When can I tell a cellphone user to just be quiet?

• Author: Cohen, Randy
• Position: THE ETHICIST: Life's full of questions: he's got answers - Brief article

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On a noisy $10 interstate bus, the woman behind me spent the entire four hours on her cellphone telling the same story--in a loud, nasal voice--to five different people. I wanted to ask her to stop, but I didn't know if I should--especially considering the cheap fare. What should I have done? JUSTINE VAN DER LEUN, NEWYORK

YOU SHOULD HAVE grabbed her phone and pummeled her with it mercilessly. No, no, you can't do that. You should simply have grabbed her phone and thrown it out the window.

OK, not that either.

Cellphones are a relatively new technology, and the etiquette surrounding their use is still evolving. Here's my guideline: Don't impose your cellphone conversation on people confined in a closed space--a bus, a restaurant, a train. If your talking prevents those trapped nearby from reading or working or simply thinking their own thoughts, then cut it out.

You correctly suggest that different social settings permit different behavior. I can't ask everyone at a football game to pipe down so I can read my book. And there are different expectations at McDonald's than at...