Mobile phones

Although nearly everyone has got a mobile 'phone - I believe that having a conversation on it whilst doing very ordinary things, like walking along the street or taking the tube, might make people feel important?

When the technology first appeared and people carried mobile 'phones the size of a house brick - you'd not infrequently see one plonked on a table in a restaurant in front of its proud owner.

My late ex - when he noticed this - used to say in a rather loud voice, oh look, there's an Important Person in the restaurant.

Said Important Person, when he did (always a man) make contact, would usually talk in cryptic office-jargon in a loud voice, eyeing up the other patrons to make sure they were suitably impressed. Or else, the signal would be so bad that neither could hear the other and Important Person would have to gather up his brick-phone and walk towards the door looking studiously serious saying things like, "Hi Simon, I'm in the restaurant, can you hear me now...?"

Kim19

Regularly intrigued by 'must take this call' (often preceded by sorry). Why? Is life one constant emergency? When I'm in company my phone is off.

Very good point Kim19!

It does prompt you to ponder how we ever got through our day before mobile 'phones without regularly / hourly jumping into one of those public 'phone booths...

I think Dickens has got it spot on!

People think their individual "right" to do what they want overrules any sense of common decency and simple manners. Only last night, we went out for a meal while on a short break away from home(a rare occurrence for us) and a table behind us had eight people all shouting at each other at the tops of their voices. They were not youngsters, probably in their 50s, and it was so bad that the manager of the restaurant saw our obvious discomfort and told us that he was trying to clear a table in a quieter part of the restaurant for us to move to. When that wasn't possible, he then came and whispered to us that he had told his staff to server their food as soon as possible as he thought they might make less noise once they were eating! That worked for a while - until they had finished eating when the noise level ramped up yet again. We finished our meal quickly and left, but it spoilt the whole evening for us.

It's not necessarily a new thing, though. A friend of mine was once sitting on the Tube next to someone who was playing music on a Walkman (remember those?) through earphones but at a level where the noise was still very intrusive and annoying to all those sitting around them. When one particular song finished, he tapped this person on the shoulder and said "Oh, can you play that again, it's one of my favourites!" Said person went very red and turned down the sound to the applause of the rest of the carriage!

Sorry to go a bit off-track...

I was at a talk recently where a member of the audience (70ish) didn’t have her phone on silent, and then when it rang proceeded to have a long conversation. Unbelievable!
On another occasion we went to the theatre and found it was full of noisy teenagers. However, as soon as the lights dimmed there was complete silence. Not one phone or toffee wrapper to be heard for the entire performance.

Regularly intrigued by 'must take this call' (often preceded by sorry). Why? Is life one constant emergency? When I'm in company my phone is off.

People have been doing this ever since mobile phones have been available. I was having lunch years ago in an hotel and a large party, including Bill Nighy ,who had been filming nearby arrived, and throughout the meal various Very Important Producers and Directors had loud conversations, possibly with each other, (it was a large table) and the whole dining room was transfixed, trying to eavesdrop. It was the first time I had seen mobile phones produced during a meal.
Now it is unusual if they are not.

Yes I find people talking loudly on speakerphone very rude or having those earbuds in and shouting into what seems to be thin air.
We endured a young woman having a FaceTime call with someone whilst having what we expected to be a quiet coffee. We put up with the loud exchange until she turned the camera round to pan the cafe with us sitting right where the camera was panning, at this point I put my hand up palm outwards and said very loudly ‘turn that off or this hand gesture could become much ruder.’ We didn’t stick around to see what kind of conversation they had after that. 😂

It's a trend that's been going on for a long time - I don't mean only the loud two-way conversations on mobiles (which in fact is not restricted to the younger generation).

I call it individualism - I think we are beginning to see the end results of our individualistic society, where collective responsibility matters less and less, and any talk of the common good and social co-operation is seen as some kind of "wokery" nonsense. "No-one's-going-to-tell-me-what-I-can-or-can't-do" is a variant of the type of comment that popped up regularly during the beginning of the pandemic, when the government was feeling its way around the public-health problem.

Any curtailment of activity was seen as an infringement of individual right; either interference by the state or 'busybodies'.

Two incidents that, to me, highlight the selfishness (and arrogance) of our individualistic culture; a hen-party in a popular restaurant in Sunbury-on-Thames, late 80s, where the male-stripper was at the table, contorting and writhing so close to ours (late ex and me) that he was spilling our drinks. There was no room to move our table, but the hens could've moved theirs enough to make room for their stripper - which my ex asked them to do. "No" - "we booked this table, tough luck" kind of response.

Many years later in a rather nice pub in the Cotswolds having a quiet drink with my now OH - when smoking was still allowed - I asked the few patrons if they minded if I smoked, over in the corner of the pub away from the bar, and said if anyone objected I'd be happy to step outside in the garden area (this was winter so no-one outside).

There was a stunned silence which I took to mean a 'yes-we-do-mind', so slipped outside to smoke. Much later the barman told me that the 'silence' was because the customers were shocked that I had bothered to ask... they expected smokers to just smoke where and when they felt like it.

I think the individuals with their speaker-phone conversation mentioned in the OP are part and parcel of the same trend - some don't give a fig or thought to anyone other than themselves because over the decades, we've been encouraged to be selfish and self-indulgent.

That's my view anyway.

petra

Some might have noticed ( on here) that I can sometimes 😂 be a tad sarcastic.
I would have been very tempted to say to her ^could you turn it up a bit luv, I missed that last bit^

Ha Ha Petra . Love it.

Yes you could have a word, but not everyone is reasonable and you can't possibly know if you'll get an abusive response that maybe will spoil the day. I agree it is rude and ridiculous.

You can't moan if you do nothing. You have basically condoned her behaviour!

It's damned rude and ridiculous.

I fear for the younger generations, they are making themselves so vulnerable.

But yes, have a word, don't moan.

The last uni I worked in a uni (early 2000s) mobile conversations were banned in the library. It was text only or airplane mode. Other students did not hesitate to enforce the rules. There were mobiles but few smartphones then. I wonder if the same library is so quiet now.

Its also a long time since I have used public transport (apart from taxis) but I have asked people to turn noise and music down in the past using my "teacher" voice. I have also not hesitated to discipline noisy children from running around the carriage on a long train journey.

Yes rude! It never ceases to amaze me how many people appear to inhabit their own personal bubble, oblivious to how they impact on those around them.

It is rude and inconsiderate.

This was some time ago. I was in A&E with an extremely painful skinned knee after tripping. There was, as expected, a long wait. Sitting beside me were a couple in their twenties I would think watching a film on a phone with the sound at maximum decibels. After half an hour, what with my pain , together with the constant noise, my patience snapped and I less than politely told them to tone it down All those around joined me in my complaint. The sheepish couple retreated to a corridor.

People just do not think the affect they are having on others, walking along the street, in the bus or train talking very loudly, seemingly to no one, until you notice the ear piece

I have a very good friend whose company I enjoy BUT she leaves her phone on all the time and answers it if there's a call. I find this annoying in the middle of our chat but as she's gone through a tough time I've said nothing. I keep my phone off when I'm visiting friends or they come to me - but does it matter if we leave them on?

I was in a cafe recently and someone was doing the same thing...a very loud conversation all on speakerphone.
The person taking orders just smiled and said "so sorry for interrupting, I'll come back when you have finished your conversation", the person's face was a picture.

I use speaker phone in my house (I can carry on doing things and still have the necessary conversation) but wouldn't dream of doing so in a public place. It's rude and inconsiderate.

I think there could be a case for asking people having lengthy, loud conversations to step outside of cafes.

They'd probably just wave their hand at you to indicate that they're on their phone, though, and carry on.

Should be banned in bars, restaurants and cafes.
I feel the same about children playing games with sound turned up, can't they use ear phones?

There’s a Sam Smith’s pub in our village that doesn’t allow phones, swearing, children, dogs or men in ‘work clothes’. Some love it and many hate it. I could ignore the rules but Humphrey Smith treats his staff abominably.
Sorry went slightly off tangent with this post. 🤭

I think it is extremely rude behaviour and I would have struggled not to say something!

Mt61

( caught the button)
Through it ( a bit like a rd sign) if that makes sense.

We went for a coffee in whetherspoons, this guy was doing a zoom meeting on his laptop, I couldn’t help being distracted from my conversation with my Friend.

Did you ask her to please turn it down?
I would have done this I think.
Or moved further away!

( caught the button)
Through it ( a bit like a rd sign) if that makes sense.