Hang Up, For God's Sakes!

It’s ok to hang up the phone. Really, I'm giving you permission.

This week I’ve been at a conference, learning how to be a b etter fundraiser. One of the buzz words (or terms) right now in fundraising, as in every other field, is social media. We are connected than ever before the hoards of family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and even people from grade school that we haven’t seen or heard from in decades. If we’re fans we can learn what grinds Seth McFarland’s grears from his twitter account, or know that Lebron James had a rough practice from a facebook update.

But the question arises, where is the line? When does social media, i-phone apps, and the facebook-inter-google-tweet-net get the better of us?

Today I observed that line. And it was abused.

Between sessions I stepped into the men’s room to…well…you know… Anyway, so I enter the restroom which seems to be empty and find a nice corner urinal. All of a sudden, a man in a stall starts talking very loudly about travel plans to visit a client in Florida.

I observe very strict man-law while in the restroom…this is the only are of my life where I’m a fundamentalist through and through…so needless to say, I was a uncomfortable. In the time it took me to finish my business—the man in stall #2 finished his phone call and then…are you ready for this… started typing . The clicking of a keyboard is pretty unmistakable and I don’t care if it’s a laptop or a blackberry…that’s not the place to be sending e-mail. As I washed my hands the man apparently finished because he flushed and came out of the stall with a laptop bag slung over his shoulder and a Bluetooth headset in his ear.

What is wrong with people? If you are too busy to use the facilities without being connected…then you might have a problem. No one is so important that they can’t wait a minute for you to finish.

Just saying.