Yesterday I had to wait an hour for a blood test in a room full of people. One of them decided to answer his phone and have a full blown, loud conversation for twenty minutes. I wanted to wrench that phone right out of his hands and chuck it out of the window.
We British are far too polite. That includes me. While that conversation was going on I could see the gritting of teeth, the hunching of shoulders and the almost imperceptible turning of heads, as this person's voice reverberated round the room. Apart from the odd shuffle, turn of a magazine or newspaper page and one or two coughs, the room had been fairly quiet. Not any more. I tried not to stare but really? Really? All I thought was 'don't you care that everyone can hear your whole conversation?' Not one of us said a word to this man, and yet it was clearly annoying more than a few of us. I wish I had been brave enough to stand up and tell him to be quiet, but I'm not. You cant do that any more. First, it encroaches on your human rights to have a conversation wherever you want (my tongue is firmly in my cheek by the way). Second, it could end up in violence and who knows what people carry on then now. Third, I am secretly a nosy parker!
By the end of the man's conversation on his mobile I knew a fair bit about Doug. Doug is moving, he is a 'pussy', likes cars and is ill. Doug was the person at the other end of the phone. I also know a fair bit about the man talking on his phone in the waiting room. He is loud, he also likes cars, is waiting for a blood test (never!!) and used to work at a garage that shall be nameless.....oh, and he wants to ride in a mini. What it is about rude people? Do they have no self awareness? At least he had the grace to apologise to the person sitting next to him once he had ended the call. For goodness sake, if your mobile rings and you are in a public place such as a waiting room, do not answer it. Just hit the 'reject call' button. It is rude to answer that phone ,and then talk incessantly about all sorts of stuff that I do not wish to hear about, nor I suspect does anyone else.
This goes for answering your mobile on the bus. Hit that 'reject call' button! I once had the misfortune to be sat in front of someone who answered their mobile. By the end of that call I knew who she was talking to, how drunk she had been the night before, what colour her bedroom curtains were and who she was meeting later. I could feel my hairs on the back of my neck bristle with annoyance. It is rude, don't you know!!
It's also rude to be invited for lunch, dinner, afternoon tea, a drink or whatever, and then keep looking at your mobile. Social media will still be there when you leave. It will not have burst in to flames, crashed or gone pop. It honestly will still be there later on. Ban that mobile phone at meal times!!
Of course sometimes you are waiting for an important call or message. That is totally different. But it is possible to talk quietly, or actually tell the person you will telephone back in a short while as you are 'on the bus', 'out for a meal', 'in the toilet', 'in a supermarket queue in front of the cashier'. You can then go and move to somewhere more private. Better still, get them to text you.
Yesterday reminded me of the comedian Dom Joly when he would answer his huge mobile phone and shout 'Hello.....' Everyone's head would turn. You don't want to be the person who is making those head turn for the wrong reason do you? Some people don't care, but maybe no one has grabbed their phone and chucked it out of a window yet!
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201312/why-are-public-cell-phone-users-so-annoying
You tube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJezRcy2P8g&list=RDCJezRcy2P8g&start_radio=1&t=0
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