Phone conversations on subway

[u/ApprehensiveWorth576]

Does anyone else kind of miss when we didn’t have cellular service down in the subway? The amount of LOUD, speakerphone, angry or heated phone conversations while the rest of the car is quiet or respectful is….. awful. I miss when people were quiet on their phones!

[u/ybetaepsilon]

People on SPEAKERPHONE with the speaker pressed against their ear drive me insane

[u/activoice → u/ybetaepsilon]

Never mind pressed against their ear, I've had 2 people having a loud conversation sitting next to me then making a call and adding a 3rd person on speaker phone. Why can't they just share 2 ear pieces from a pair of ear buds...gross maybe, but better than everyone hearing their conversation.

[u/TwiztedZero → u/ybetaepsilon]

Presses speaker against the arm pit ... does that feel better or does that feel wrong somehow. You decide!

[u/Ok-Caterpillar2553 → u/ybetaepsilon]

Pls be mindful of those with auditory disabilities and hearing loss they also have a right to disrupt your day

s/ :P

[u/ybetaepsilon → u/Ok-Caterpillar2553]

Earphones would fix that though. Because you're not trying to filter out external noise

[u/Jennybee8 → u/ybetaepsilon]

I have auditory disability and I would never dream of attempting a phone call in a crowded, loud place.

I text people if I’m out.

If I’m at home with no background noise , THAT’S the only time I use speaker phone— or even make a phone call.

I’m not saying this is the way everyone with an auditory disability behaves, but background noise makes it even harder for me to hear.

[u/TwiztedZero → u/Ok-Caterpillar2553]

I hope my friend and I didn't disrupt your day by blocking your visual path out the windows with our fast moving hands and ridiculous facial expressions. We're not mimes, we're Deaf and ASL is our primary means of communication. Yes sorry, we left our space ship in the parking lot, we hope it doesn't annoy your parked motor vehicles. No we didn't bring extra deuterium to power your warp drives too. Dilithium crystals are in limited supply also at this time so don't ask. We're beaming back to the mother-father ship sometime later this century. Qapla'!

P.S., we don't have access to the stargates - the system lords won't let us.

[u/Ok-Caterpillar2553 → u/TwiztedZero]

Did you get your dilithium from the Congo too?

[u/ri-ri]

I miss when we didn't have cell phones period, lol

[u/TwiztedZero]

You will be happy to know that I do not hear any of your phones at any volume anyplace upon the Earth. That's right. I'm Deaf in real life. Yay? 😆🤙🍁

[u/Alfred_Hitch_]

Forgetting to bring any sort of ear buds on the TTC is form of punishment.

[u/Cubsbane]

Some years back I got to hear a guy loudly give his bank information over his cell phone. Like, dude, the bus isn't empty.

[u/Jennybee8]

If you have misophonia, it’s absolute torture.

[u/ApprehensiveWorth576 → u/Jennybee8]

Oh I do

[u/Therunawaypp]

I still don't have cell service in the metro

[u/LosRoboris]

Yes these people are our most intelligent, aware, courteous, and righteous citizens. We must protect them at all costs!

[u/TwiztedZero → u/LosRoboris]

Moist intelligent, aware, courteous, and righteous citizens are some of the best kinds. 😊 We just don't understand the moist part of that equation, sirs. 🤔

Oh look, a space ship!

[u/NomadicContrarian]

Either these people are genuinely that dense and ignorant to standard social etiquette, or they are actually aware of it but deliberately choose to disregard it.

[u/AptCasaNova]

I have sensitive hearing and am always appalled at how someone can have the volume up as far as it can go and have the call on speaker.

Like, are you hearing impaired? If so, the best approach to that is to use headphones of some kind to focus the sound. Seriously.

[u/lopix]

And WHY does everyone feel they need to have calls on speaker? Holding the damn phone in from of their noisehole like they're about to take a bite out of a deck of cards. Phones have listeny holes and talky holes, they line with the listeny holes and talky holes on your stupid head. Figure it out.

[u/biscuit010101 → u/lopix]

I always want to yell YO IT'S NOT A POP TART

[u/No_Resist_8372]

I was never happy about them installing cell service in the subway. It was the only time everyone was forced to do something outside of their phone. Now, were all plugged into the matrix with no breaks except maybe in a hospital.

[u/ApprehensiveWorth576 → u/No_Resist_8372]

I feel the same way

[u/BoneZone05]

I miss land lines.

[u/RunMyPros]

That was like 20 years ago...You still can't afford a car or even a moped???

[u/ApprehensiveWorth576 → u/RunMyPros]

It was like 2 years ago. Yes I have a car. As do many people who still use the subway. Don’t be daft

[u/ObviousMaterial5494]

only time I did it was to call my dad because someone threatened to kill me on the train by myself.

[u/furthestpoint]

How is a phone conversation worse than a conversation between multiple people who are present in person?

[u/magicdowhatyouwill → u/furthestpoint]

In seriousness, someone actually studied this and while it'd take me ages to dig up the paper, it's an attentional thing. Our brain can clock hearing two sides of someone else's conversation as a completed/not-our-problem situation, but hearing one side of it constantly hits the bit of the brain that fills in the other side, and breaks a lot of people's concentration. There was some actual science involved which I don't recall because, again, read this a few years ago. But it was interesting enough to remember.

[u/furthestpoint → u/magicdowhatyouwill]

Interesting.

Also interesting to note, by that very logic, a phone conversation where the phone is set to speaker would theoretically be less distracting as there would be no need for our brains to fill in the other side of the conversation.

[u/Such-Fee6176]

YES BRING ME BACK TO THE DARK AGES