The phone as a societal mechanism has always been disruptive, in the sense that it gets an inordinate amount of priority in day-to-day activity. You can be standing in a long line at a store, and when the store's phone rings you are put into a holding pattern while the phone caller gets the proprietor's attention. Once in a while the proprietor will say, "I have a lot of customers here waiting to be served. I'll have to put you on hold." But it's rare, since the caller will invariably hang up, as if that was an affront, so the sale is lost. Over time the phone caller ends up in a special priority situation.

The same holds true with the mobile phone. How often have you heard, "Hold on, I have to take this," from someone you are physically standing in front of and chatting with? The world is put on hold when a mobile phone rings. The fact is, no one "has to take" the call. People choose to take the call. Is anyone going to drop dead on the spot if they don't? It seems unlikely. Whenever someone you're with answers the phone, you should immediately flash your middle finger and walk off.