The Telephone Booth

When I was growing up there was an inherent role of privacy that most people observed. If a person was on the phone they would normally talk in an isolated area to maintain a sense of privacy and also not to disturb others. Even public phones were enclosed in booths (remember Superman doing his changes?). Inside of buildings and outside on the street making a phone call was a private experience. After all you didn't want everyone hearing your conversation.Even at home people understood that people should be allowed to talk on the phone without all ears listening. 

However, we have evolved and now there are no phone booths, no public phones, and even home phones are becoming obsolete. Now there is nowhere I can go to escape being exposed to other conversations. The cell phone has now become the way to be connected, anywhere, anytime, and almost anyplace. I have been exposed to personal conversations in airports, stores, at work, even in public restrooms. Most people who have a cell phone will talk on it anywhere and not really care who hears them. Whether its business or personal in many cases doesn't make a difference. Most of these people also have to talk loud to ensure that the people on the other end can hear them.Those that do care will at least text instead. I guess my need for my private space is not as important as any of these calls and I could ask them to take it somewhere else... but there aren't any private booths available.