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?

Yes, I can feel your catsbum mouth from here.

maybe I'm lucky as I don't slum it on the bus

Bless you Shark, you little rebel.

Can't even have a chat with a grandmother on the phone anymore shock

Er, what? I don't think anyone's suggesting that. Perhaps just when and where. I'm pretty sure people chatted to grandparents before mobile phones became prevalent.

Personally I wouldn't want someone to hear all the details of my conversation, and it's also v annoying to have someone talking down the phone on a crowded bus. A woman was sat behind me last week having a lengthy conversation with her friend - it wasn't rude or with lots of personal detail but incredibly irritating. A phone conversation is v different to two people chatting.

It slightly depends on how busy/noisy the environment was. So although I would have to begrudgingly say YANBU as a public space, I would have found it v irritating.

I like quiet. I also hate music that is too loud on public transport. I think it is better to be considerate of others when using your mobile phone.

It's also rude in shops imo when you are being served at the till.

Actually OP YANBU - it's no more intrusive than people talking to each other, children squealing, loud parenting etc - they are all bloody annoying but are just what you have to endure with public transport (and I say that as someone who travels via bus and/train every day).

If people don't like the noise, use headphones - yes you shouldn't have to etc etc but if it bothers you then you have to take steps to stop it winding you up

Odd that someone would use public transport and simultaneously not want to deal with, you know, the general public. The couple who told you off (how loud was the telling off, just out of curiosity ) should probably take the sound-proofed limo next time!

Evans there absolutely did used to be pay phones on longer distance trains - they were in the part of the buffet carriage where you queue for take away coffee and sandwiches on the London to Edinburgh trains in the early 90s... 10p to call whoever was picking you up to let them know whether you were running late.

"how did people manage before pay phones" is such a daft bit of rhetoric - how did they manage before there were buses and trains obviously they / we did, but rejecting every modern convenience just because it is possible to manage without does not make you a superior being.

5moreminutes - Well, I never did know that! Thank you! However, it seems they were in an isolated part of the train, thereby not annoying too many other passengers, and may not have sustained a loud 20-min conversation.

That is interesting though, I really am surprised. Every day is a school day, as they say!

So Evans why tell people to stop reading threads, but as it's AIBU you can ?

'So Cunt off'

That's more offensive than what I posted. Congrats.

why the need for a 20-min public conversation, thus annoying others. Why does anyone 'need' conversations at all? What a daft argument. And it only seemed to annoy one interfering pair enough to berate her about it.

OP didn't highlight any good reasons for not being able to visit Grandmother She didn't give a massive backstory. So what?

I do manage to fit in visits (which take up an entire weekend) and manage phone calls from my home, which do not encroach upon others.
Good for you. Maybe the OP also fits in visits, and makes some phone calls from home as well, if she has the chance. And what you implied was fucking outrageous, and you know it.

rejecting every modern convenience just because it is possible to manage without does not make you a superior being

I don't think anyone has suggested being a superior being at all It just beggars belief that a short bus/train journey cannot be undertaken without the entire bus/train knowing the ins and outs of your private life.
Personally, I would feel most self-conscious if I thought everyone in close proximity was listening in to my private telephone conversation. That's why I don't yell my private conversations in public places. And respecting other peoples quiet space. It's not really rocket science. IMV

Public transport is just that in my eyes.
People can do a whole realm of 'whatever the fuck they like' so get a car

Who says she was yelling, Evans? And 'ins and outs of your private life' – she was talking mainly about her DCs, not intimate medical procedures or her sex life or financial situation.

I'm beginning to wonder if you were one of the pair who told her off.

It used to annoy me until I saw research saying that people found it annoying simply because they only heard one side of the conversation. So if people were talking face to face, that was less annoying.

Live and let live nosy bastards

Tbh I don't see the difference between having a phone conversation on the bus and having a face to face conversation on a bus. If you're so precious that you cannot bear to overhear other people speaking then you should take earplugs everywhere you go.

Thank fuck I drive too.

People do talk louder on the phone than they do to the person next to them, or the person across the aisle from them.
I've often taken the bus and I'd say you can usually hear a lot of a phone conversation-enough to know what they're talking about. Even the slightly deaf old pair that talk pretty loudly I wouldn't hear as much.