HIGHTOWER: The Cell Phone Rebellion

Rally for the cause Citizens, the rebellion is on!From sea to shining sea, the American people are rising up against the oppressors in our midst -- the forces of evil who have invaded every community and are assaulting men, women, and children with their hand-held, high-tech arsenal of ... cellular telephones.I have good news from the front lines of the cell phone rebellion. Restaurants in New York City are beginning to "just say no" to the ego-maniacal yo-yos who storm in with phones drawn, blasting the other patrons with their high-decible verbal assault. For example, the Old Town Bar has plastered signs around the place showing a cell phone with a red circle around it and a red line across it, proclaiming it to be a "Cellular Free Zone." The manager told the New York Times, "We were built in 1892, and we try to maintain the spirit of a tavern, a place of good feeling and fellowship. Talking on a cell phone is self-indulgent." Right on!Likewise, the owner of an upscale restaurant called Tabla reports that "we had three people at the same table on separate phones at the same time," so he's drawn the line, posting polite signs that say, "please refrain from using your cell phone in the dining room."That's a whole lot more polite than the jerks who use the phones in dining rooms, yaking up a storm and essentially saying to everyone in the room, "Look at ME. Aren't I important?" No, you're a jerk. Times writer Alex Witchel reports that the rebellion is growing throughout New York City, and cell-phone use is "becoming the technological equivalent of halitosis." One restauranteur says customers are taking action: when a cell phone rang recently in his restaurant, "50 heads turned in unison and scowled at the table."This is Jim Hightower saying ... Now that's the spirit! Stand up, Speak out, Scowl and Shush these jerks. Fight back Citizens -- you have nothing to lose but your anger!