There seem to be various alternatives to letting a mobile ring out loud: you can have it on vibrate (are you really sure yours doesn't, Martin? Mine is an ancient Nokia and it has a vibrate setting)and keep it in a pocket; you can ask close contacts to text if there's a need; or you can switch off, ask them to leave a message and you'll check regularly and call them back. None of these need impinge on other people.

There are mobile users who will ignore the above suggestions because think it makes them look important or needed if they're constantly on the mobile - they need to understand that the message this gives to others is "Look, I happen to be with you guys but there are more important people than you in my life and they have precedence," which is simply rude, there's no other word for it.

I think there's a modern obsession with being in touch 24/7 which is not entirely healthy, almost like an addiction. Sometimes it's good just to let go of the ties and trust that other people will be able to get on without you (and you without them) for a while, instead of being in a state of constant readiness for an emergency, and needing continual reassurance that there isn't one.

But if you can't do that and regard your mobile as an extra limb, you still don't need to have the sodding gadget belting out your favourite tune at every opportunity. There's simply no need.

(Memo to self: make sure, when I'm at Dartmoor Festival this weekend, that my own mobile doesn't embarrass me with its tinny rendering of "Barwick Green" at the wrong moment)

Marje