Phone Rant.

I think I'm fairly considerate toward others. I am normally kind enough to think of others when I don't have to.

Let me point out firstly, that I am not an anti-phone person. Mobile phones have changed the world dramatically in such a positive way that it is almost impossible to gauge how they have revolutionised the globe. They serve such an important role in communication around the world, that life and death can sometimes, be decided with a simple phone call.

But these calls are not important in a cinema. When you've been told at least three times to turn off your phone. For two hours of your life. How hard can that be?

I was lucky enough to go see the latest James Bond film, Skyfall, in London the other night. It was a fabulous film and I encourage anyone who hasn't seen it, to go. It tips a hat to the older Bond films whilst still being current and interesting.

I arrived late to the cinema and had to make do with a seat at the front of a small screen. I didn't mind as we normally sit near the front anyhow when visiting the flicks. I had two seats to myself until they obviously sold the seats around me to other latecomers.

I had seats vacant either side of me and plonked my jacket on one of them. I had two young ladies on one side and two young men on the other. They were all in their late teens and chomped their way on popcorn and nachos for the first half hour of the film. I didn't mind that at all, because normally I'd be the one chowing down hard on a big bucket of salted popcorn.

We were almost one hour into the film before I began to get distracted by the lights of the mobile phones either side of me. Initially, I didn't really care, as it wasn't that off putting. But the lights slowly became more bothersome and more frequent.

Then the young lady on my right started playing Tetris on her phone. Then the gobshite on my left was checking his newsfeed on Facebook. I ignored it for a few minutes thinking that they would stop after a minute or two and go back to watching the film. He did put it away, but she stayed on it for over ten minutes.

I made my impatience obvious and without being rude, told her in no uncertain terms to turn it off.

The effect was immediate. The young lad beside me knocked his phone off too. Two birds with one barbed comment.

When I go into a public place whether it be restaurant or cinema - I turn off my phone. I would like to think that people in there go into those establishments to get away from life for a while. To tune out, to chill out. To get away from hand held technology and talk to actual people or to be entertained by the big screen. 

Has the world changed so dramatically that the contact with your phone is addictive?

On the way out of the cinema, I was glared at with sour faces for speaking my mind. Was I wrong here?