To have a phone conversation on the bus?

[LauderSyme]

I travelled to work by bus today and thought I'd use the time to call my grandmother on my mobile. I work full time and am a single parent so finding the time to chat on the phone can be tricky. We talked for 20 mins or so, mainly about my dc. As I was getting off, an elderly couple confronted me quite nastily to tell me how rude I was and how disgusting it was of me to "force the whole top deck to listen to my conversation" and that I should "think twice before getting that thing out". I know other people's public conversations can be really annoying but I didn't raise my voice or swear or speak inappropriately. I think they were the rude ones! WIBU or were they?

No Saucisson

5 mins is fine 20 on a bus is not so good

Using your phone in public is fine but long catch up conversations are best kept for when others don't have to listen to half the conversation. They were bu to call you out on it but not wrong in principal.

I was not shouting or yelling! Why are some of you so determined that I must have been particularly anti-social? Rather than that the elderly couple were self-righteous, self-important, intolerant and entitled? I conceded that I must have been speaking louder than I realised because it was obviously loud enough to bother them. Therefore, too loud, even though I'm pretty sure it wasn't that loud.

I have probably spent several years of my life on public transport if you add it all together, and have been subjected to every fucking permutation of annoyance my fellow travellers have cared to inflict. Not once have I ever spoken to anyone as rudely as that couple did to me.

BadKnee you must have missed the in that post.
And, a "comment" would have been fine: unleashing a nasty rant, not so much.

If you were having a conversation that would have been appropriate (level of voice and content) had your grandmother been sitting next to you on the bus, then YWNBU.

I commute to our head office by train quite regularly, a journey of a couple of hours and there are usually several people making personal or business calls. These never really bother me but I have a choice - the train has a quiet carriage and if they did bother me I could go there. On the bus there is no quite space so people are force to listen, so it becomes a more difficult question to answer.

My personal view is that bus, train and flight trips consume precious time and not using them productively would leave us less time for doing important things. I can get 4 hours of work done on a round train trip, some of which would involve using the phone. That's four extra hours I can spend with my DP & DS.

I would never begrudge others doing exactly the same thing - using the travel time in the most productive way they can. It only becomes an issue when they are obnoxiously loud about it. (Note: I usually find people playing music far more annoying than any phone conversation)

I wasn't present for your phone call, so I've not idea about the level, but YANBU unless you were being excessively loud.

I hadn't realised you could buy a cellphone jammer which jams signals up to a radius of 10metres (about 30 feet). Might come in useful on a bus or train. Imagine all those people prodding in vain at their phones! Be quite a funny sight.

www.jammer4uk.com/cell-phone-jammer-c-2.html

I find it quite annoying but why the heck did that couple think it was ok to 'confront you angrily'. I'm fed up of people thinking they can say what they like to people in a rude way.

I hadn't realised you could buy a cellphone jammer which jams signals up to a radius of 10metres (about 30 feet). Might come in useful on a bus or train. Imagine all those people prodding in vain at their phones! Be quite a funny sight.

Yeah -hilarious

Because it's not like anyone is likely to have any important calls (sick children, work emergency etc). (And yes I know that the OP didn't necessarily have to make the call then but it's no more obnoxious than most other people on the bus - noisy kids, loud teens playing music, etc and it's much less obnoxious than people striking up conversations with random people on the bus)

Anyone making calls in a public space using earphones & a microphone is not BU.

Shouting into a handset, on the other hand, so cool.

The thing about public transport is that it's used by the public. If they wanted to travel in privacy and silence then they shouldn't have chosen a bus. YANBU at all and they are BVU.

YABU, yes somewhat. It is different to having a conversation with someone who is sat beside you on the bus. For the other passengers, it's far more distracting because they can only hear one half of the conversation and this makes it harder to zone out. Everyone's ear naturally prick up when a comment or, particularly, a question, seems to hang in the air.
Also, people on phones usually talk rather more loudly than those talking to people sat near them. I always seem to need to raise my voice quite a bit if I need to make a quick call on public transport.

But you have my greatest sympathy as a full time working single parent trying to squeeze in a phone call to relatives! A quick chat isn't sounreasonable, or if there are not many people on the bus and you can sit at a distance from other passengers that's not so bad either...

what i want to know is why people get up tight about conversations on the phone but they wouldnt feel the same if you were both sat there talking. like why does it being across a phone change that?

Just as unreasonable as two people sat conversing very loudly on the bus surely?

YABU. If I'd been on the bus I would have turned up my music very loud so that I didn't have to listen to your conversation. (I generally keep it quiet enough not to be overheard by others, because that's annoying, but if someone's making a racket anyway, I'm entitled to block it out).

I have no problem with people making urgent calls, or other short calls, but 20 minutes is far too long. It's impolite. So is having loud, shouty conversations with others who are actually on the bus.

Its none of their bloody business you talk where you want. You should have told them not to eavesdrop in a private conversation. Some people are so nosy and rude.

Yawn, no unless you were talking really loudly. Those saying you are, you're the rude ones responding like that. As OP explained she doesn't get opportunities to make calls easily and people do have conversations on buses.

I talk on my phone on the bus and people can hear me but no one says anything. I don't think they have the bottle to be honest with you.

I think people can be pretty intolerant, and clearly from your point of view that is down time which could be put to better use by catching up on a phonecall. But 20 mins is quite a long call, and there is something especially annoying about overhearing a phonecall as opposed to overhearing two people chatting. It's a bit like listening to music leaking from headphones -much more irritating than hearing music being played out loud as it were. So, probably unnecessarily rude of them to confront you but if I was on the bus I would probably be quietly irritated.

In my opinion YANBU . There are worse things than a person using a mobile phone on a bus. I think the couple were very rude to challenge you. But I wouldn't let it bother you they're probably like that with everyone

Some one randomly talking to me on the bus irritates me. Some one talking on the phone doesn't because its none of my business as long as they leave me alone.

I hate it when people have long conversations on their mobiles on buses or trains. Especially if it is a morning commuter train, I can't believe the number of people who have long chatty conversations at 7.30/8am. It has me seething in annoyance.

But I do accept that on some level it is not reasonable for me to feel like that, and I would never say anything to any of these phone chatters. Unless they were speaking really really loudly.

So I think YANBU, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't find listening to your conversation extremely annoying.

Meh, I commuted to London every day for 2 years, never bothered me much. It's only annoying if it's so loud that I can hear them prattling or laughing over my own music or audio book through noise cancelling earphones...yeah, they can bloody shut up. But I wouldn't dream of saying anything, if I'm that bothered I'll move.

Oh and I NEVER answered my phone on the train, not even a work call. Far too British and concerned about making a spectacle of myself.