Letters to the Editor
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It's the cellphone...
Somehow, I don't really think it's the relationship, I think it's the cell phone. Depending on your provider and the specific cell phone model you use, it can be awfully difficult hearing what's going on. From my own experience, I find it much more difficult to talk on a cell phone than on a land-line. I think my difficulty has to do with the sound compression, the tiny-tiny-tinny speaker used in most cell phones, and maybe the lack of side tones (although, I think most modern cell phones have this).
A few suggestions that have worked for me: (1) the LW might consider that it's not his wife's cell phone but his. Specifically, ambient noises around him may seem very loud and distracting to his wife. If his cell phone has a noise canceling feature, he should activate it since those features are designed to reduce how much ambient noise gets picked up. (2) The wife and maybe also the LW might consider using an ear-phone style headset. I'm particularly fond of the type that has both a left and right earpiece and can hear and talk most comfortably and naturally when using one.
Text messaging is also a great option. I picked it up a few years ago, and it's really indispensable for me. Generally, I prefer it to gabbing on the phone.