The Dangers of Cellphones
Wednesday, January 4th, 2006 -- J. DoeItaly is ahead of the US in cellphone culture. It seems that everybody has one, from a young schoolchild to an older person. Many people even have 2, one for work and one for personal reasons. A few months ago I read that in Italy there are more cellphones then there are people. I wasn’t surprised.
Today I went to the dentist which is always a thrill. I needed a cleaning. While the dentist was cleaning my teeth with the drill-like thing they use, his assistant walks into the room carrying a cellphone.
She places the cellphone in between his shoulder and head and leaves the room. He then starts the conversation on the phone AT THE SAME TIME that he was drilling in my mouth.
I was hoping that he would stop and say to the caller something like “I’m busy now, can I call you back? ” but NO! He took the call while he was working!
I’ve seen busdrivers take cellphone calls with their earphones. I’ve always wondered if that was a good idea, but dentists with drills in their hands ? I don’t even have to wonder. That’s dangerous.
A lot of Italians get quite animated in conversations (even those over the phone) and speak with their hands. I was afraid of leaving the room with a jagged tongue !
As it turns out he only became animated and moved the hand that held the suction, so I was only slowly drowning instead of getting several puncture wounds in my mouth.
I couldn’t really hear most of the conversation that the dentist was having over the cellphone over the noise of the drill, but he seemed to hear the caller just fine.
It also seemed to be a personal call,with several curse words, but, in Italy that doesn’t necessarily mean a non-business call.
There is a time and place for everything. Even talking on the cellphone.
I will miss your posts from Italy.
Thanks Buzzurro.
I suggest telling the dentist to give you some sort of drugs before drilling next time…. and I’m not talking about localized anasthesia. Tell him to put you under completely. Then he can talk on that phone for hours all you care…
The same thing happens in Greece. People are addicted to their cell phones and I hate it. Not only have I had to tell my doctor to stop taking calls during my paid appointment with her, I’ve also had to tell friends to switch their phones off when they come to my house. They’ve told me that’s rude but I really can’t stand sitting in my living room watching them talk to other people about nothing more than what they’ve got planned for the weekend. Now, that’s rude. I have a cell phone with me all the time. I rarely ever have it turned on and when I do, I rarely ever answer it and I’m living proof that nothing bad will happen to you if you have unanswered calls. LOL
It really irritated me at first, but I guess after several years I’ve begun to accept unwillingly some cellphone use, for example short, important calls, but chatting just for the sake of chatting with friends or family members, I have not.That is very rude to chat to another person to make weekend plans while at your house. It is especially uncalled for while working, especially at a Dr.s office.
This bugs the hell out of me and esp since my hubby is an offender. He started playing games with his phone at restaurants and sending SMS messages so I began to read, listen to the Ipod and also send messages on my phone until he got the message and quit.
OMG! I’d tell the dentist - You shut your mouth or I’ll shut mine!
Ok, I probably wouldn’t, but still. So, now that these cell phones are so tiny, what if it fell in a patient’s mouth? They choke and die right in the chair!! In the US, this is prime lawsuit ground!