On Tuesday January 7, 2012 a conductor with the New York Philharmonic stopped the performance in the middle of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 due to the ringing of a cell phone.  The performance was continued after the offender turned off his phone.  The conductor later explained that the piece goes quiet and is followed by a dramatic finish that would have  been spoiled by the interruption.  I would like to know how it is that people have become so rude and others complacent with the use of cell phones.  I, like the conductor, feel that my moment dramatic impact is ruined by my companion’s cell phone ring.  The fact that the ringing phone is answered is completely insulting.  We all believe that there are exceptions, my kids are home alone, waiting for a call, the office, my husband, and the list is endless.  What it comes down to is that your call is given preference over your audience.  Whatever happened before the cell phone?  Has it replaced babysitters?  Will the world end if someone had to actually wait for a call back at a more appropriate time?  Does your child’s inability to locate something to eat in your brimming refrigerator constitute an emergency?  I am not sure when we will stop, but certainly it has gotten completely out of hand.  Our children already sit in a room with their friends, texting instead of talking.  We are raising a generation of anti-social and taciturn children who, unfortunately, are learning by our example.