Writer's Block: Miss Manners
I don't really feel that any of these things have had an extremely bad influence on the manner in which people behave in public. I figure that if someone has poor manners while using any of these devices, he/she probably has poor manners in any other application. I would say, however, that being on a cell phone in public can provoke "rudeness". For instance, you're at a store and the cashier is talking at you, meanwhile you have Jabby Jenny blabbing away in your ear... One of those two is bound to be interrupted by you cutting them off, asking them to excuse you for just a moment while you wrap up the other conversation. Sure, this can be done as politely as possible, but let's face it: You're still interrupting.