I actually like hearing half of other people's conversations. And then mentally filling in the other side. For instance, on a bus I heard this conversation a few weeks ago:

"What's my shoe size? Oh, I dunno, 13. What's my ring size? Um, well, I have big hands!"

And this annoys me to no end.

The conductors nearly always announce a message along the lines of "please be considerate of the other passengers and talk quietly on your phone if you must, but it's best just to wait until you reach your destination - cell phone complaints are the most common complaint on this line"

Just last night there was this executroid TALKING VERY LOUDLY about the meeting earlier in the day and how did it go and do you have the statement of work... ad nauseum.

I was directly across the aisle trying in vain to nap a little...

After 30 minutes of chaining one call after another, the passenger in front of the executroid gets and says, "hey thanks a lot for keeping it down! hope things go well for your team!" and stalked off.

There is this thing called SMS. Please use it. There is shit about your life I do not want to know.

Meanwhile there's this retrograde step out of Eurpoe:

"Brussels (Belgium) – The skies over Europe are sure to get a lot louder. The European Union has approved in-flight cell phone use for all of its 27 member nations."

Das ist ja ein großer Bummer, Dude!

downstreamer

I thought I read some amazing story of an overheard Delay on a train/bus story. Maybe it was Santorum. Actually, I think it was Santorum. I guess those days of corporate espionage are over.

I once got to overhear John Conyers in an airport lounge talking on his cell phone. It wasn't anything interesting.

As I said, I'm by and large un-irritated by cell phone conversations in enclosed spaces and don't find it very easy to understand people who are, being a bit of an information sponge.

I remember that story, too, intranets. It was a fascinating look at what goes on in that dog obsessed mind of his.

Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!

i think it was

or someone like that was sitting in the next seat on that traincar. some are just that arrogant, or something. they can't imagine that anyone would remember and listen to them. macaca isn't a moment, it's a feature.

you all know you're going to lose this battle, right? the younger folk don't hear other people on the line anymore than urban apartment people hear the train line that goes by their places every five minutes. it's a fact of life, things like this change with technology and cultural standards that are keyed to the young. and that's what we've got.

personally, that's why i have an ipod. i tune out the whole world, when i'm not in the mood to hear it as it is. but sometimes i am, i like people watching/listening, occasionally. laws won't change the fact that people like to talk, and to be seen talking. it's been tried, many times, before, and it almost never works.

There are cell phone signal jammers available. A bit pricy - your cost/reward calculation may vary - and there are some do-it-yourself low-cost instructions floating around.

Not to worry, the government is working on converting brainwaves directly to communication; eventually all you will have to do is think and you'll be connected to the Universal Grid, with no need for that old-fashioned annoying verbal chitter-chatter. Won't we all be relieved then?

In fact, I'm winning.

They're already taboo in theatres and at least better restaurants.

And if you've ever been on Greyhounds, you know they used to be absolutely infested with them. So progress is being made.

And I tried an iPod, but the voices still come through, and in any case, why should I deafen myself so assholes can yammer on about their anal leakage?

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.