I have decided to fight back when annoying (i.e., loud and intrusive) cell phone conversations take place.

When Ms. Sombody-or-Other has her phone glued to her ear, walking around crowded grocery aisles, bellowing to the other party about her latest cyst removal or how many incontinence pads she had to use, the rest of us are expected to turn a deaf ear.

Well, no more. I join in the conversation with a hearty, "Gosh, don't I know it. Why, I just had a massive hangnail to clip just the other day."

When Ms. Somebody-or-Other glares at me and says that it's a private conversation, I say, "Really? Why, the whole store can hear you. What's private about it?"

By this time everyone else around me is smiling and nodding and giving me a wink. I feel quite the hero.

I wish these people would learn to take their conversations outside the store, or, if trapped inside, speak quietly and turn their backs to the rest of us (virtual privacy much practised in other cultures). If they insist on "sharing" their most intimate concerns with the rest of us, I hope you will join me in the conversation-crashing.

She did talk more softly afterward.