Is Hiking a Canyon Really the Only Way to Get Some Quiet?

(Stephanie K. Kuykendal - Ftwp)

I recently returned from my annual trek with friends to the Grand Canyon's north and south rims and the canyon floor. Once again I was overwhelmed by the beauty and solitude of the canyon. The trip always provides the opportunity to rest, get away from it all and hear myself think, away from all the noises of life.

Now for the bad news. More than 20 years ago, I bought life membership in several airline clubs for about $200 each. Over the years, this has been a great investment.

I have used the clubs as places to rest and read undisturbed while waiting for flights. For many years the only noise in the clubs came from the occasional business executive negotiating a major confidential deal on a club phone, subdued conversations and the television -- often in the bar.

My, has the world changed. My return from the canyon included a change of planes in Denver. I looked forward to a few hours of rest and reading in one of the large airline clubs.

Soon after I sat in a comfortable chair, I was struck by the noise around me. Nobody was reading! Almost everyone was on a cellphone. They each talked louder than necessary because they were competing with other cellphone users. The phone conversations were long, and most people made several calls.

You might accuse me of deliberately listening to their calls. I would have to be deaf not to notice the number of calls and the purpose of most of the calls. The small groups of non-cellphone users had to talk more loudly than normal to be heard over the din. To add insult to injury, two groups with small children let the kids use any volume they wished because the general noise level seemed to imply that all noise was good noise.

Do not get me wrong; I love my cellphone. Most often I use it for short calls, the shorter the better when people are nearby.

It appears that it may be too late to develop any widespread cellphone etiquette. Should facilities such as airline clubs have quiet zones? There are quiet cars on trains. Should we even try to develop some standards of etiquette for cellphone use? Is it proper to answer your cellphone in a meeting? How about when you are talking to one or two people?

On the basis of limited information, I think the need for cellphone etiquette is even greater in Europe and Asia.

Should we restrict cellphone use as we restrict smoking? What else do we need to do to allow those of us who want to hear ourselves think in public places actually exercise such a right?

Back to my recent experience. I tried five or six locations in search of quiet. Each time I found one, I was soon joined by someone who had many calls to make. My eventual solution? I used to complain about the annoying televisions near seating -- back in the pre-cellphone era. Well, I found a seat near the television, using the white noise that it provided.

There has to be a better solution.

Alan G. Merten became the fifth president of George Mason University in July 1996. Like many college presidents, he travels a lot. The trip described here, though, was one of his several recreational trips to the Grand Canyon, which he has visited about six times in the past seven years. He likes to walk to the canyon floor and spend the night.