Mobile phones used on buses

[mustgetoffmn]

I’ve just lost it. I boarded a bus which was empty upstairs I had a lot of shopping and took the front seat it was a 50 minute journey. A woman got on and took the other free front seat took her phone out lodged it in between her ear and shoulder and settled into a chat. She was speaking continuously. I thought annoying but hopefully she would get off soon or end the call. She didn’t. After half an hour I decided to play some music without phones to drown her out . Passive aggressive but I was pretty wound up by then. She paused and asked me to turn the music off. I replied that her call was antisocial in a public place. It turned into a big row with a man behind calling me a Karen (of course) and telling me she had the right and I should have just moved. In the end I just moved downstairs. He was pretty nasty possibly drunk. Am I being unreasonable and should have just moved? I’m on public transport a lot and the antisocial behaviour is getting to me.

It's just not on buses, was in a large pub one and there was a very important man making a very important call about a very important job. You know the type, puffed up like a pigeon striding around the floor talking at a volume that would ensure that everyone in the pub would know how very important he was. . I was in hysterics and I was laughing my head off as he passed our table. He was at a table a few away from ours. I think he realised I was laughing at him as he went back to the table and carried on the call at a normal volume

Yes, YABU.

YANBU I can't remember the last time I got on a bus and wasn't subjected to someone else's loud phone call (often in a foreign language so I'm guessing they assume they're having a "private" conversation) or more commonly, music and videos played without headphones. It's not kids either, it's adults. I was on a bus the other day and it was a newer one with a digital display screen and one of the slides was asking people to be considerate of fellow passengers and not play music without headphones. Ironically, someone was!!

I don't see how a phone conversations is any more distractng than two people having a conversation on a bus.
I don't like to hear music though.

Phone calls always seem to be at volume 11 though and the person on the other end (always on speaker) has that god awful crackling/glitching sound.
Times that by about 6 people on the bus doing it simultaneously - all trying to drown each other out.....
It's possibly one of the most irritating things in the world.

I am shocked that people play music or watch shows without ear buds in

I was thinking the same. I do a 2 hr train journey twice a week, lots of people on phones but I put my ear phones in an listen to a book.

I see your bus and raise you a hospital ward. At 2am.

YABU

Yes you are being unreasonable. I guess that’s why mobile phones are mobile. What I think probably happened was that the woman was just a really annoying, obnoxious person and that’s actually what wound you up and triggered you (it would do the same to me, I had a friend who talked at me so incessantly that I feel my chest getting tight right. Ow just thinking about it) as opposed her discreetly being on the phone. And yes, you completely lost the battle playing music on your phone without headphones 😂 but we all lose our shit from time to time so i get it. And the guy was a dick for calling you that name… I despise the weaponised use of a woman’s name so I’d have lost my shit at that! See… it happens to us all!

I remember reading a gripe about mobiles on public transport (back in the 90s, when not everybody had them), which was that you could only eavesdrop on half the conversation. Now you can eavesdrop on both sides. 😀 People used to complain about Walkmans on public transport as well (remember them?), and that was when you couldn't listen to them without headphones.

Anyway, with the Mumsnet mania of "ban this, ban that" and "the planet is burning", you should be grateful that they are using buses instead of their polluting cars, where they would instead be using their mobile phones at the wheel.

@CharlotteCChapel Your comment reminded me of this line from Maggie Smith, in the film Gosford Park: "That frightful Inspector won't let anyone leave, so we're treated to another day of Mr Weissman shouting down the telephone." Mr Weissman being an American Very Important Film producer, making repeated calls to California, saying things like "I don't want her in the fucking movie". Even the wealthy folk of the 1930s could not avoid the problem of people swearing down the telephone.

Today on my home on a bus about 20 mins ride a young lad about 18-19 sat in front of me earphones in blasting tunes i could hear it plainly.
What did i do well i tapped him on the shoulder and asked what song he was playing as i really liked it.
It was toms dinner cover downloaded it on the bus said thank you and got off at my stop.
I really dont take any notice of what others do as i put my own plugs in my ears but i had to ask him the name its really good.

Just join in with the phone conversation.

Or relay it to whoever you are on the phone to at the same time.

A few years ago I got a coach to London and there was a lady who was conducting some sort of business deal in what Google translate identified as Yoruba. After an hour of this, I shouted the 3 rows ahead to where she was sitting that her brother was probably getting the best deal he could.

Sadly I've never heard anything that I could turn into some sort of insider trading tip to make my fortune.

YANBU. When I rule the world everything except talking to children will be banned on public transport.

Both loud phone calls AND music played without earphones are the worst on buses!

It's public transport and she's entitled to have a conversation (face to face or over the phone). Maybe that's the only spare time in her day she can call her mum or her daughter.

Hopefully she wasn't shouting, but equally it's not your private space.

If you don't like it, wear head phones or move. Or walk !

Well I've just had to take an important call on a coach. I kept it short. I informed the caller that I was on a coach. I have earbuds in. But I had been waiting for this call abc could hit kids it especially as it's the weekend.
Sometimes it's unavoidable, but I agree that she (and he) were very rude.

I mean... it's what they're for. Loud conversations are annoying, but that could equally be two people having a loud conversation. Playing music, however, is very annoying.

She may be have irritating, but you were worse I'm afraid.

That is almost, but not quite, completely unlike what I described.

Playing music out loud is considerably more anti social than being on the phone in public. It also shows a staggering lack of regard for the other people around you who didn’t want to listen to the phone call or your music.

The woman making the loud phone call was unreasonable. However, so were you for playing music without headphones or earphones, regardless of the reason. Both of those things are completely unacceptable.

I’m 70 and had a lot of shopping. I don’t normally react but it had gone on for half an hour with no pause. The point is that BECAUSE it’s a public space you don’t behave antisocially. Try doing this in New York you get told off immediately. Being on public transport should feel peaceful. Two people having a normal conversation is just not so disturbing and also not generally so invasive. Also not a constant monologue with no apparent break in sight I didn’t move because I would have had to struggle down the stairs with my shopping. I was there first as it happens. The woman could have sat at the back where there were a lot of empty seats. One way speaking into a mobile for a long time is inconsiderate of those around them. Also she thought it was fine to ask me to turn the music down without thinking about what she was subjecting fellow passengers to herself. I would never play music without head phones I did it to make the point for 5 minutes. I remember the days you could just look out of the window and contemplate the passing scenery

I love listening to other people's phone conversations. I am very nosy and judgy so I'm in my element.

YABU, it would be no different if she were sat with a friend and chatting for the duration of the journey. And YABU for playing music as some sort of revenge.

Re mobiles on buses this is recognised as disturbing on trains which is why you have a choice of a silent carriage