[MR] Pennsic Cell Phones

[Judithsca at aol.com]

Hail, fellow tavern dwellers!
     This Pennsic I noticed a rather disturbing trend: Cell phones ringing 
everywhere I went, whiling teaching classes, or while walking down the street, 
or while eating in the market place.  This grew to be very annoying very 
quickly.  Nothing will ruin any semblance of period atmosphere more quickly than the 
shrill chirp of a cell phone (even if it is playing Handel's "Messiah").  
This was coupled with the image of peopld walking down the street, appearantly 
talking animatedly to themselves until one got close enough to them to see the 
cell phone in their hand.
     Now, I begin to ask the question:  is this necessary?  I can understand 
that some people want to be instantly contactable for emergency purposes, but 
really, the advent of the cell phone occurred very recently, and somehow the 
HUman race not only survived, but thrived happily without it.
       What does everyone else think?  Am I the only one who noticed and was 
bothered by it?  I am thinking of writing to next year's event steward and 
asking that they enforce a ban on cell phone ringers (one can set one's cell 
phone to vibrate, which would then not bother anyone).

Yours,
Judith de Northumbria