I just told a grown man to get headphones

[Globules]

Hotel breakfast. Small room.

A man was on a video call to what sounded like his wife.

He then calls his girlfriend.

All audible to me and the rest of the small breakfast room.

I left quicker than I was going to as his voice was dominating the room. As I left I said

Honestly, please get some headphones. It's much more polite than everyone having to listen to your conversation.

He gawped at me. As in, how dare I. I walked off, as I didn't want an argument, I just wanted him to shut up.

I'm chuffed I said something rather than did the British thing of glaring. So I needed to tell someone 😁

I did this on a packed and hot train travelling home last week. Man standing right next to me starts watching music videos with that awful tinny sound and keeps flicking from one to the other. He looked totally surprised when I asked him to use headphones. He did turn it off though.

Now that would be a great payback for talking too loudly.

I was on a National Express coach recently and after 2 announcements from the driver that headphones should be used and that the entire coach could hear the video playing, he stopped the coach and went up to the person.
Turns out the headphones weren't connected so they had no idea we could all hear but I still applaud him for making it clear it wasn't to be tolerated

Why does being blind mean he can't use headphones? Genuine question.

This is really awesome. More people need to speak up re this kind of behaviour

Wish I was brave enough to do this, my car was in the garage yesterday so I got the bus home. I managed to get a seat on a bench at the bus station to wait for my bus. A woman stood right next to the bench, lit up a cigarette and it was disgusting. In my head a said please move away with that, but I moved instead, she didn't look like she would have taken my request without a drama 🤣

He still should have been using headphones.

Well done! I cannot believe how it's suddenly acceptable to face time people and watch videos/music full blast on trains /busses and in public now.

About 7 years ago I was on a packed train and I'd forgotten to put my phone on silent and it rang,I thought I was going to get lynched! How times have changed. I don't understand it when everyone has fancy Apple ear buds but they don't use them 🙄

Well done, the more people who stand up to this crap the better. I always book the quiet coach and have no qualms in pointing out to anyone using their phone to pack it in. I got on at Glasgow once just got settled, was the only one in the coach, 3 very large men got on and were chatting away really loudly and i thought nope not having it, got up stood beside their table and said shush this is the quiet coach, they looked at me and said we are so sorry, got up and left. Only then did i think that was a bit dangerous. But we have to shut them up.

I was in a hotel restaurant with DD (aged about 10) when the man at the next table started boasting about a prostitute he'd used. After a couple of minutes I got up, told him everyone in the restaurant could hear him, no-one was impressed at his behaviour, and he needed to be quiet. He was so uncomfortable it was joyful.

Love your idea of fining yourself a tenner to donate to the food bank. I am going to start using that and think we all should fine ourselves.

People who do not wear headphones in public spaces are all going to hell. Official.

I think it's a mixture of very immature people who think they are impressing people with their (shite) taste in music/videos and other people who do it to assert a kind of aggressive dominance over the space.

He can't see... if someone approaches him, if someone tries to get past him, if everyone's evacuating for a fire alarm, if someone's about to walk into him, if a dog's run over and going to nick his croissant, if his bag is getting nicked etc etc etc. He needs to hear to help with these things, hence, no headphones.

There are bone conducting headphones you can use that leave your ear canals open but 1. not everyone knows about them and 2. not everyone gets on with them, they can be disorienting/make you dizzy.

A screen reader sounds vastly different to a phone call, podcast or an insta story etc out loud, not nearly as intrusive.

Hus headphones don't need to be loud though

One ear bud in, one out.

Screen readers are just as intrusive as any other digital sounds.

I think you're underestimating how much people who are blind rely on their other senses. It would be a big deal to have headphones in and lose a chunk of his ambient hearing.

Screen readers are horrendous. It's terrible that we can't do better in terms of accessibility for people with sight impairment. Noone would use them for fun.

@Globules it's a shame you didn't know about the girlfriend before the call with the wife, you could have had some real fun.

Exactly.

Personally, I can cope with a blind person using a screen reader without headphones because I recognise that I can't understand how they experience the world, the 'solutions' proposed by @TigerRag and @MeowCatPleaseMeowBack may not actually be suitable, and my comfort does not outweigh their need for safety and awareness.

But then, I'm not a twat.

I'm visually impaired. I know what I'm talking about thank you

Loudly? Nah not buying it.

I so would've said that quietly to my daughter though 😂

It is becoming increasingly common and socially accepted (to some) to live life on loudspeaker.
I'm just back from holiday and one lady spent every morning on a video call on speaker at breakfast. I wasn't ever close enough to be bothered and the restaurant was outside, but I was a bit annoyed for others closer that the staff didn't have a word. It's just so rude!

I apologise

I was in a cafe the other day and the toddler in a pushchair had loud nursery rhymes playing on repeat all through the meal. I was so annoyed. I applaud your guts! If we all said something perhaps people would have some manners.

Wow!!