Old Lady Ring Tones

(Cross posted from my Facebook account)

WARNING: Some may be offended by this post, but if you are offended, it is probably important for you to read.

So this Sunday in church, an older woman sitting in front of me suddenly started rummaging through her purse looking for the cell phone that was the source of the sound that caused dozens of glances. She made the noise stop, then 3 or 4 minutes later the whole episode was repeated.

Several things struck me:

1. I was irritated that her phone wasn't silenced during a church service.
2. I was even more irritated that she didn't bother to turn off the phone after the first incident and that it happened again
3. The volume on the ring was extremely high
4. The ring tone had to be one of the most annoying musical ring tones a person could select
5. This has happened with a host of older women over the past few years. Not only in church, but in a number of different gatherings. It is not limited to older women, but it seems that the vast majority of these sorts of interruptions (loud annoying music playing as the ring tone on an un-silenced cell phone at a very inappropriate time) happen to older women.

Whether or not you are an older woman, if you are ever going to be in a situation where your cell phone ring would cause distraction, please follow this advice (least important to most important):

1. turn your cell phone ring volume down to a comfortable level
2. while musical ring tones may sound cute in theory, do you really want "when the saints go marching in" blasting from your purse or pocket during a church service? a wedding? a funeral? - select a simple, subtle ring tone that isn't a song. If you have to have a song, at least go for something soothing. Think of it in the terms your mother gave you as advice when you went off to college: "always wear clean underwear, in case you are in a car accident". I'll give you my version: if you are in a car accident and are knocked unconscoius, do you want the hospital staff to see you in your "super freak" battery-powered light-up musical thong?
3. set your phone to silent or at least vibrate if you have to have it on during interruptable activities.
4. if you don't have to have your phone on, turn it off, or better yet don't bring it.

Thanks for listening!

Mexico Mission

Last week I went to Cabo San Lucas for the second time to help friends Kathy and Keith with a mission trip. I was on the operations team and lead worship.

Before the day started I would head to the beach to try and take some photos of the sunrise.

The days started with all the groups (7 groups in all, about 130 people) having breakfast over the pool in the restaurant. I led a short worship set each morning in the outdoor dining area.

Next I ran up the many flights of stairs to the lobby area where we prepped lunches and water for all the groups going out into the barrios surrounding Cabo to help with Kidsgames and compassion projects.

Once the groups were off, we went to Costco and Wal Mart and got all the supplies for the remainder of the day and the next morning. This generally took several hours.

Most of the days we would return and have enough time to make some cold gatorade for the returning groups and get some of the dinner items ready then I would set up on the beach for evening worship. Once the sound system was ready if I had time before dinner I would comb the beach looking for some of the spectacularly colored shells or take a dip in the pool.

After dinner everyone headed out onto the beach for an evening worship set which was great for everyone. I really enjoyed being able to lead worship on the beach with just a guitar - looking at the group with the Sea of Cortez in the background and the sunset glowing overhead.

I was invited and able to lead worship the first Sunday at the Cabo English Church, which was very enjoyable. I was warmly welcomed and everyone seemed to engage in the worship time.

One of the evenings was a free night and I was able to hang out with Kathy and Paul and their oldest 2 kids in downtown Cabo. We were invited to eat at Cascatas resort on the beach and had a great time enjoying a delicious meal.

We were able to go out and go see several of the sites where the teams were working with the local churches to connect kids from the community to some caring adult relationships that can be life changing as they are given an alternative to hanging out all day while their parents both work. The teams were all also working on compassion projects, helping the local churches complete work projects to add on, update or remodel their facilities.

The week was a whirlwind. I wish I could have spent more time visiting with Kathy and Keith, but I had a great time.

I am already planning on returning next summer, we'll see how it all plays out but I can't wait to get back.

Great week.

Pics on facebook, I'll try to post some here. you can see some in my flickr widget on this page or on my Flickr page.