Etiquette

It's interesting the different forms of phone etiquette out there. I, personally, hate taking calls when someone else is in my car. I feel that's rude. And if I notice someone on the phone with whom I need to speak, I will wait til they're off to say hello.

I don't know many people in my complex. Those I do know, aside from M&K, I've met through my dog. There's one old woman who's very nice, but also a bit strange. A friend was taking care of p.snugg and ran into her. She addressed the dog directly, and not my friend, who spoke to her. This lady is an odd bird, yes. So, she's in the pool and I politely wave, but I continue my conversation. That should be the end of it. Instead, she tries to engage me in conversation about the fact that there's human feces in the pool. Fabulous. Thank you for letting me know. I will not swim in that pool for a while. However, lady, I am CLEARLY on the phone and will not have a full conversation with you. Nor will I walk around the iron fence to use my key to come into the pool area to SEE POOP! I sort of nodded said some throw away line, and continued on. She gets out and starts to follow me, CONTINUING to try to engage me in conversation.

At this point, I don't know what to do or say to let her know I'm not interested in her without seeming rude. Then I realized *she* was the one being rude. It's not like I was speaking with her first and took a call in the middle of our conversation. No. I was on the phone with a friend, who I am now ignoring. This is another one of my pet peeves. If there is too much excitement on your end of the conversation, maybe you shouldn't be on the phone. Don't call me if you're super distracted and then get off after a few minutes of wasted conversation. So, I was turning into my own pet peeve. Gross.

In the end, I felt bad for a half second, then got over it and ignored her as politely as I could and turned my attention back to my friend. I would love to see the conversation if Dude Who Hugs ever ran into Crazy Old Lady. They both have dogs. I see a friendship blossoming.