Some of the most obvious episodes of frustration at the United States Open on Friday came not in the rough or the bunkers at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, but rather at the entrance, where fans were stopped by members of the security staff. The fans argued and pleaded, but they could not enter the grounds without relinquishing their cellphones.

\"Cellphone excuses? I've heard them all this week,\" said Garrette Glinton, 23, a security guard at the main gate. \"The most popular ones are, `I'm a doctor on call,' (then your pager should be on vibrate. not your cellphone) or, `My wife is eight months pregnant.' Funny, it's always eight months, never seven or nine.\" (and so what if the wife's 8 months? you got another month to go)

\"If I have a heart attack, who's going to call 911?\" said Claudia Mutter, 50, from Coventry, R.I., (well... you're not in a deserted island all alone. are ya? There are people with phones and national TV coverage. duh!) who said she was unaware of the cellphone ban, even though it was printed on the back of tournament tickets. \"Seriously, I have to call home and check on my kids. Now I can't relax. I really think that as long as you keep the ringer off and you don't speak where you're not supposed to, they should absolutely allow them.\" (ideally, that's what people would do in other everyday situations. But they don't. They thinki ringing their cell and talking whenever and wherever is their goddamngiven right)

Many fans did not bring cellphones because they knew about the ban; the same rule was in place at the 2002 Open at the Bethpage Black course in Farmingdale. But some fans pleaded ignorance, explaining that they had not read the rules on the back of their tickets. Others admitted that they thought they could sweet-talk the security staff. Many fans said they had skipped work to head to the East End and had planned to monitor business from the golf course. (should have stayed at work if the situation is that critical or if the patient is convulsing)
Cellphones are banned from the tournament for security reasons, and to \"eliminate potential disruptions, not only to players, but also to other fans,\" Marty Parkes, a U.S.G.A. spokesman, said Friday.

many fans were forced to reacquaint themselves with the art of using a pay phone. At the many pay phone kiosks around the grounds, fans searched their pockets for quarters, or ran off to food or merchandise tents for change.

Mike Tenaglia, a worker in the trailer where the cellphones were handed over, said the ban had made the trailer a vortex of unhappiness all week, with fans handing over a good measure of frustration along with their phones.

\"Nobody's happy with it,\" Tenaglia, 20, said. \"People say things like, `Why on earth can't you bring a cellphone into the U.S. Open? I'll put it on vibrate.' (cuz you won't and it'll ring dumbass!)
\"They all come in here and vent and unload on us. After work I feel like going home and chopping down trees in my backyard.\"

Doug and Ginny Johnstone, 40, from Wantagh, N.Y., said the ban made it hard to check on their year-old son, Daniel, who is sick. (this goes beyond stupid and sick. if you have a one year old sick child at home, you do NOT spend all day at the golf course!)

\"It's hard not having that lifeline,\" said Ginny Johnstone, who struggled with the pay phone. \"It keeps asking me for more quarters and then cutting me off.\" (stupid bitch!)

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: June 19, 2004
Filed at 6:40 p.m. ET

LA GRANDE, Ore. (AP) -- A prosecutor was briefly sent to jail along with the man he helped convict of manslaughter after the lawyer refused a judge's order to turn on his cell phone.
....

By: JO MORELAND - Staff Writer

CARLSBAD ---- A Vista man racing another driver on Interstate 5 was talking on a cell phone when he crashed into a big rig and suffered fatal injuries, authorities said Wednesday.

Witnesses said 31-year-old Ricardo \"Ricky\" Cardenas and the unknown driver of a red BMW were hitting speeds of more than 110 mph Tuesday evening as the street race roared south on the freeway, said California Highway Patrol Officer Joel Arding.

\"We had someone call (later), saying she was the wife of the victim's cousin,\" Arding said. \"Her husband had been talking to the victim. They were talking on the cell phone. He heard a crash and the phone disconnected.\"
....

twin58:

For stories about the risk posed by cellphone use while driving:

Drive Now, Talk Later!

For a free \"Drive Now, Talk Later\" bumper sticker, just send a self-addressed business-size envelope with 37 cents postage on it to:

Bumper Sticker
Car Talk Plaza
PO Box 3500
Cambridge, MA 02238-3500

A survey of 300 retailers in Sweden found that squeezing handsets into snug-fitting pants is the second leading cause of broken phones. Apparently, the phones simply can't handle the pressure, and screens break or covers bend or crack.

To put it in perspective, tight pants break more phones than dogs, children, rain, snow, acts of forgetfulness and throwing phones to the ground in a rage, according to a report on the survey by cell-phone news Web site Cellular News.