Metro Works to Upgrade Cell Phone Capabilities

Too many people want to use their darn cell phones for useless stuff on the Metro. Example: About a year ago I heard a lady talking about what when on at her OB/GYN checkup. Thank goodness I could only hear one side of the conversation. If people would use their phones appropriately, perhaps it wouldn't bother me as much.

Personally, I would like to see the service removed...or Metro provide a quiet car.

Some people talk so loud about nothing that you can't even read the newspaper or book on the train. Not everybody, but some. Sort of like the person in the bank line talking so loud you can hear him/her out in the parking lot.

You have no right to pass judgment on peoples conversation. Who cares what you think is appropriate and not. Who are you to judge? If you want a quiet car then drive ;)

Actually, since the woman felt the need to speak in PUBLIC loud enough for anyone to hear, then she has already given up her right to not have her conversation "judged" by others. Is common courtesy really that hard to understand?

They say that nothing happens in this country if a congressman is not personally inconvenienced. Congressman Henry Waxman's little $1.5 billion rider sounds like quite an unfunded mandate. Or does Waxy expect DC-MD-VA commuters (who don't vote for him) to pay for this with fare hikes and local tax money?

I don't care about tunnels.

It would be nice if the stations had relays, so that when the train is late, as it is OFTEN. I can call my family and let them know without paying $1.40 to exit the station or $3 to use a pay phone.

Can I ride the cell phone line to work?

Would it get me there on time?

Can I ride it and get away from the other jerks on the metro?

So, Congressman Waxman wants to take what Verizon created at their own expense and force Metro to give it to others. If not, he cuts off their funding.

I thought businesses were supposed to be free to enter the market place if they see potential profit, and to pay their own way to do it.

ATT, Cellular One, Sprint, and others were in the cell phone business at the time Verizon made their move. They did not act. Verizon did.

Now Mr. Waxman wants to mandate that they have equal access. How nice of him. How socialist of him

Isn't this the same thinking we heard from Hillary Clinton a few months ago when she suggested that the huge profits of one oil company should be used for several projects she was supporting?

That sounds like what they do in Venezuela, China, and the former Soviet Union. Do we want that kind of thinking in our country?

I think not.

Something fishy here. And Waxmans involvement almost confirms this.

It's as small as a cell phone and you just turn it on and slip it into your purse or pocket ... anyone's cell phone within a specified radius won't get a signal. I was reading about a church in South America that used one because too many cell phones were ringing during religious services. Worked beautifully!

Also several movie theaters use them with success also.

Like everyone else I have become an audience for everyone's private life as they talk about everything under the sun on their cell phones.

At first I worried about being an interloper, but now I've accepted that people don't mind a perfect stranger being privy to their family fights, their rendezvous liaisons, or their business plans.

It's just the new way of things. Like laws and technology, etiquette has not kept up with things like ATMs and cell phones. There are unwritten rules about how close you stand to someone doing money transactions at ATMs, but it isn't as easy to escape someone talking a blue streak to a faceless "Somebody" as he or she sits next to you in a restaurant or subway or strolls by you on the street.

Everyone should, however, ask themselves if they would give their social security number or their pin number to the guy or gal sitting across from them on the Metro.

If they would be aghast at the very thought, perhaps it would be best to use the cell phone for emergencies, rather than having the following conversation within earshot of 40 assorted strangers, "You know, I just moved $10,000 into my money market where I'll get better interest. What? Yes, my wife doesn't know it. Why should I tell her anything. Ha! Ha! Where did you hear that? Well, that money represents my bonus.... What? Yeah, Sally wants to go to Florida, but I want Hawaii. When? Probably July...."

You see? I know more about this fabricated guy that he realizes. I don't care, but somebody might. You never know.

Actually, this article is not entirely correct. Not ALL carriers can "tap" aka roam on Verizon's service in the Metro.

Sprint does not work in the Metro.

Nextel does not either, since it uses an iDEN technology that cannot roam on networks like Verizon or Cingular. Many public safety officials carry Nextels, and it will be an improvement if they can use their phones while on the Metro system.

And new/renewed plans come with free unlimited roaming, or you can add this feature to an existing plan for $5/mo. I have used my Sprint phone underground on the metro several times without roaming charges. I just keep it in automatic mode so that it picks whatever (digital) network is available.

Honestly, I've found that face-to-face conversations are more of a distraction on the metro (same can be said of drivers with passengers). Extremely loud groups of kids and tourists are the biggest offenders. It's plenty hard to read when someone is shouting about an acquaintance whom they feel is a ho or their concern that the door isn't going to open at this stop.

How about working to upgrade the actual Metro system instead of something that is really just a convenience? Ya know...the ceilings that are falling down, the lights that are burned out, oh and what about more/longer trains? I'm tired of waiting 10 minutes for a Red line train at the height of rush hour...only to have to squeeze into the overcrowded cars.

Oh I guess we'll have to raise prices again. Absurd.

If everyone speaking over a specific decibel would automatically turn into a mime...it might be a great idea.