Consider this a helpful tip from your friendly neighborhood minister.
If by some unfortunate circumstance you happen to find yourself attending the funeral service of someone you know and love dearly, AT LEAST HAVE THE COURTESY TO TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE SO IT DOESN’T RING DURING THE EULOGY! Trust me, you’re not that important.
I attended a funeral today where not one, but TWO different cell phones went off during the service. Is there anything more rude? Both phones were set to these sonic-shrill ring tones, the kind that make your ears bleed if you’re within a 100 yard radius when it goes off. After the first phone interrupted the service, I noticed several people reaching for their purses and belt clips to turn their phones off (thankfully, I remembered to do this in the parking lot). But not 5 minutes later, at one of the more tender and heartfelt moments of the eulogy, another dude’s phone goes off, this time blasting a deafening version of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. (For you uncultured readers, click here to listen. Try and imagine hearing this at 180 decibels in a small, confined chapel.)
And here’s another tip: when your phone does go off in public like that, at least have the decency to mute your phone as quickly as possible. Don’t be like this clown, who proceeded to hold the phone up to check the caller ID first! Turn your phone off! Like, what, you’re going to take the call if it’s reeeaallyy important? I actually wish he would’ve answered; at least then we wouldn’t be forced to listen to his ridiculously perky ring tone against our will. No joke, he let the entire song play. After it was over, I nearly stood up and applauded for an encore.
Nevertheless, the funeral was a beautiful one. I was especially moved by the memories shared by the deceased’s grandsons. They were truly beautiful, holy words. Too bad my ears were still ringing from Tchaikovsky.
already & not yet 
That may be one of the most inconsiderate things I have ever heard. I could understand one, but then everyone ought to check.
Seriously.
This is definitely disrespectful and has become an all-too-common trend today. This is probably due to the idea that anyone over 7 needs a cell phone these days. Crazy. I would like to say that I sneer at people who this accidentally happens to, as I have in the past, but it actually happened to me in church several weeks ago! I honestly try to remember, every time, to turn off. This just once I forgot. MORTIFYING!!
My phone is always on silent mode. I know that this makes me sound like I am tooting my own horn, but AT LEAST YOU CANNOT HEAR IT. As a youth minister, I get calls about every other hour, so it is constantly quiet. The only time I have it on loud is when I am in the car on the way home.
I’m with you Stacy. Turning your phone off should be Funeral Etiquette 101. But it does happen to everybody I guess. It happened to me at church once when the kids were about a month old. Sunny was calling to leave me a message to pick up more formula or something. I’d forgotten to set my phone to vibrate. I was sitting up in the claw and all the teens turned and started laughing. It’s pretty tough to embarrass me, but I actually turned kinda red.Roberto, my phone is usually set to silent / vibrate, too. If anything, I miss more calls than I answer.
So I guess going to the funeral home for it’s killer wireless reception would be considered improper?
No pun intended, right?
None at all.
It’s to die for.