It’s a common courtesy, yet still people fail to silent their phones at gatherings.

You go to hear a speaker, and somebody’s phone goes off. The offender sometimes even says, “Pardon me,” and leaves the room to take the call. Even worse, they go to the back of the room to blather in hushed tones. Even worse, they don’t get up and take the call right then and there.

The right thing to do? Just silence your phone as soon as possible and apologize quietly to the people around you.

The best thing to do? Make sure your phone is on vibrate or silent before you enter the room. If you then get a call, because there was no loud interruption, it is acceptable to leave the room to take the call.

In the movie theater, it can be particularly annoying. Teens text each other from across the room and don’t bother to change the phone’s noise level. Even the phones of grown-ups go off, and they scramble to turn off the device.

Our advice: Leave the phone in the car or at home. If you must bring it into the theater, absolutely make sure it is on silent. Also, remember that even the light from your phone’s display can be annoying during the film. Stay off the device.

We encourage people to practice better phone etiquette. Sure, these handheld devices are cool, and we love them, too. But people need to be responsible users.