Please be quiet

[Huntn]

I really don't get the anger towards the op here. Nobody can possibly blame him for not wanting to hear a loud passenger on a bus and he went here to vent. What's the big deal?

I agree. Sometimes MR anger is puzzling like the time I mentioned good Mac vibes coming from PCWorld and you'd of thunk I beat a baby seal with a stick.

 

[anjinha]

I really don't get the anger towards the op here. Nobody can possibly blame him for not wanting to hear a loud passenger on a bus and he went here to vent. What's the big deal?

I don't get it either.

 

[bartelby]

Ah, humans and the lost art of shutting the frick up.

Sometimes I wonder if people avoid silence because it may mean having to think.

Helps with blocking the telepathy...

 

[sim667]

I don't get it either.

You're in public. You dont really get a choice in the matter.

OP should do something better with his life, then these trivial things might fall into perspective.

 

[anjinha]

You're in public. You dont really get a choice in the matter.

OP should do something better with his life, then these trivial things might fall into perspective.

How about people try to be respectful of those around them?

 

[MacNut]

You're in public. You dont really get a choice in the matter.

OP should do something better with his life, then these trivial things might fall into perspective.

Even when you are in public there is a thing called personal space. I don't want to hear a person walking down the street talking so loud that I can hear every detail of their phone conversation.

 

[sim667]

How about people try to be respectful of those around them?

In the same way the here in the UK we're shown total and utter respect by those employed to uphold the law, or manage the economies finances, or even the law makers themselves.

There's much larger things to get bothered about than a bit of noise.

----------

Even when you are in public there is a thing called personal space. I don't want to hear a person walking down the street talking so loud that I can hear every detail of their phone conversation.

Personal space, and overhearing stuff are completely unrelated....... I can still hear an ambulance coming down the road, it doesnt mean its infringing on my personal space.

moot point.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

You're in public. You dont really get a choice in the matter.

OP should do something better with his life, then these trivial things might fall into perspective.

But we're just having a simple conversation about it. Nobody is marching through the streets. Do you never discuss the little things when you are bored? It's called "small talk" for a reason.

 

[sim667]

But we're just having a simple conversation about it. Nobody is marching through the streets. Do you never discuss the little things when you are bored? It's called "small talk" for a reason.

they weren't having a conversation, they were having a moan.....

If the states has the equivalent of a police community support officer, that one would be a prime candidate.

 

[MacNut]

In the same way the here in the UK we're shown total and utter respect by those employed to uphold the law, or manage the economies finances, or even the law makers themselves.

There's much larger things to get bothered about than a bit of noise.

----------



Personal space, and overhearing stuff are completely unrelated....... I can still hear an ambulance coming down the road, it doesnt mean its infringing on my personal space.

moot point.

Ambulances have a right to make noise, a person screaming on a phone doesn't.

 

[sim667]

Ambulances have a right to make noise, a person screaming on a phone doesn't.

everyone has a right to make noise, because everyone has equal rights.

There were once others who claimed they have more rights than other people........ It didnt really work out for most of them

 

[MacNut]

everyone has a right to make noise, because everyone has equal rights.

There were once others who claimed they have more rights than other people........ It didnt really work out for most of them

Everyone also has a right to personal privacy. Public streets do not give you a right to scream off the top of your lungs for no good reason. I don't want to hear your private conversation anymore than the person on the other end of the line wants the public hearing it.

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

I think Japan has all your concerns addressed!

No phone calls allowed on public transit - actually you can be removed for this infraction.

Being quiet and polite in public is serious business there.

As for profane topics of discussion, if you don't understand Japanese, that's also covered.

You're welcome.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I think a part of the problem is that new communications technologies (mobile phones etc) have developed far faster than the sort of agreed norms of appropriate etiquette and manners which would govern the use of such technologies. Etiquette in the use of modern communication technologies - both private and public - is only catching up with the sheer revolutionary pace of development, and has yet to evolve to the point where new social norms have become widely accepted and put into practice.

As part of this technological revolution (and it is nothing less than that) there has been an extraordinary erosion in what used to be the boundaries between the public and the private space, and I think a lot of people have difficulty distinguishing between the two.

If people treat their living rooms, or studies, as studios from which they can record and upload anything (and individuals such as Mr Zuckerman have strongly argued that there is no such thing as privacy any longer; worse, governments have also been responsible for encouraging the idea that the erosion of the right of access to the public space and the willful corrosion of the concept of the right to private space), how can we expect them to have any greater respect for the public space, since they no longer recognise any boundaries between public and private?

Re the OP, I see the point that he is making, but take issue with the somewhat intolerant tone in which it was expressed.

 

[OutThere]

I'm terrified of the day when there is widespread cell service in the NYC Subway, and I have to stand next to people yelling into their phones over the screech and rattle of the train.

 

[Tomorrow]

You people are probably the ones who spend countless posts bitching about the up/down voting buttons....

This is no different. If you don't want to hear someone else's conversation, tune it out. Think about something else. It isn't that hard.

No, it really isn't.

Well, you're not trying hard enough.

Seriously though, it's really not that big a deal.

 

[samiwas]

I really don't get the anger towards the op here. Nobody can possibly blame him for not wanting to hear a loud passenger on a bus and he went here to vent. What's the big deal?

I'm with you Mac...what the hell is going on here? Maybe a lot of the people on this forum are the people who purposely talk very loudly in public spaces so that people will notice them. Hmmm...

There's much larger things to get bothered about than a bit of noise.

Yes. And I can get bothered by a lot of things at once. I can multi-task. And I think I'm the best at it...better than anyone else I know.

 

[iJohnHenry]

I still can't grasp this pandering to mobile devices in public places, especially when they infringe on the sanity and safety of others.

I don't do a dump on your shoes, so please don't cover me with your verbal diarrhea.

But if you insist, you can expect me to get all-up-in-your-face, and join in on the conversation.

 

[iBlue]

I'm not sure why all the backlash at the OP. Maybe there was a better way to say it but this is a concept surely everyone can relate to. People are LOUD and sometimes that's really annoying.

I went to sit on a park bench and relax recently. Watching the swans silently glide across the water, gentle rustle of trees and subdued city sounds in the distance. Then some loud mouth slag yelling into her phone sat down on the bench right next to mine. I got to listen to everything from how big this guy's dick was that she just hooked up with and how drunk she was going to get later, blah blah blah. Just when I thought the noise was over she started texting. You freakin know she had to have key sounds enabled. Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep....
When she was done with that she started on a bag of crisps...
CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH
*lick finger 1,2,3,4,5..

Come on! I am a patient person. I live in a very busy urban area. I am content to hear a lot of noise but sometimes people are really goddman inconsiderate. If you're telling me you've never had a day of feeling irritated by people noise, you're either living in a desolate place or lying.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I didn't read much of it as backlash and mine isn't meant to be backlash. I giggled through most of it but frankly, I thought it was just an unnecessary post but still entertaining and worth responding.

You kids need to chill the **** out.

 

[notjustjay]

The real question is why the OP doesn't just turn to the offender and say "Excuse me, can you please keep it down? Thanks."

It's really not that hard.

Just knowing that someone else has been listening to your conversation (whether intentionally or not) would be enough to shut most people up.

 

[Surely]

I'm not sure why all the backlash at the OP.

<snip>

Me neither.

People just don't have consideration for others while in public anymore.

There are common courtesies that people need to extend while in certain situations.

You just sat down in a quiet coffee shop where everyone is reading/working/talking at a quiet level? Do the same.

You're in a movie theatre watching a movie? Don't start talking to the person next to you, and don't break out your phone and start texting. The screen light is annoying.

You're in a restaurant and there are no kids running around and screaming? Don't let your kids do that (and yes, I have kids).

You're having sex? Don't start eating a pastrami sandwich.

 

[Tomorrow]

If you're telling me you've never had a day of feeling irritated by people noise, you're either living in a desolate place or lying.

Never? No, I can't say that. There have been times that someone has gone just a little too far and annoyed me to the point where I could no longer ignore them. Those times it's happened I either toughed it out, or I left.

I just don't think of the world as being completely mine. With some exceptions (a library or movie theater, for example), I don't think my "right" to quiet in a public place is any more important than someone else's "right" to speak up. So I deal with it. *shrug*

 

[So Random]

Yeah, I'm talking to you.

The guy who got onto a bus full of exhausted airline passengers and continued to loudly yack into his cellphone for an hour. The two women sitting behind me in the coffee shop who carried on a revolting discussion of their digestive and gynecological woes well within the earshot of a half-dozen or so increasingly queasy diners. The motormouth at my office who seems to think that everyone, everywhere is simply fascinated by every little incident in his life.

The kids at my condo-community pool (guests, actually) who think that its impossible to enjoy aquatic activities without screaming at the top of your lungs every single second from sunup to sundown. (If I ever become dictator, playing "Marco Polo" will be a capital offense.)

We all enjoy a pleasant conversation, its one of life's great pleasures. But so too are watching (and being able to hear the dialog) a great movie. Watching a sunset. Reading a great novel. Or enjoying a tasty meal. And, trust me, virtually ALL of those activities can be ruined by your self-involved mindless chattering. (Hint: If you simply MUST keep talking, try lowering your volume so as NOT to involve everyone else within a 60 foot radius.) You aren't very interesting. There's not much you can do about that. But your incessant, loud pratter is a) rude and b) eventually going to cost you a lot.

Another hint: If you don't have anything particularly interesting to say, try keeping your mouth closed. Look around you. Think about a pleasant memory or loved one. Savor the taste of your glass of wine or chocolate milkshake. But, for once in your godforsaken existence, try keeping your gob shut. You'll find the world a far more interesting place.

So, to all the Chatty Cathies and Blabbering Bobs out there - try shutting up every once in a while.

*sniff* . . . this is . . . beautiful. So very well put.

 

[Mousse]

Everyone also has a right to personal privacy. Public streets do not give you a right to scream off the top of your lungs for no good reason. I don't want to hear your private conversation anymore than the person on the other end of the line wants the public hearing it.

When someone talks loud enough for me to hear them from 20 feet away, I usually insert myself in to his conversation. It'll annoy him enough to either go somewhere else or confront me.

Annoying phone guy: Hey, I'm on the phone here!
Me: (doing a bad DeNiro) You talking to me?
Guy: Yeah, I'm talking to you. I'm on the phone here!
Me: (pointing to an imaginary BT head piece) Yeah? So I'm I.

At this point the guy usually grumbles and leaves. I know he doesn't want to start anything, because an annoyed crowd has my back.