Are You Troubled by People Who Blather on Their Cell Phones in Public?

Cell Phone Echolalia may be spreading!

I propose a new medical condition, which I’m calling Cell Phone Echolalia. Cell phone echolalia causes the sufferer to repeat everything a person who is talking on a cell phone in public says, at first in a whisper, but escalating in volume until it becomes a shout.

This is how it plays out:

“I’m on the train,” the person in the seat beside me says.

“I’m on the train,” I echo quietly.

“I’ll be home at around six.”

“I’ll be home at around six,” I echo in normal speaking tones.

“Should I stop for take-out on the way home?”

“Should I stop for take-out on the way home,” I say loudly.

“I don’t know. Moo shoo?”

“I DON’T KNOW,” I shout at the top of my lungs. “MOO SHOO?”

At which point, the cell phoner will interrupt his phone conversation to demand, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Your response? “I’m terribly sorry, but I suffer from an incurable condition known as cell phone echolalia. As long as you are within hearing distance of me and continue to yammer on your cell, I have no choice but to repeat whatever you say, however boring and banal.”

They may continue to protest. Your response?

“Why on earth are you affronted? Clearly you think that your every word is a pearl of wisdom that everyone around you should be delighted to share. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be incredibly rude for you to inflict your inane chatter on the rest of us?”

Will this cause the phoner to come to their senses, apologize for being a source of annoying noise pollution, and put their phone away? If only. These folks are far too addicted to the sound of their own voices to ever behave this sensibly.

However, given that there is no cure for CPE, you leave them with just one option, which is to move, until they’re so far away you can no longer hear them.

Problem solved! (You’re welcome.)

(Roz Warren is a mild-mannered librarian and humorist. This piece first appeared on Zestnow.)

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Roz Warren

Roz Warren Roz is the author of Just Another Day At Your Local Public Library and Our Bodies, Our Shelves: A Collection Of Library Humor. She writes for The New York Times and The Funny Times. Her work also appears in Good Housekeeping, The Christian Science Monitor, The Philadelphia Inquirer and of course, the Humor Times. Connect with her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter or visit her website.