WHEN cellphones started to proliferate, one of the persistent fears was the issue that it would cause cancer, specifically brain cancer. Holding a phone near your brain does seem to emit a lot of waves. We had concerns about whether using a cellphone would become unhealthy in the long term or cause the growth of abnormal cells. You might be happy to know that a recent study from the University of Sydney found that people who have used mobile phones for up to 29 years had no increase in brain cancer incidence that is in any way connected with the steep increase in mobile phone use.
Of course, cellphone use can be detrimental in other ways. Every so often, we read about people who get into car accidents or who get run over because they were looking at their phones or taking selfies.
Here is one that is interesting: the Saudi Newspaper Al Watan reported on a husband who filed for divorce against his wife right after wedding because that night, the wife was too busy texting instead of spending time with him.
The wife, according to the report, ignored the husband in the hotel room, and kept on texting her friends. When the husband asked her in frustration that she was acting like her friends were more important than he was, the bride answered that they were.
I guess that was the final blow.
Will people change? Unlikely.
More and more, even during meetings, it is important to know when to receive cellphone calls or answer your texts.
If I worked with a person, and he ignores calls or texts during meetings, he would get my respect. I would allow him to glance when the phone vibrates, and if sometimes he answers, and sometimes he ignores it, then I would take it that this person understands what is important and urgent, and what is not. If he keeps taking it, then I would conclude that this person has become addicted or just cannot resist his cellphone, whether the call or message is important or not.
If you have to constantly check your phone in the middle of a conversation of an important meeting, a smooth way to do it without being impolite is to have a smart watch. It allows you to be polite and discreet. You can check who the caller is or who the message is from without too much interruption by glancing at your wrist instead of taking out your phone.
Can you do it? I think it is more polite than pulling out your phone in the middle of a conversation. It is even worse to be using your tablet or tapping on a notebook computer when conversing with someone else. I think glancing at your watch and reading an important text or message is more acceptable.
(wilson@ngkhai.com)