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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have a phone conversation on the bus?

320 replies

LauderSyme · 05/12/2016 14:33

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?

OP posts:
NathanBarleyrocks · 05/12/2016 15:05

Did you make an effort to keep your voice down OP? If you were talking on the other side of the aisle to me & I could hear you from over there, I'd be pissed off too. I don't want to hear you.

Mol1628 · 05/12/2016 15:05

YABU. A quick phone call to let someone know where you are or something is fine. A 20 minute social call on the bus is annoying to other passengers.

SenseiWoo · 05/12/2016 15:06

You were inconsiderate, but they were very very rude to you.

gamerwidow · 05/12/2016 15:10

yABU nothing worse than a phone brayer on public transport. It's somehow even more irritating to listen to half a conversation than a two sided one.

ncayley115 · 05/12/2016 15:10

YANBU. Its lovely that you rang your grandmother - she was probably delighted to chat to you. If you weren't shouting at the top of your voice then there's no problem, If other people don't like it tough. Buy some earplugs!

SingingSands · 05/12/2016 15:10

Doesn't bother me at all. It's 2016, times have changed. I cannot see why anybody would object to what would have sounded like a perfectly pleasant, little bit banal, phone conversation!
Pay them no heed!

Pumpkin2010 · 05/12/2016 15:12

YANBU. Some people are just miserable!Wink

StefCWS · 05/12/2016 15:13

PUBLIC transport, meaning its public and you can do what the hell you want. Rude old people . I , just like you have to utilise my time and that 20 mins on the bus is a very welcomed call for my dear old lonely nan. You should have been ruder and told them to fuck off! lived up to expectation and all that.

Caper86 · 05/12/2016 15:15

You probably don't realise how loud you were being, most people who think it's ok to have a 20 min phone conversation on public transport don't. YABU

MadHattersWineParty · 05/12/2016 15:16

Buy some earplugs!

How about people just be respectful of eachother? If it bothered them enough to say something, I reckon you were louder and more inconsiderate than you realised.

SapphireStrange · 05/12/2016 15:18

I find loud, shouty, sweary conversations annoying, but not ones conducted at a normal conversational level with no offensive content. Whether they're phone or in-person conversations.

I agree with the PP who said it's no different than two people sitting together on a bus having a conversation.

Obviously I loathe the loud 'Hello? Hello?!? HELLO!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME???' type phone calls, but I don't think yours was one of those.

WarwickDavisAsPlates · 05/12/2016 15:18

I don't think it's annoying at all. Bus rides can be long and boring so what if you're talking on the phone? It's more annoying when people are shouting across to other people in the bus.

I think as long as you weren't shouting down the phone or swearing it's fine.

oldestmumaintheworld · 05/12/2016 15:19

It's a bus, not your sitting room, so yes YABU. If you want to have a conversation with your gran and use your time wisely then call on the way to the bus stop, or when you get off. I spent yesterday afternoon listening to an inane idiot at the end of the top deck tell his mate about his morning football match - move by move. I almost killed him. I do not, nor does anyone else, want to listen to your conversation, so please don't do it.

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 05/12/2016 15:20

I think being a single mother and working full time has nothing to do with it.

You were inconsiderate. It's public transport, we should all try not to invade our fellow passengers space too much.A short call- fine, a twenty min conversation - too much.

amusedbush · 05/12/2016 15:20

They were rude but so were you. I can't bear listening to people on the phone on public transport at the best of times but 20 minutes?? Shock

YelloDraw · 05/12/2016 15:20

Why is it any different to two friends sitting having a conversation on the bus?

I think it is fine.

CaraAspen · 05/12/2016 15:21

OP:
The people who spoke to you were being quite reasonable, unlike you. Most people do not want to be forced to endure this sort of thing.

LuciaInFurs · 05/12/2016 15:21

People who make phone calls on public transport are the reason I learnt to drive. I get a 5:30am bus and without fail every morning there is someone cackling away on their phone.

EvansOvalPies · 05/12/2016 15:22

YABU - there really should be a rule about using mobile phones in public places. A 20-min conversation that must have been so very loud as to annoy other passengers? I NEVER, EVER use my mobile phone in public spaces so as to annoy everyone else. Public space, to me, means that everyone is entitled to enjoy that public space. In any event, a bus (or other means of public transport is a CONFINED public space, so other passengers have no choice other than to listen to someone else's drivel.

If you love your Grandmother so much, visit her and have a chat over a cup of tea. My elderly parents live 200 miles away from me, I am a very busy person also - But I manage never to yell into my mobile phone in a confined space, intended for other members of the public to use.

This is selfish behaviour.

amusedbush · 05/12/2016 15:22

Why is it any different to two friends sitting having a conversation on the bus?

Because two friends generally lean in and speak quietly. Phone conversations are one-sided and generally much louder.

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 05/12/2016 15:23

Why is it any different to two friends sitting having a conversation on the bus?

I suppose at least everyone can hear both sides of the conversation there; so they can just listen. Hearing one side is more irritating because it's just noise?

I think a quick 3 minute call would have been alright, 5 at the most, but 20 minutes is too long to force other people to listen to you talk. Especially on a morning commute!

SapphireStrange · 05/12/2016 15:24

Because two friends generally lean in and speak quietly

Not always, not on the buses I get anyway. Confused

Spam88 · 05/12/2016 15:24

It's a bit irritating when you're subjected to someone's phone conversation on a bus/train, but honestly you're in a public place and it happens. YANBU at all in my opinion. The people who confronted you were BVU and rude.

Laiste · 05/12/2016 15:25

YWNBU OP

If you were in the cinema, a church, the theater or a quiet ward in a hospital then i would say YWBU.

However you were on a bus! Who are all these people who need to sit and contemplate their navel on a sodding bus ride?!

Are people rude to speak loudly on the bus if it's to someone next to them? Someone hard of hearing maybe?

NavyandWhite · 05/12/2016 15:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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