Wouldn't you turn it off? Noise on public space

[BarrelOfOtters]

On a crowded ferry. A family have a Christmas song on permanent loop on an ipad for thei baby. For 3 hours. It's not loud, but it's audible.

I think they were on the last leg of travelling back from holiday and all looked knackered. But really - it was incessant - not mega loud - but constant.

I agree the worst are the ones who watch a film or video really loud with no headphones. It's just completely antisocial.

This gives me the absolute rage.
On my recent flight back from holiday, the boy near me was watching videos on his phone with no headphones. His dad in between me and him had his headphones on watching a film. I actually took earplugs out of of my bag and put them in. The mother was sat in the row in front and was just letting this happen too. Even worse, the dad (next to me) was frantically jiggling his legs all the way through the flight. My stress levels were through the roof.
Before the flight took off, another dad in the row behind was playing a shooting game on his phone at top volume. Thankfully his wife asked him, 'do you need the volume that loud?' and he turned it down.
On holiday by the pool, the amount of people having long, loud phone calls was just incredible. A Spanish dad who was quite often near where I'd sit was always watching Spanish videos on his phone at top volume.
What is wrong with people? Since COVID, people just couldn't care less about others.

Chuck it overboard.

It was a baby? And why do their needs trump everyone else who doesn't want to hear the same thing over and over again without headphones?

💯

What others consider a baby is somewhat subjective, some would describe a 2 year old in a pushchair as a baby. Some syndromes and conditions also cause very small stature, I’m an SEN teacher and have worked with some 4/5 year olds who would physically look like babies from afar to somebody who didn’t know them.

If the alternative to not letting your disabled child watch a comforting video on repeat is a meltdown in which they start head-banging/ biting themselves to the point they bleed and cause injuries or have a meltdown in which they start biting and kicking others around them I can understand why the parents might make the decision to have the song on even if their child refuses headphones, which many disabled/ ND children do due to sensory issues. People say a crying baby would be preferable, but I have been in public with children having meltdowns and attempting to injure themselves and others and other people were distressed to see it, for some children meltdowns can last hours and might mean the family missing the plane.

It’s easy to judge but we don’t know the family’s situation and listening to one Christmas song on repeat for 3 hours is not typical baby/ toddler behaviour so I think it’s very likely there is something more going on. It’s not ideal for other passengers, but unless you’ve walked in someone else’s shoes it’s better not to judge them. If it was that annoying the OP could have moved to sit somewhere else or put headphones/ earphones in herself.

I'm hoping you mean the iPad......

Admitted they had none and turned it down but in fairness to them they were not argumentative.

YANBU but people don't care. It's the same with screaming in the garden and kicking footballs off cars. Nobody gives a shit about anyone else's needs, things, or comfort anymore.

(I speak as a ND adult who is left in physical pain by excessive and intrusive noise. I barely go out anymore.)

That's really inconsiderate. I can't stand anything like that, repetitive noise, it irks me so badly. I hate hearing tinny music come out of headphones too when it's really loud in the person's ear.

I've got headphones for my daughter's tablet and wouldn't let her use it in public without them.

I agree. One of the reasons I hate public transport is because there's always some twat playing music or a noisy film out loud.

Just read a book, ffs.

Recently a middle-aged woman on the train from Sussex to Kent played her chosen music loudly throughout the journey.

Considerate people need to understand the mentality of these people, as it is extremely prevalent... I suppose it is a sort of dog-eat-dog mentality. Considerate people should not be naive about this.

Selfish and un-self-aware to the point of being moronic.

Even if the DC is ND, what happens if there are other ND people who can't cope with loud noises or people with hearing impediments who can't hear with background noise ?

Exactly. Why does one person's need trump another?

Nobody ever answers this on these threads. At best you get a lukewarm "parents know how to manage this" response, which means nothing.

Yep selfish. Have this on the train sometimes coming back from work, it’s busy commuter home time and a parent and child get on get the iPad out and play stuff out loud. After a busy day at work it’s the last thing you want to be hearing.

For those who can't wear headphones for whatever reason, how about alternatives like bluetooth beanie hats etc

These are not the only two options though, are they? Parent interacting with baby is surely the alternative to ipad music? Or maybe baby watching a video with sound off?

Yes!! 🤣🤣

I think it depends on the age of the baby and whether they had any other options (which you probably wouldn't know).
I too hate when people watch their iPad or play music/videos without headphones, kids or adults. I would never leave my toddler watch videos in public with the sound on, but when he was a baby we would rock him in his pushchair with the music on our phone, not loud at all but definitely audible. This was the fastest way to get him to sleep, the only other option was to listen to him scream for 30-60 min. I completely acknowledge that the music could be annoying for others but I still think they preferred that to the alternative...

it wasn't 1 song though!

I’ve started joining in. If they’re on the phone / FaceTime I wave / say hi. If it’s music I sing along, if something else I say “oooh what’s that” loudly.

I assume if they’re playing it out loud it’s a group / public activity?

This all damn day. It's fucking annoying.

Hahaha I love this idea. I tried it on holiday when the people in the room next to us had Taylor Swift blaring out, I tried signing along but they just got turned it up to drown me out. So I called security on them

Definitely ignorant. Anyone using music or sound in a public space should use headphones.

I think small kids can have a bit more leeway if the volume is fairly low and not for too long though.