Catching up on reading through my favorite blogs (see blogroll) I noticed some discussion about the use, or misuse of cell phones that piqued my interest. It started here and then I read this which led to another post that provided a link to this hilarious site about a couple of guys who go around and grab cell phones from abusers and smash them right in front of the shocked and awed. And there’s video of their antics!
Several years back, before everybody had a cell phone, I was in a restaurant in northern Italy enjoying a meal, wine, and good conversation with some friends when suddenly a commotion broke out a couple of tables away. It seems that a patron was first choking on his meal, and then went into cardiac arrest. As fellow patrons hurriedly worked to keep the poor bastard alive, one of the guests frantically ran to the table next to ours and asked to use the cell phone that one of the diners was using at the time. Why he was calmly sitting at his table chatting away while the rest of us were standing and looking on at the events unfolding before us was a mystery.
The man, obviously of great importance as he was the only fellow in the place with a cell phone, ignored the request and kept chatting away. The frantic guest became a little more animated explaining that a medial emergency necessitated that he use the cell phone to call for an ambulance (which if you’ve ever lived in Italy you know is more of a taxi with a blue light and siren than it is a life saving vehicle). The improtant one again ignored the demand and kept chatting away. Finally, out of anger and frustration, the good samaritan snatched the cell phone from the important one’s hand and dialed 911.
A moment later he removed the phone from his ear, looked at it increduosly, then at the important one disbelievingly, then at the crowd of onlookers and blurted, “It’s a toy! It’s a fucking toy phone!” He threw it on the important one’s table and stormed out of the restaurant in search of a real phone. Everyone’s attention turned from the poor bastard battling for his life to the poor bastard who was suddenly not as important as he thought. Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 0512 zulu | | Permalink
This post is filed under: Reconstructed
