habits.”


Move over, Miss Manners, politicians want to start correcting people’s rude behavior – at least when it comes to talking on a cell phone.

In New York, the City Council is considering the nation’s first law banning cell phone calls during indoor performances such as movies, concerts and Broadway plays. Call it cell phone etiquette for the chattering class.

The measure, expected to be approved in December, would impose a $50 fine on anyone who uses a cell phone – or fails to turn off the ringer.

And this law may be coming soon to a theater near you. Last year, after New York became the first state to ban using a cell phone while driving, 31 other state legislatures considered similar regulations. It may be only a matter of time before a wave of new cell phone regulations starts cascading across the country.

Obviously, cell phones can be annoying. But the real question raised by the New York proposal is: Should everything that’s annoying also be illegal?


http://www.lp.org/press/op-eds.php?f...view&record=31