Can you put your finger on exactly why it's so annoying when people you're with carry on endless text conversations with someone else?

It’s like addressing a group of people or putting on a presentation in a conference room and two or three of the folks at the table are leaning over and whispering over you. Makes you want to pull out a bullwhip and crack it at’em like Indiana Jones. Whew!

No, it’s worse than running off to another room. They’re showing you they don’t even have enough respect for you to do that.

It is the equivalent of a person not looking at you when you are speaking to them. Just plain rude, imo.

It’s annoying cause I feel left out. I might as well be alone if I’m just gonna be ignored

Yes, it is like they are whispering almost? Plus you’ve probably driven over there to see that person but someone at home in their pj’s gets all the attention loll.

It’s more than annoying, it’s rude and thoughtless, no other way to sum it up.

If this is someone I really intend to hang out with and they’re having a private text conversation with someone the whole time, I would consider it rude. It shows that they’re not fully interested in spending time with me and find their text conversation important enough to have it the entire time they’re with me (this has happened to me before). I don’t mind if someone texts someone a few times while they’re with me, I do that too. If someone texts me while I’m with someone, I’m not going to ignore them, but I wouldn’t instigate a full-blown lengthy conversation with them.

It’s like when I was giving my presentation in Economics class and my (boy)friend Rory was texting on his iPhone beneath the desk while I was beginning and I was like “Rory, stop texting” in front of the whole class and everyone looked at him and he turned red in the face. I felt kinda bad about embarrassing him, but he told me later that he thought it was funny. If my teacher wasn’t going to get people’s attention, I was.

Unless the conversation is very important, then I don’t think a person should be doing that when they’re spending time with other people. I try to give the tangible people I’m with my full attention.

Really, cell phone etiquette makes me feel old. Frankly, unless you are a parent with some child issue to deal with, or a doctor, whatever it is probably isn’t that important, whether it’s texting or using a cell phone in public, or while driving, or whatever.

My thought is: Why are you taking your attention away from the person who is right in front of you by texting? How rude. At least excuse yourself to another area.

It’s rude.What I do is poke them with a pointy stick until they deem me important enough to interact with.

I compare it to farting at the dinner table. It’s rude and it’s unpleasant for those sitting at the table.

It’s rude and I don’t like.

Honestly, I don’t own a cell phone and that doesn’t bother me one bit.

Cell phone rates are ridiculously high in the land of beer and beavers

Three words….. Because it’s rude!

It rude. They might as well say they rather be anywhere but with you at the moment. Only they don’t say it out loud and insist on sticking around and rubbing it in your face. Unless its an emergency, in which case I would expect you to call not text.

Because those who are texting while with you are not giving you their full attention. it is totally rude.

My friend does this exact thing every time I’m with her. I feel unimportant and steal her phone from her to make her stop, and then SHE gets mad at ME for it. It pisses me off.

Its that you are being ignored and that a stupid electronic device is more important to the person than you are.

The immediate feeling is of being less important to the person taking their attention from you to go look at the text and worse if they answer it. The trouble is, everyone texts now so it could be someone at work asking for coverage or kids texting to say “hi” or “goodnight” or whatever, it can be utilities confirming an online payment they’ve received or email telling you something and on and on. I try not to get bent out of shape but I do miss when the choice was to answer the ringing telephone or let it go to voicemail.

@hungryhungryhortence Oh, an occasional text is OK, but when they’re having a full fledged conversations and laughing when they read the text, or making other comments like, “Oh man!” and proceed to text them back…it’s totally annoying.
And as to the other….if you ignore your cell phone ringing it’s taken as a personal affront. Wasn’t that way with answering machines….

To me it’s like saying, I’d rather be with this person so I’m going to talk with them and ignore you.