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Health & Fitness

What's worse than a cell phone ringing during a concert?

Sometimes the true is stranger than fiction.

Last Sunday I  attended a classical music recital at the Skokie Library. My cousin's daughter was playing her cello and another teenager performed on the viola. Both high schoolers' performances were amazing and highlighted their talents and dedication to fine music.

Prior to the concert beginning, the usual announcements were made for audience members to silence all cell phones and refrain from talking during the concerts so as not to disturb others.

As the young violist was performing one of her pieces, a cell phone rang. What could that mean? Did the person with the phone forget to turn it off or set not it to a vibrate mode? Was there a possible emergency - a wife or partner going into labor, or a physician needing constant contact with a hospital because a patient was in intensive care, or did someone die?

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What happened next astounded me and everyone in the audience. The person actually answered the phone! Here's what the audience and performer heard: "Hi how ya' doin'? . . . (pause) I'm attending a concert at the library and should be done by five . . . (pause) I could meet you at around 5:30 for a bite. Where do ya' want to meet?  . . .(pause) That sounds OK.. See ya' then.

I can understand people using their cell phones during a sporting event or even at an outdoor pop music concert. But I find it totally unacceptable to carry on a conversation indoors during a classical music performance of any kind. Unfortunately I was seated too far away to catch the offender after the concert and was unable to confront him. He must have been in a rush to meet his friend for dinner.

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I asked the young performer after the recital if she had heard the cell phone ring. She told me that she indeed did and heard the entire conversation. I must give her credit for concentrating and ignoring the rudeness because she continued playing as though nothing had happened.

Are some people so self-centered that they don't care about others? Didn't their folks teach them how to behave in public? Is this another example of the decline of civilization as we knew it?

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