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Story: Manners and social behaviour

Mobile manners

This cartoon from 2001 shows the offence that can be caused when someone interrupts a face-to-face conversation to take a phone call.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: DCDL-0009028

by Malcolm Walker

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, Manners and social behaviour – A guide to modern New Zealand manners, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/39857/mobile-manners (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 3 December 2012.