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Original poster

Work calls on trains

160 replies

the7Vabo · 08/10/2024 09:34

But of a rant but I’m sick of people using their commute time to do work calls.

I just moved location on a train as it looked like I was going to be subject to a call for almost the whole journey (an hour). He’s so loud I call still hear him from the other end of the carriage.

I also work in one of the largest organisations where I live and I regularly overhear calls relating to it.

The guy this morning had his laptop open, basically acting as if he was at a desk.

Is it unreasonable to expect that people consider that others may not want to be subject to the noise during their morning commute?

OP posts:
doodlydooo · 08/10/2024 10:15

It doesn't bother me. Mostly because it's public transport and I accept I can't have the place as my ideal mode of transport.

There are definitely things that bother me: smelly food/people, people touching me etc but if someone is minding their own business doing their work that's one I don't mind. There's all sorts of invasive noises on public transport I find (loud tannoys, screechy rails, general chatter of people) and I just class loud phone calls in that bucket.

Original poster
the7Vabo · 08/10/2024 10:15

MartinCrieffsLemon · 08/10/2024 10:05

Just work calls you have an issue with or all calls?

Me personally, I find work calls more stressful as it makes me feel like I’m still at work.

I also find people tend to be louder on work calls especially men. The guy this morning was on full on delegation mode, it’s bad enough having to listen to those type of people on the phone in an office.

I work in an open plan office and had to sit opposite a guy who announced loudly at the start of the day that he had meetings all day and proceeded to have those meetings shouting at his desk about things are petty minor in the grand scheme of things. We have dedicated rooms for calls but it didn’t occur to him to use one.

I have to review a lot of documents in detail for work as do most of the people surrounding me, so they are generally fairly quiet, but we share the space with other teams and it doesn’t seem to occur to them to use meeting rooms & call rooms.

on trains, if there was a loud carriage I’d happily let them all get on with it in there. they can do as many property transactions and projects as they like.

Long personal calls aren’t ideal either, I don’t find them as triggering personally but I expect most people who find calls annoying wouldn’t car what the subject was.

OP posts:
KimberleyClark · 08/10/2024 10:14

DdraigGoch · 08/10/2024 10:04

Overheard phone conversations are much more irritating than overheard in-person conversations.

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They are because people automatically speak louder on the phone, especially on public transport because there is so much ambient noise.

HundredMilesAnHour · 08/10/2024 10:14

the7Vabo · 08/10/2024 09:59

There is a world of a difference between sitting quietly on a train on a laptop, and planning an entire property deal or a project so loudly that everyone else has to be subjected to it.

Its just people being inconsiderate and not caring if they infringe on other people.

Show quote history

I think the lack of consideration is the problem, regardless of the disturbance relates to work or not. I don't want to hear about the project some stranger is badly managing but nor do I want to hear about little Johnny's cold either.

From an employment perspective, I'm surprised how many people think it's acceptable to discuss work (loudly) in public and/or blatantly show work information on laptop screens. I work in Financial Services and we would be fired for doing this even once. We don't even discuss work when we're in the lifts in our own offices if there's someone else in the lift with us! And for working from home, we have to get annual Compliance approval if we live with someone who works in the same industry!

spilltheteapot · 08/10/2024 10:13

I was once sat next to a man on a train who had spread out his notes involving a Police sexual abuse employment tribunal. He was the HR representative. It’s absolutely unbelievable what people think is appropriate to do in a public space.

Leopardprintlover101 · 08/10/2024 10:12

dreamingofsun · 08/10/2024 09:43

Are you OK with people talking, or is it that you cant hear both sides of the conversation that annoys you? Surely you could go in the quiet carriage if you are that bothered.

Having 3 kids, doing a long commute and not wanting to work on urgent things when i got home, meant that i usually worked on the train. And had to put up with fat/smelly/farty etc etc people

God love you having to “put up with” fat people on the train

SerafinasGoose · 08/10/2024 10:11

I couldn't care less. There is equally anti-social noise on trains and loud, raucous conversations can be intrusive and annoying with or without a phone.

I know I find this an irritant so it's been a long time since I've boarded a train without noise-cancelling earphones. Getting annoyed won't help. They are not going to stop doing it, so might as well adopt my own measures to make travelling more comfortable.

TheFlis · 08/10/2024 10:10

I hate people having long calls on trains whether it is work or not. There are 2 people I see regularly on my commute and actively avoid as I know that every single day they use the journey to have loud catch up calls with just about everyone they have ever met (and there are no quiet carriages on my train).

Sunplanner · 08/10/2024 10:08

dreamingofsun · 08/10/2024 09:43

Are you OK with people talking, or is it that you cant hear both sides of the conversation that annoys you? Surely you could go in the quiet carriage if you are that bothered.

Having 3 kids, doing a long commute and not wanting to work on urgent things when i got home, meant that i usually worked on the train. And had to put up with fat/smelly/farty etc etc people

Some really unpleasant remarks that aren't relevant to the topic.

MartinCrieffsLemon · 08/10/2024 10:05

Just work calls you have an issue with or all calls?

DdraigGoch · 08/10/2024 10:04

dreamingofsun · 08/10/2024 09:43

Are you OK with people talking, or is it that you cant hear both sides of the conversation that annoys you? Surely you could go in the quiet carriage if you are that bothered.

Having 3 kids, doing a long commute and not wanting to work on urgent things when i got home, meant that i usually worked on the train. And had to put up with fat/smelly/farty etc etc people

Overheard phone conversations are much more irritating than overheard in-person conversations.

Original poster
the7Vabo · 08/10/2024 09:59

sosaad · 08/10/2024 09:55

I think this thread must be a wind up. Who goes on a train and does not expect to here work calls or work related conversations going on? Public transport, cafes, park benches and all other spaces have been extensions of the workplace or even remote workplaces for a long time now.

There is a world of a difference between sitting quietly on a train on a laptop, and planning an entire property deal or a project so loudly that everyone else has to be subjected to it.

Its just people being inconsiderate and not caring if they infringe on other people.

OP posts:
DappledThings · 08/10/2024 09:59

sosaad · 08/10/2024 09:55

I think this thread must be a wind up. Who goes on a train and does not expect to here work calls or work related conversations going on? Public transport, cafes, park benches and all other spaces have been extensions of the workplace or even remote workplaces for a long time now.

I expect to see people working on laptops, I do not expect them to be making calls. The one is far more disruptive than the other. Nobody should be on the phone at all on the train. It's just rude and antisocial.

ButtSurgery · 08/10/2024 09:58

dreamingofsun · 08/10/2024 09:43

Are you OK with people talking, or is it that you cant hear both sides of the conversation that annoys you? Surely you could go in the quiet carriage if you are that bothered.

Having 3 kids, doing a long commute and not wanting to work on urgent things when i got home, meant that i usually worked on the train. And had to put up with fat/smelly/farty etc etc people

Oh noes, fat people.

Classy.

Needmorelego · 08/10/2024 09:57

@sosaad yes I "expect" it but it's still bloody annoying 😂

sosaad · 08/10/2024 09:55

I think this thread must be a wind up. Who goes on a train and does not expect to here work calls or work related conversations going on? Public transport, cafes, park benches and all other spaces have been extensions of the workplace or even remote workplaces for a long time now.

Allfur · 08/10/2024 09:55

And the ones who bang away really hard at their key boards, just type quietly

Original poster
the7Vabo · 08/10/2024 09:55

Needmorelego · 08/10/2024 09:51

I had two blokes near me on a train having some kind of meeting but the amount of nonsense business jargon they kept coming out with and had to keep myself from laughing.
It was like a spoof scene from something like The Office.

Edited

What I’ve had the last few weeks is people talking about property deals. One guy was ringing multiple people - “Need to ask Matthew about that”, makes next call “Hi Matthew…”, next call “so i asked Matthew” on so on.

The one this morning was deleting tasks on some sort of IT project.

I listen to this all day in work, I don’t want to listen to it to and from work.

OP posts:
NotApplePie · 08/10/2024 09:52

I once overheard a call where someone was obviously taking a payment over the phone and repeated the person’s card details back to them so the whole carriage could hear! 🤦‍♀️

Needmorelego · 08/10/2024 09:51

I had two blokes near me on a train having some kind of meeting but the amount of nonsense business jargon they kept coming out with and had to keep myself from laughing.
It was like a spoof scene from something like The Office.

posterWithaview · 08/10/2024 09:50

I hate people on phones on trains and even worse people who watch things on their phones with no head phones. I think they must be missing some boundaries somewhere.

Original poster
the7Vabo · 08/10/2024 09:48

dreamingofsun · 08/10/2024 09:43

Are you OK with people talking, or is it that you cant hear both sides of the conversation that annoys you? Surely you could go in the quiet carriage if you are that bothered.

Having 3 kids, doing a long commute and not wanting to work on urgent things when i got home, meant that i usually worked on the train. And had to put up with fat/smelly/farty etc etc people

Why would I want to hear both sides of the conversation? I don’t want to even hear one side of it!!

I live in Ireland no such things as quiet carriages.

If you consistently work on the train and I mean loud calls not just going on your laptop, you are IMO prioritising your own quality of life over those travelling with you.

I don’t want to hear about your work on my commute.

OP posts:
DappledThings · 08/10/2024 09:46

My train journey is 40 minutes and about 60% of it is tunnel. Most days I quietly curse the shit WiFi and being in a tunnel which means I can't use the time for Duolingo (with headphones and skipping the speaking exercises of course) but whenever someone starts a work call I delight in knowing it can only last a few minutes and they'll be cut off.

KimberleyClark · 08/10/2024 09:45

Re the confidential information, same must be true of people who work in coffee shops.