I was trying to study Corp Finance material this morning on the tram on the way to work and this guy was talking on his mobile phone the whole way and having the most pointless conversation. At one point, I just gave up studying and started listening to his conversation. I caught about 5 minutes of it before I had to get off. He was talking about what his favourite airline was and why that was the case, the fact that he could only fly business class nowdays because he felt claustrophobic in economy, the fact that he prefers to fly with Arab airlines (i.e. Ethiad, Emirates,etc) because he feels they would be safer and would not get hijacked by terrorists. I can’t remember all the other stupid shit he talking about but I just wondered why anybody would feel the NEED to have such a stupid conversation at 8:30 in the morning. It made me so angry I kept day-dreaming of getting up and grabbing him by the collar and smashing his head through the tram ticket machine and then hurling his lifeless body through the closed tram doors (Terminator style).
I can understand if people are on the phone on public transport trying to sort out plans for that evening (where to meet,who to invite, etc), or talking on the phone with somone from work about an issue they are trying to sort, but inane conversations like his just drive me up the wall. If you need to have a conversation, fine, but keep it short and sweet.
What’s your view on mobile phone use on public transport?
It’s a free country, if I want to talk, I’ll talk. I have long and stupid conversation on public transport all the time.
I’ll keep long conversations to a more private place because I respect other people right to a bit of piece and quiet.
II’ll keep long conversations to a more private place because I don’t like having private conversations in public.
I take public transportation more than I like to admit, and it never fails me that a fellow brotha is barking into his phone about meaningless ish. Black females are the worst too. Just barking about this that, mf this, mf that, and they are not ever arguing, just having a conversation. And you are making a death wish if you dare ask them to tone it down.
I was on the train once, and it became evident that the lady next to me was talking to someone who was in prison. They were talking about parole or something, and there were some interesting sound bites like “what do you mean they said you were a menace to society”? The most surprising part was that the lady was talking like this was completely normal.
I spend over an hour on public transport each working day and I don’t think it’s limited to any race or gender.
Another one that drives me crazy is people listening to music so loud using their cheap earphones that the entire train reverberates. This animal even seems oblivious to dirty looks.
I can’t sleep on the train – I constantly worry that some brah is going to steal my sh!t and then I’d have to wake up from my peaceful slumber to chase that shyster down.
Been there, done that, wasn’t pretty. Thank god I walk to work now. And as for cell phone etiquette, I agree. Keep the calls to logistics, small talk can happen in the privacy of your home,
I was on the train into NYC a couple of years ago and the guy across the aisle from me was out cold. He smelled like he hadn’t showered in a week and was snoring like a sick bear. The train stopped at NEWARK Penn Station and the announcement woke the dude up. He frantically grabbed his stuff and ran of the train still half asleep. A few steps off the train he realized he was in Newark not NYC and turned to get back on the train just as the door closed. The look on his face as the train pulled away without him was beautiful.
A few weeks ago I was in the quiet car and some dude was gabbing away on his phone. After about 10 minutes, an old guy from 10 or 12 rows away walked over to him and said: “Hey d!ckhead, this is the quiet car and I’m trying to sleep. Hang up your f’ing phone or move to another f’ing car.”
I do not have one friend that I can imagine just shooting the sh with on my cell phone. I guess I am just not that popular. I see people on their walk around the neighborhood chatting on the phone and I swear that is so foreign to me. I would rather poke a fork in my eye than carry on some insipid phone conversation.
I tell my wife I would rathter be respected than liked and consequently I have very few friends. She tells me that is not the reason I have few friends.
^ in the same boat as g2e. I buy my gas at the same place pretty much everytime, and the dude is always gabbing away on his cell phone. I realize being a gas station attendant is a shit job and boring a hell, but who in the world can you talk to all day everyday? This dude spends more time on his cell phone in one fill-up than I do in a month.
I read an article the other day about two private equity firms that own a duopoly on prison phone rates, and in some states it costs the prisoner’s up to $15 a minute. And now there are some human rights crap about how this is wrong to charge prisoners so much for phone use, even thought some of these fckers are in prison for killing some dude for his iphone to begin with…
[video: