Mobile phone conversations - booorrring

[trainophile]

Not sure what is worse, the self-important 'business' calls full of jargon and going on interminably, or the young girls giggling about nothing.

I remember when people used to whisper "I'm on the train, I'll ring you later". Why do people not care anymore?

 

[Hydro]

It's not just trains. I was having a meal at a hotel the other day and the gentleman at the next table was on his phone for ages. I was prepared to think little of it and chalk it up to normal self absorbed rudeness until a) the volume increased and b) he used the term ETA on the phone. The "w*nker" stamp came firmly down on the cover of his file in my mind.

 

[wintonian]

Not sure what is worse, the self-important 'business' calls full of jargon and going on interminably, or the young girls giggling about nothing.

I remember when people used to whisper "I'm on the train, I'll ring you later". Why do people not care anymore?

I wouldn't mind if I could go in to the quiet coach to get away from it.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

My wife and I were going from Manchester Airport to York not so long ago and a young business woman started a mobile phone call at Guide Bridge , sat at the opposite table to us, to one of her friends, which went on...and on... It was drivel and there seemed to be no end to what she could talk about. It was all about night clubs, dating, etc. She was one of those women who speak in a loud voice, which made matters worse.

It was only when the train passed through the long tunnel at Standedge, that she lost the signal and seemed very annoyed.

 

[Sapphire Blue]

My wife and I were going from Manchester Airport to York not so long ago and a young business woman started a mobile phone call at Guide Bridge , sat at the opposite table to us, to one of her friends, which went on...and on... It was drivel and there seemed to be no end to what she could talk about. It was all about night clubs, dating, etc. She was one of those women who speak in a loud voice, which made matters worse.

It was only when the train passed through the long tunnel at Standedge, that she lost the signal and seemed very annoyed.

I like to keep on pretending to keep up my conversation whilst going thru the Standedge (or other long tunnel) and watch other pax check their signals

 

[chris89]

On trains im not to fussed about phone calls, but i find the business types who have to go over everything and so on the more annoying, or those who shout into the phone.

When im traveling by rail or more on the Wolvo-EDB route if my phone goes off for a call and no one is sitting beside me/ or in the quiet coach i will go out and stand in the Vestible and talk to not be a pain to others, if someone is next to me i will talk but keep quiet/ not stay on the phone for long.

About resturants and phones that is a pet hate of mine, i if i have my phone on me, will turn it off or stick it on silence and ignore the thing.

Chris

 

[PinzaC55]

You can actually get a mobile phone jammer which scrambles all signals within a 30 yard or so radius. I think they're illegal but.....

 

[DarloRich]

You can actually get a mobile phone jammer which scrambles all signals within a 30 yard or so radius. I think they're illegal but.....

where from - you could have some fun with that!

 

[PinzaC55]

I just checked on Wikipedia and in the UK they are illegal to use but legal to own, if that makes any sense?

Cheapest here is £23.80

http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourc...w.&fp=8f6e34c72cbf89c4&ion=1&biw=1280&bih=899

 

[DarloRich]

interesting - it does drive me mad the number of business types who feel the need to talk constantly on the train. They do it to look big when really they are simply lower level functionaries and use lots of acronyms to disguise the fact that they are, essentially, spouting the sh*te spoon fed to them by their bosses

 

[Jimini]

It could be worse, you could be sharing a carriage with this woman!

 

[Yew]

See my Idea about coverting sleeper stock for to compartment stock for buisnessy types Could be useful for noise insulation?

 

[DarloRich]

@ Jimini what a loony she is!

How do women have the abilty to talk for HOURS about sod all?

If i ring my mates it is:

"All right"

"aye - all right"

"Nice one - still on for Friday night? 730?"

"aye"

"Cheers - see you"

"Bye"

How can they sit on a train and just talk tyo a firend, who they no doubt, will see later that same day about anything and nothing of any importance! It baffles me

 

[WelshBluebird]

You can actually get a mobile phone jammer which scrambles all signals within a 30 yard or so radius. I think they're illegal but.....

Not such a great idea considering the UK is moving towards GSM-R for railway communications.
What if you needed to phone 999 and someone near you had one of these stupid things?
There is a reason why they are illegal.

 

[PinzaC55]

Not such a great idea considering the UK is moving towards GSM-R for railway communications.
What if you needed to phone 999 and someone near you had one of these stupid things?
There is a reason why they are illegal.

This is true but if you read the Wikipedia article they are legal in some countries for use in jails, churches and school/university exam rooms. You could argue that people in those situations might need to dial 999 too? I never said I planned to buy one.

 

[HugePilchard]

I would rather hope that in the cases where jammers are permitted, that they're installed by competent persons so that they can only affect a certain area. I'd imagine that, were they to be permitted in the UK, Ofcom would make sure that anyone they've allowed to use them would stick to the terms of the licence pretty strictly.

As it stands, use of one of these would be an offence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, as you're broadcasting without a licence in a licensed bit of the spectrum.

 

[SWTCommuter]

Was this really installed or was it just a proposal?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ain-carriages-block-mobile-phone-signals.html

 

[sunday]

I generally find mobile phone conversations no more irritating than people having conversations of the same volume with a fellow passenger? Maybe it's just me.

 

[Royston Vasey]

interesting - it does drive me mad the number of business types who feel the need to talk constantly on the train. They do it to look big when really they are simply lower level functionaries and use lots of acronyms to disguise the fact that they are, essentially, spouting the sh*te spoon fed to them by their bosses

I don't have loud business calls on trains, I try to be considerate, but can understand those who do. When you have a work Blackberry, you're contactable, you answer the phone. A benefit of train travel over air, for example, is the much reduced dead time when you could be getting things done so you can see your family that bit earlier that night. That's important.

Believe me, business people don't say anything in a conversation just to impress people around them or be self-important. If you use acronyms at work, and every industry or company will have different ones, you use them in a phone call. They are subconscious and if they mean something to the other person, you use them.

Would people rather "business types" who usually pay a flexible so higher fare, perhaps first class, chose to drive instead? Leisure travel would suddenly become much more expensive if phone calls were prohibited on trains!

I can understand why it can be annoying for others, but there are no rules against talking to people on trains, thats the way it is! "Business types" have to do business!

 

[SS4]

I don't have loud business calls on trains, I try to be considerate, but can understand those who do. When you have a work Blackberry, you're contactable, you answer the phone. A benefit of train travel over air, for example, is the much reduced dead time when you could be getting things done so you can see your family that bit earlier that night. That's important.

Believe me, business people don't say anything in a conversation just to impress people around them. If you use acronyms at work, you use them in a phone call. They are subconscious and if they mean something to the other person, you use them.

Would people rather "business types" who usually pay a flexible so higher fare, perhaps first class, chose to drive instead? Leisure travel would suddenly become much more expensive if phone calls were prohibited on trains!

I can understand why it can be annoying for others, but there are no rules against talking to people on trains, thats the way it is! "Business types" have to do business!

Yes, but not loud enough for the who carriage to hear. A normal conversation outside the quiet zone nobody is going to care all that much, also the telephone is insecure and - as the News of the World has shown us - if you're rich enough you can break the law and escape with a fine.

When I'm travelling on the train I get incredibly cheesed off when someone makes a call as it tends to disrupt the atmosphere so I always sit in the Quiet Zone (although on Virgin they've changed it to no excessive noise IIRC instead of an outright ban on personal audio and mobile phones).

 

[StrollerEd]

a good read

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article2889295.ece

 

[furgus2]

A friend of mine had one of those business types sitting opposite him a few years ago and after enduring this man constantly using his phone and talking loudly for some time he decided to start reading aloud from his newspaper. Within a short space of time, the man asked him to stop doing that as the sound was disturbing him. My friend said the same back to the man. Result: no more phone calls

 

[PinzaC55]

Sometimes you hear interesting stuff. I was once sitting on a Virgin train and a young Asian girl in front of me who, as far as I could gather, was cabin crew on an airline. She was regaling her friend about the cabin crews drug taking and drinking exploits. I made a mental note of the airline and crossed it off my list.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I generally find mobile phone conversations no more irritating than people having conversations of the same volume with a fellow passenger? Maybe it's just me.

I think that people tend to speak differently during a mobile phone conversation away from their normal work environment. I remember reading an article about how the brain tends to compensate for not being in a face to face situation by putting more emphasis than would normally happen during a conversation.

 

[Bittern]

Hey, guess what? It's the 21st century and people now have phones they can use to talk to people when they're out and about!

Honestly, you can whine and moan all you like, but they have a right to talk "for hours and hours about nothing" if they wish.

Now, if it's during the night or in a quiet coach, then that's the time when they should think about putting the phone down for a while, but if you're on the 12:00 or the 16:15 service then they can speak for as long as they like. If it bothers you that much, ignore it. You really shouldn't be listening to someone else's conversation anyway.

I was on the train today and a group of girls came and sat next to me and spoke to each other all the way. Did I complain? Not a chance, because I know if I was with someone I would be speaking to that person, and I know they have every right to speak if they want to. People speak, even if it's on phones or in person.

If I'm honest, it seems that many, many rail enthusiasts find nothing else to do but moan about the littlest of things. So people speak on phones when they're on a train. What business is it of yours?

And if you're actually considering getting a phone blocker just because people use their phones on the train, that's just plain pathetic.

Also, it's not just young women. If you actually bothered to take notes, it's young men as well. The whole "it's the young women who are the ones who speak constantly" idea needs to die a horrible death.

 

[Greenback]

The way people talk on mobile phone sis symptomatic of a general decline in good manners and consideration for others, just liek putting feet on seats and trying to get on a train before people have got off.

Of couirse, sometimes a conversation is necessary, and I;m sur eno one would object to a discreet and occasional use of a mobile phone. However, what we are all too often subjected is an endless and very loud stream of absolute drivel. I cannot understand how some people seem so happy to broadcast their lives to everyone else in the carriage! Today I heard graphic, and I mean GRAPHIC details of a woman's social life for the last three days. It didn't help that she'd had five vodkas in an hour this afternoon, at least according to what she told her friend. She wasn't a youngster either!

 

[EltonRoad]

Hey, guess what? It's the 21st century and people now have phones they can use to talk to people when they're out and about!

Honestly, you can whine and moan all you like, but they have a right to talk "for hours and hours about nothing" if they wish.

Now, if it's during the night or in a quiet coach, then that's the time when they should think about putting the phone down for a while, but if you're on the 12:00 or the 16:15 service then they can speak for as long as they like. If it bothers you that much, ignore it. You really shouldn't be listening to someone else's conversation anyway.

I was on the train today and a group of girls came and sat next to me and spoke to each other all the way. Did I complain? Not a chance, because I know if I was with someone I would be speaking to that person, and I know they have every right to speak if they want to. People speak, even if it's on phones or in person.

If I'm honest, it seems that many, many rail enthusiasts find nothing else to do but moan about the littlest of things. So people speak on phones when they're on a train. What business is it of yours?

And if you're actually considering getting a phone blocker just because people use their phones on the train, that's just plain pathetic.

Also, it's not just young women. If you actually bothered to take notes, it's young men as well. The whole "it's the young women who are the ones who speak constantly" idea needs to die a horrible death.

I don't think they "have a right to". It doesn't matter what century it is, it's still inconsiderate to others around them to talk loudly and incessantly. Clearly it bothers some people more than others but I think the general concensus is that it's unacceptable. I'm uncomfortable doing it for that reason, I always go to the vestibules if I need to make a call. It's just a general lack of awareness of others that's irritating, and that's yet another example.

 

[Bittern]

It doesn't matter if you think they don't have the right. They do. There's no rules saying that mobile phones aren't allowed to be used. It's not against the law. Therefore, they do have the right.

Edit:

Actually, y'know what? It's actually YOU who doesn't have the right - the right to judge these people for using their phones and labeling them as "inconsiderate". You don't know this person. You refer to them as a business-person, but you don't know what business they work in. They could be a social worker or a therapist who go out of their way to help others for all you know, and there you are sitting saying that they are "inconsiderate" just because they decide they would rather talk to a friend or family member while they travel rather than sit in silence. You don't have the right to judge people, so stop whining and stop acting like these people are committing the worst crime since Hitler.

 

[Squaddie]

It doesn't matter if you think they don't have the right. They do. There's no rules saying that mobile phones aren't allowed to be used. It's not against the law. Therefore, they do have the right.

Just because you have the "right" to do something doesn't mean that it's considerate to do so. Disturbing your fellow passengers (by whatever means, in whatever situation) is simply bad manners.

 

[route:oxford]

You can learn so much information about the personal lives of people and the firms they work for if you simply pay attention. Sometimes they forget that they are in a public place.

I once sat behind an HR person who was having a long and very indiscrete conversation about a friend of mine.

Fortunately, I had my own mobile phone with me - and was able to use the dictation function to record the entire conversation.

You'd never believe, when it came to the disciplinary meeting (which is what the conversation was about), and the the Union rep played the recording - there was suddenly the opportunity for a compromise.