To ask if they had earphones they could use?

[SoundandFurry]

Name-changed for this...

My family were on a cross-Channel ferry at the weekend and we got ourselves settled in to one of the lounges to enjoy the sailing. A young couple sat down a few seats away and immediately began watching something (sounded like an action film) on their ipad, with the volume turned up really high (probably so they could hear it over the ferry's engine noise). There were other groups of passengers seated nearby who kept glancing at them and were obviously unhappy too about having to listen to someone else's entertainment.

My husband asked them if they had earphones they could use as the volume was so high. They immediately said No, and that as they weren't seated in a Quiet Zone they could watch their device any way they wanted. The man also said that my husband was rude to ask them about earphones (at this point my jaw hit the floor).

I really did not want to get into any kind of "scene" but fortunately the situation resolved itself when my son turned up with a tray of coffees. He's early 20s, 6ft 3 and built like a second-row rugby player. The man took one look at him and announced that they were going to sit somewhere else, but still carried on muttering about us being "rude" and that it wasn't a Quiet Zone.

I wasn't expecting people to sit in silence, but we felt that the couple could have been more considerate about using their device. I don't object to noise generally - in fact, their place was taken by a family with two young girls who chatted, sang and played beautifully, with the mother shushing them from time to time if they appeared to get over-excited.

So, were we being unreasonable to ask if this couple could use earphones?

Yes: You were unreasonable to ask.
No: They were entitled to watch their ipad

I was on a train recently and there was a teenage boy, clearly with some sort of special needs, playing a game on an iPad where a monster jumped out of a box and shrieked every few seconds (I finally saw what it was making this horrible repetitive noise when we got off). I totally understand that he may have had sensory issues that meant he couldn't wear headphones, but surely it didn't need to be full volume?! He was with several other young people with additional needs and what I assume were carers, surely they could have turned it down just a bit? I could hear it from a good few rows away, over the podcast I was listening to with headphones. I was on the train for just over an hour, I pity anyone who was on it for longer!!

YANBU. People using devices in public who don't use headphones are utter dicks.

YANBU. So many people do this now, I hate it. On the plane recently surrounded by kids on iPads watching crap or playing games with inane sounds with no headphones. How does anyone think that's acceptable?