Places You Should Never Talk on Your Phone

Cellphones have infiltrated every facet of our lives, but cellphone etiquette is still somewhat elusive. After all, isn’t talking on your phone just like talking to someone who’s right next to you? The short answer is no. Just think about hearing someone in a store negotiating with their kid in a one-sided conversation or folks on the subway navigating a breakup—on speakerphone! Things can get weird fast, not to mention potentially dangerous.

“Cellphones can be unsafe distractions—mostly because there’s a loss of situational awareness when you interact with your phone,” says Bob Otter, a retired fire department captain with 26 years of experience and the founder of CitizenAID. “The cellphone has single-handedly made our general public more vulnerable than at any time in history.”