Standards of Behaviour In The Mess

[Phoney Tony]

I have been in many messes both O and SNCO and I am glad that the standards of dress/ behaviour have been relaxed to reflect society at large.

However, I feel mobile phones in the dinning room and bar really are not acceptable, unless they are in silent mode and when they ring the owner departs the room and answers elsewhere.

I have recently seen people conducting phone conversations whilst sittting at dinner shoving food into their mouths with a fork with their spare hand. In addition texting whilst sitting in the bar and allowing their phone to ring every time a reply was received.

I am getting old and grumpy or do you agree mobile phones in public rooms of the mess should be seen and not heard.

[BEagle]

I agree entirely. But I'm just civilian filth now!

A received silent-mode text message read discretely is one thing; the mid-dinner conversation quite something else. In general, I think that the polite thing to do would be to excuse oneself and answer the phone in a non-public area.

Who on Earth teaches these txt msg yoof kids what's what these days?

[Pontius Navigator]

BEAgle me too.

Funny though, in the bar, we all had the same issue phone. It was like the wild west everyone reaching for the draw.

Mine was a basic PAYG and I do not even know if it will text let alone go silent.

I supose we could all leave them in reception and just listen to the tannoy.

tannoy? t - annoy?

[tradewind]

Anyone who NEEDS to interrupt a beer in a mess bar to use a private mobile phone is clearly in the wrong job - either that or buy a round!

[tony draper]

The bounders would have been obliged to do the right thing, and have a accident whilst cleaning their Webleys in my day.

:rolleyes:

[ShyTorque]

Yeh but they will claim that they were cleaning the phone and "it just went off in my hand".

It used to be not unusual for the SDO's noisy pager to jump into a pint of lager if it disturbed Happy Hour.....probably works with phones too. :E

[Training Risky]

Best reason I can think of to have a noisy 'phone in the bar:

If you are in a round of 4, for example, and the frequency of buying the drinks works out to be 3 per hour (every 20 mins), then get the guardroom/mate/wife/etc to call you every 60 mins so you can excuse yourself to "take this very urgent call, chaps" and when you come back 10 mins later, the chaps will have got so fed up waiting for you to buy a round, they will have got it for you! ...... brillo or what!

PS: (Should I get out more?)

PPS: (On second thoughts, they will probably put it on your bar book anyway.)

[Vage Rot]

Agree totally, silent or turn the bl00dy thing off!

Alternatively, snatch the offending piece of elctronics and read the message out for all to hear!!! That usually teaches the bu99ers to turn 'em off!

During my limited married days, I had to exit the bar to take a call in case the wife realised that I wasn't 'working late and having a swift pint on the way home' but getting rat @r5ed in the Bar.

Now with an exuberant nymph0 gf I am more keen to get home!!! ;-)

[Roland Pulfrew]

Alternatively you could just get the PMC to change Mess Rules to ban the bl**dy things from public rooms. That way when one rings it is a legitimate fine or Mowbli goes swimming!!:p :p

[Rattus]

A female colleague of mine, who is blessed with a stunningly sexy telephone voice, has a foolproof trick for shutting up the (invariably male) bratphone addict. She leans across and says in a stage whisper "leave that thing darling and come back to bed".
Gotcha:E

[Mightycrewseven]

Mess Committee should authorise the fitting of several
hands free mobile phone holders along the length of
the bar. That, with a few Blue-Tooth head-sets, should
do the trick.

All those caught by the Mess 'fun' police, using a phone
without the hands free kit, should be fined a fixed penalty
of £30 (to mess funds) and 3 p(o)ints endorsed on their
bar bill........

....that'll learn 'em!

M7 :E

[Vage Rot]

Rattus,

You got the number of that filly with the sexy voice - cheaper than 0898!!!

[BEagle]

Mightcrewseven - not a good idea the Bluetooth connection. People mumbling away seemingly to themselves might be confused for spec aircrew navigators.....:E

[Little_Boy]

Training Risky - Are you Scottish?

[Daf Hucker]

Guys, guys, you've got to move with the times! I think that all Messes should have laptop connections available at the bar, so that individuals could surf the net as they Sup a designer beer at the bar. Individuals could then check their e-mails, play MP3 files over earphones, watch DVDs etc etc. It would really bring the Officers' or even the Sgts Messes into the 21st Century. After that we could work on dress standards!

[Jobza Guddun]

And eventually you'll be able to get "virtually" trashed too. Sober to rat***ed and back again at the press of a button.

Imagine that, no more trying to get the worlds biggest key into the smallest keyhole on the planet.....

[The Nr Fairy]

Jobza:

I dunno - I'm sure you could download a game like that if you wanted.

[Vage Rot]

Daf Hucker

Lap Dancing connections at the bar - I'm all for that!