Can't stand it: talking loudly over the phone in public

[startic84]

Hi all...on many occasions I've come across people who talk loudly over the phone. Smehow i don't find that acceptable. It's even more frustrating when they do it while sitting next to me. I tend to think they have an intention for doing it; like trying to make some kind of a statement or showing off their competency in some non-local language. Like yesterday, i was at this bookstore that was relatively quiet. This lady went on talking loudly over the phone with exaggerated responses like a loud "OH REALLY!? I went oxford University to study too...got 90++%...blah blah...". Everyone sitting nearby me looked at each other, then at her, then back at their books. Every once in a while the looking around process would repeat.

How can we deal with people with such bad phone habits?

 

[Adam]

I was trying to order a meal in Subway, and some gimp started talking VERY loud on his mobile phone. So I stood next to him and spoke louder, just talking crap to a friend. Yes, I'm petty sometimes.

 

[Dagenais]

How can we deal with people with such bad phone habits?

Ask them nicely to please quiet down and that you're trying to read.

If that doesn't work, I guess you could get security.

 

[BoulderHead]

I have heard a few loud talkers speaking into their cellular telephones. I think if I knew some of them personally I’d likely feel embarrassed for them knowing that people within 30-foot radius are hearing first hand the shallowness and unimportance of what’s being said. Sometimes it is business, however, so I listen keenly for anything useful.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Cell phones are a great cover for people who are having auditory hallucinations and want to converse with them.

 

[startic84]

i'm still trying to think out a way to not make the situation awkward if i have to tell a person to be quiet. Somehow, someone will be embarrassed and i don't want that. Plus, who knows what kind of responses they can come up with, especially those who are quick-witted, who can come up with clever rebuttals or excuses in a split second. In doing so, they may quite likely cause me to be the embarrassed one instead!

How about this: i talk to someone beside me, preferbly someone i know, about what is being discussed by the loud talker, and share my insights and views on it. All this to be said in a volume just barely audible for him to hear. This way i won't have to personally interact with them(great for the shy ones like me), and can solve the matter with the least amount of conspicuousness. haha! good idea!?

 

[jimmy p]

It is pretty annoying when your sitting in a restaurant and the phone behind you goes off and the guy who picks up and says

"Hey, what did the doctor say? Did you pick up the tablets that will clear the Thrush up?"

Most off putting.

 

[motai]

I was trying to order a meal in Subway, and some gimp started talking VERY loud on his mobile phone. So I stood next to him and spoke louder, just talking crap to a friend. Yes, I'm petty sometimes.

Great idea. Ill have to use it sometime when some bloke starts to yammer on and on about nothing.

 

[hypnagogue]

Cell phones are a great cover for people who are having auditory hallucinations and want to converse with them.

Conversely, those microscopic non-hand-held ones are a great cover for people who are having normal conversations on the phone and want to appear as if they have auditory hallucinations.

 

[Chrono]

How can we deal with people with such bad phone habits?

Take away the phone from them, throw it to the ground, and stomp on it. It's the only logical thing to do.

 

[The_Professional]

Take away the phone from them, throw it to the ground, and stomp on it. It's the only logical thing to do.

Umm..No, sounds illogical to me. Unless you're pretty experienced in street fighting and don't mind getting hurt and arrested

You can always politely ask the person to just turn it down a bit.

 

[Chrono]

Umm..No, sounds illogical to me. Unless you're pretty experienced in street fighting and don't mind getting hurt and arrested

I don't mind.

 

[Tsu]

It is pretty annoying when your sitting in a restaurant and the phone behind you goes off and the guy who picks up and says "Hey, what did the doctor say? Did you pick up the tablets that will clear the Thrush up?"

Or maybe worse - "Did you get my medication for my head lice"?

 

[Robert Zaleski]

How can we deal with people with such bad phone habits?

While standing next to the phone caller, start coughing uncontrolledly with your mouth uncovered, and state, "Oh God! My brother's been diagnosed with pneumonic plague."

 

[Tsu]

what's pneumonic plague?

 

[Evo]

what's pneumonic plague?

It's the airborne type. It's contagious.

 

[startic84]

haha it's fun reading the replies we get here.
maybe - what would you do or say if you have this person standing next to you talking loudyly over the phone?- could have been a better heading for this thread.

 

[cragwolf]

I can't understand how people can have the insensitivity to talk loudly in a public space (or worse, on the balcony of the adjoining apartment at 2am). These people have no conception of the idea that their actions may disturb others around them. Or if they do have a conception, then they don't give a sh1t. That is sociopathic behaviour. I don't think you can brush this off as a minor personality quirk.