At an Amoco gas station in Baltimore, chatting while pumping is a no-no.
At some local golf clubs, tee time is no time for talking.
And at a number of restaurants around the region, gabbing in the dining room is simply not permitted - not on your cell phone at least.
For many reasons, from safety to etiquette, a growing number of businesses insist that customers keep their cell phones turned off.
Knox Bricken, a senior analyst who follows wireless communications for the Yankee Group in Boston, said that increased awareness about cell phone etiquette is developing around the country.
"More and more you find individual businesses kind of taking it into their own hands with signs: `Be polite. Turn off your cell phones,'" she said.
The trend comes as cell phone use is skyrocketing.
More than 137 million Americans use cell phones, and someone subscribes to a mobile phone service about every two seconds, according to the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association in Washington.
But the Amoco gas station at Howard and 21st streets in Baltimore doesn't want customers talking on those phones while filling their tanks. Yellow Transportation, the company that owns the station, said it wants patrons concentrating on pumping, not spilling fuel.
Local private clubs have similar rules.
"We just feel that phone calls should be taken in private," said Nancy Palmer, general manager of Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills.
The Baltimore Country Club began a policy in 1997 that limits cell phones to cars with the windows rolled up. "The country club is a social activity, a place of fun, leisure, not of business," explained Jason Diaz, the club's head golf professional.
The Annapolis Yacht Club bans cell phone use in its clubhouse and on the deck, said Michael Mooney, the club's general manager and chief operating officer. It began in 1999 after someone shouted obscenities into his cell phone as board members walked by, he said.
"They can use it in the parking lot next to their car or on their boat - that's about it," Mooney said.
Amtrak has a "quiet" car on 98 percent its trains in the northeast corridor. In those cars, riders are prohibited from using cell phones, and the volume on their laptops must be turned down.
"This is beyond not using a cell phone: This is the sleeper car, you're not even supposed to talk," said Scott Morgan, an attorney for Amtrak who commutes from Philadelphia to Washington on the quiet car.
