He puts his phone in and he pulls his phone out. He puts his phone in and he crams it all about...

Before I begin this post, let me preface by saying I am well aware that first world commuting problems pale in comparison to everything else that is happening in the world such as Twinkies no longer being manufactured and Prince Harry's dilemma over whether to ask Cressida Bonas to marry him, so this observation of mine may seem petty.

Last night (and I have friends who do this as well) I sat across from a guy who pulled his iPhone from his pocket, read a text message, wrote a text message and then pushed his iPhone back into his pant pocket. Thirty seconds later, he retrieved it, read a message, wrote a message and put it back in his pocket. This was done with a lot of grunting and wriggling each time. This went on for the entire train ride. The longest duration his phone sat in his pocket was two minutes. I timed it. I couldn't concentrate on anything else but this ridiculous display of passive/aggressive obsessiveness.

I have a friend who does the same thing, but instead of her pocket, the phone is in her purse. She will pull her phone out and check it several times, rather than just hold it in her hand. She will put it back in her purse only to remove it seconds later.

It ... drives ... me... CRAZY.

You'll notice this same tic-like behaviour displayed with people with BlackBerries and the holders that flip up. How many times does the phone go in and out of the holder when you stand next to these people in a line for coffee, at the bus stop or at the bank?

I can go hours without checking my phone. In fact, I enjoy the silence. I can't imagine how distracting or disruptive it must be to be so attached to a device that one jumps or reacts each time it blips or you have to look at it to just squelch the desire to check it.

Anyone who has texted me knows I can take hours, sometimes a whole day, to text back. I'm not ignoring you. I'm probably down at the soup kitchen or at the humane society brushing bunnies, or I'm writing a letter to my sponsor child in Africa. But I always answer... eventually.