Abnormal, Absurd, and Abrasive Cell Phone Ringtones

Some ringtones just plain get on my nerves. Yes, you probably already know who you are: the abnormal guy who wears the "Why Be Normal?" button on your shirt upside down. The guy with the extremely loud and abrasive ringtone that only seems to get calls in the middle of a movie. The girl with the absurd Christina Aguilera ringtone.

What are the most annoying ringtones?

I worked with a guy once who had the worst ringtone of them all. Everyone hated him, not only because of his lack of personal hygiene, but also because of his abhorrent ringtone. Somewhere he found a ringtone that just consisted of a long, high-pitched tone. The note changed periodically, but it was pretty much impossible to realize it was a ringtone because it was just so aberrant. It sorta sounded like a bomb dropping, but with no satisfying explosion at the end of it.

Annoying RingtonesThe average cell phone user has an average ringtone. (Sometimes she might even have several average ringtones.) But no matter how acceptable your ringtone might be, it's always bad to have the ringtone go off in the middle of a movie. Even if you use the default ringtone that came with the phone, which is possibly the most unobtrusive and unassuming ringtones you could go with, your ringtone becomes abusive when it goes off in the movie theater.

Turn the vibrate on, please! Getting phone calls during a movie showing isn't adorable or alluring.

Ambitious people's ringtones

The ambitious 30-something middle managers who keep themselves available for cell phone calls ALL the time are often the worst offenders. It's not necessarily the ringtone itself that's agonizing; it's the astonishing availability for inbound calls that the wannabe executive maintains in his effort to suck up to the bosses and anyone else who he thinks might help advance his career.

I'll admit that I have been taken aback by some of the cell phone ringtone choices of people I've worked with though. Besides the aforementioned ape who had the bomb-dropping ringtone, there was also a woman who had a "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" ringtone. Maybe it's just me, but I can't hear "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" without getting the song stuck in my head.

Ringtones that get stuck in your head

I had a friend, years ago, who was helping another friend move a piano. He was riding in the back of the truck with the piano, and as they drove through town, he started playing "Yellow Submarine." That was really funny.

Guess what though? Having a "Yellow Submarine" ringtone is only funny the first time someone hears it. If they hear the ringtone more than once, then it's going to be as abhorrent to them as it is to me. No reason to cause acrimony between you and the people surrounding you. Just get a more acceptable ringtone, one that isn't as likely to get stuck in people's heads.

Here's a list of ringtones to avoid because they get stuck in my head:

  1. Cotton Eyed Joe ringtones
  2. The "Good Times" theme song ringtones
  3. "The Jeffersons" theme song ringtones
  4. "Copacabana" ringtones
  5. "YMCA" ringtones
  6. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" ringtones
  7. "Mambo No. 5" ringtones
  8. "The Macarena" ringtones
  9. Any David Hasselhoff ringtones
  10. "I'm Too Sexy" ringtones

Your best bet, in fact, is to turn your cell phone to vibrate. That way you won't annoy me or anyone else.