Phones on buses rant

Do you remember Dom Jolley's "I'M ON THE PHONE" sketches? It was funny on the telly. In real life it's not funny.

I laugh about it now but at the time it was a bit disconcerting.

I was once shown round a house by the owner as I was a potential buyer. As I wandered around he was careful to be behind me all the time and he was gazing fixedly at his phone. I finally managed to sneak a peep at what he was gazing at and it was porn.

I don't know if he had some kind of addiction or whether he had got so bored with showing people round that he needed a distraction.

Can’t the diners just put them away for a little while, or do they think they are so important that they can’t afford to miss a call?

I don't think it is that they think they are important. More a case of FOMO - someone, somewhere is doing something that they don't know about and they are worried that they are missing out.

How can they keep up with the Joneses if they don't know what the Joneses are doing?

When my grandchildren were young, I banned phones and toys at the table. Even now, many years later, they still keep their phones away from the table.
What really bugs me, more than actually hearing the conversations does, is the fact that if you look around in a restaurant, you will see that most of the tables have phones in view on the table! Can’t the diners just put them away for a little while, or do they think they are so important that they can’t afford to miss a call? You’ll see people who go to sit at a table but they have to put the phone right beside their plate before they even sit down! Why? I would not be impressed if someone I was dining with stopped chatting to me, or eating, to answer their phone. So rude!

rockgran

It's not so much the live conversations that irritate me but the watching of videos at full volume. Use your earphones!

Yes, at what point did people forget that earphones exist?

Another phone irritation is when your out with someone who is constantly on their phone. I'd met up with a friend not seen for a while and thought we'd be enjoying a good catch-up but literally every couple of minutes she would be checking her phone. Needless to say, I didn't arrange to meet her again

It's everywhere now.

Yesterday we were having coffee when a young man was playing videos quite loudly on the next table. I think he was playing all the videos on his Facebook page that people had shared with him.

Today DH left the immunotherapy ward in a bad temper because the man in the chair next to him was playing things quite loudly. When you can't get up and leave it can be very irritating.

I know some people can't use headphones and separate microphones but I don't understand why so many don't use them.

People walking down the street with their phones up and talking may well be recording a video for their YouTube/TikTok channel 'I went to xxx today and it was grimy and packed with people and nowhere to eat...'

I used to read book after book on the train .
Now it's impossible due to people talking EVER SO LOUDLY on their mobiles .
I've noticed that it's a bit quieter on the buses these days.
When I travel by bus so many passengers look absolutely exhausted .

It does my head in. Every second person seems to walk around with their phone on loudspeaker now, no matter where they are. If I have to use public transport now, I stick my headphones on and listen to my music. That also has the effect of deterring any random person from trying to strike up a conversation with you too.

Oh my goodness I really find it so rude! Never understood why anyone would want to share their private life in public. I certainly feel my hackles rising.

It’s not just on trains and buses, it’s everywhere. Standing in the school playground to pick up, DGD almost every single parent is having a phone conversation, don’t they talk to each other anymore? The ones that particularly annoy me are those that hold their phone out in front of them so you can not only hear their side of the conversation you can hear the other side too!

Not that bad here but we don’t have many buses, just trains. I think they would cop a few comments from the rest of the travellers if they did that. People are on phones but most seem to use earplugs.

Twice in recent times I've overheard conversations on public transport which I'd view as totally personal.

One was obviously a bank transaction and the woman was stating her account details i.e number / sort code etc in the full hearing of a packed bus.
The second was a young woman cheerfully telling her friend about the previous nights activities with her boyfriend! Thankfully not in full detail but in a way that was fairly obvious what she was referring to.

I know exactly what you mean!

I'm an ex-bus driver, and I could even hear some phone conversations from upstairs when I was driving Deckers!

All the overly loud ''music'' and videos are blaring away too.

We've become a society of ''me-myself-and-I and I couldn't;t give a hoot''.

Train travel too can be disrupted by someone who thinks the entire carriage want to hear their conversation.
I always book the quiet coach when travelling any longer distance by train although that isn't a guarantee for peace and quiet.

Every workday morning a man walks past my house at 7.27am talking, loud- but not loud enough to actually cause issues.

We do not have many employment options at the bottom of our dead end lane. He has a backpack and sometimes I wonder if he has lost his job, and just goes out walking for the day.

Society is breaking down. It's a me, me, me world. It's the same with people who think it's acceptable to play music in gardens and when told the whole street don't want to hear it are called killjoys.

Also walking around the shops Face timing someone and having a conversation.

It's not so much the live conversations that irritate me but the watching of videos at full volume. Use your earphones!

It's the same on trains. I had a young woman behind me who talked loudly for the whole hour and a half of my journey.

Agree, especially when one morning a man at 8am was having a really loud phone conversation. What the hell do people find to talk about that early in the morning? Really inconsiderate behaviour. If I take a call in public, it's as quick as I can end the call. I also don't want all and sundry knowing my personal business.