Those who have phonecalls on public transport on loudspeaker.

[JJkate]

A direct question to those who do this. Can you please explain to me why?

Because the world is made up of 2 people. Them and everyone else.

Tbh it's usually such drivel they are talking I'm surprised they're not acutely embarrassed by people hearing it . . .

I can only assume they intend it as a group activity. Be kind and join in the fun!

Loudly offer your opinion on the matter they're discussing. Demand additional details.
Ramble about when you've been in a similar situation.
Call your own friends on speakerphone and invite them to join the conversation too.

Our manager had to put an email out about this as one person did it ALL the time and it was very annoying for everyone else!

My mum only talks to her partner on FaceTime, and will answer eg in the middle of lunch she do this, chatting away about their days while the ‘real life’ conversation has to cease.

It’s very odd.

That must be a bit awkward. 😬

To be fair, it’s quite a useful way of identifying who’s an arsehole and who isn’t.

Same for the people who play music. Trains have now become unbearable. I was on a train at the weekend and a woman asked someone to turn the music down and thankfully they did without any aggro. The rest of the carriage murmered thanks/well done but it shouldn't come to that and a lot of the time the perpetrators would just ignore or be aggressive in the face of a very reasonable request.

Why the fuck can't they use headphones/earbuds for their music and have their conversations in a less public place? There is just no excuse for it. <awaits the whataboutery>

I'm dying to hear from someone to please explain why they do it? Even on face time you can wear headphones. Why do you listen to music or have phones calls on loudspeaker? Please tell me?

I know someone who justifies this by saying it’s healthier not to hold the phone to your ear because 5G/ cancer / covid / something.

In short, she’s an idiot.

I think it’s because COVID turned everyone into consumers first, rather than participants in a society who have a responsibility to others for their behaviour in a public space. So people pretty much do whatever they want and are very surprised and aggrieved if challenged about it.

The top Mumsnet tip I heard to tackle this, is to purr into their phone in a sleepy voice ‘Darling, come back to bed…’ 😊
Please, please try it and let us know how you get on.

I don’t travel by public transport very often but wonder if I’d have the guts to do that, or to play some stirring Sousa marches on speaker with my own phone 🎺 Probably start with The Liberty Bell 🤔

Flog them publicly, along with litter louts. My dream job! 😄

:) thanks for making chuckle everyone. It's fucking mad!

This was me a few months ago 🙈 my phone was broken and could only hear the other person when on speakerphone. For about a week it was the only way I could answer the phone. I know how annoying it is, it drives me mad too. I tried so hard to avoid answering the phone in public 😂

Oh God. I was on the train yesterday. On one side there was a guy texting whose phone kept dinging and announcing in a bizarre Mickey Mouse type voice “text message!”

On the other side a guy having a video call on loudspeaker. It wasn’t even in English so I couldn’t even eavesdrop and both kept massively distracting me from my book.

😂

A girl was doing this on a train I was on, only about 3 of us in the carriage. I couldn’t understand why she’d want us to hear? So I looked at her and made it clear I was listening right in. She seemed surprised! And then turned it down a bit and put it closer to her ear. Before going back to it a few mins later. When I looked over again 🤣 like surely it’s obvious I could hear?!

And yet people are all over organisations regarding GDPR 🤷🏻‍♀️

I used to love travelling on public transport, particularly trains. Quiet and time to read. Now it’s like travelling through a funfair.

Some people honestly think the world revolves around them! 😆

The answer might be 'they've seen it on TV/movies and think it's cool'. This suggests that they are irredeemably stupid.
My tactic (because I'm old and don't care) is to lean over and say " I don't think you realise but everyone can hear your conversation." My children hate me when I do and I know it's a bit of a dick move but it works.

Yeah I think it started on reality tv where the cameras would need to hear both sides of the conversation. So people started mimicking it thinking it was cool, plus people being so self absorbed. Its now just a thing. Awful. How embarrassing not to know how to use a phone.

Foughties you're a genius. I now have an alternative opening. 'Sorry, don't you know how to use your phone, can I help?' That's so mean but very tempting.

The woman on the train last week said, in a confident voice 'could you turn that down. Please. You're annoying everyone'.

It's unbelievably irritating.
I once asked someone to please turn their music down and got told unceremoniously to "fuck right off." So that pretty much confirmed me to me that they were awful.

Can't stand this, and I like the fact nobody has come on here to say they think it's fine. I like taking calls on loudspeaker rather than with the phone to my ear, but in private fgs, not public. Another similar bugbear (again, usually on trains!) is when people are messaging so allow their phone to constantly beep. You are literally sitting there looking at your phone; you can see the messages coming in - put it on silent.