Thursday, January 12, 2012

Whoops

How embarrassing.

It seems that history has been made with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

"Tuesday night, during the final movements of Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, the music was brought to a dramatic halt by Maestro Alan Gilbert." The culprit? A ringing cell phone in the first row.

Read the story here.


Me, I'd want to crawl under a rock somewhere if that cell phone had been mine.

9 comments:

  1. Lumps on his head would teach him better.

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  2. I was in a movie theater not too long ago and all of a sudden I heard a ringing and it took a few seconds to realize it was MINE! I was so embarrassed. I answered it and left the theater for the few minutes it took to speak to our son. I hadn't realized the phone was on when the movie began because I so seldom use it.

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    Replies
    1. I never have the ringtone switched on, I have my phone set for vibrate in case of emergencies.

      I'm a nurse and this can cause embarrassment though - you try telling the elderly lady, whom you are in the process of assessing, why your trousers start vibrating ooops!

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  3. I have such a fear of this happening when I'm in church that I always keep my cell phone in my car during Mass!

    I was glad to read that the conductor restarted the piece before the tranquil part in hopes of recapturing the moment.
    KatieJ
    Germany

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  4. Gosh I had that happen once at a Paula Deen cooking class. I NEVER carry my cell phone it is only for emergencies so it stays in the car, I had thrown it in my purse so I could call hubby to pick me up after the class, he was out and about taking in all the sights of Savannah. I was sooo embarrassed, didn't even know how to turn the stupid thing off.

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  5. This isn't a matter of "oops!" They say in the video that the inconsiderate audience member let the tone go on for quite some time, even after a glance from the conductor! Unbelievable! If we're going to carry around all these modern gadgets, we should at least learn how to operate them properly and know how to turn them off, quickly! Usually with a cell phone, a quick squeeze on any button will mute it. We're not talking rocket science here, folks.

    I was at a Willie Mosconi billiards exhibition years ago, gathered closely around the pool table with dozens of other rapt observers, and a young boy was running around behind us making a terrible racket while Mr. Mosconi was trying to play. He finally slammed down his pool cue in disgust and yelled, "Whose child is that?!" A woman standing right behind him gasped, turned and ran off. She had been totally oblivious to the racket her precious darling was making! Seriously... we need to wake up, folks, and show more consideration to others. --Fred in AZ

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  6. I would have been so horrified if that had been my phone! I have had it start ring during doctor consult before, and all I have to do is squeeze the buttons on the sides of the phone to mute it very, very quickly. I don't even have to take it out of my pocket.

    What gets me, though, is that this guy refused to silence his phone, and it continued to ring for minutes, ignoring the other patrons who were making their unhappiness known, and ignoring the conductor, who turned around and told him to turn it off while the music was going. It was only when the conductor brought the performance to a halt that the man finally silenced his phone.

    WOW!! I cannot imagine being so incredibly rude and inconsiderate!

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  7. I'd guess the reason the guy didn't silence it immediately was because he thought if he didn't make any sudden moves, the conductor might think it belonged to the guy NEXT to him. After a while, it was a lost cause.

    And to make matters worse, the ring-tone was a marimba!
    A-chee-wa-wah!

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  8. The most unbelievable thing about this story is that the guy just sat there letting his phone ring for so long, doing nothing to stop it.

    I can just imagine what was going through his mind...."Okay, THIS is the last ring....Okay, this is for sure the LAST ring.....This one MUST be the last ring..........oh, crud on a cracker..."

    Just Me

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