Three weeks ago, I
wrote about a guy who couldn't shut his yap in a quiet train car. Well, today, I got another one. Well, to be honest, there's always someone who decides that discussing the meaning of life at full blast while in a train might be a good idea just about every day, but most of the time I manage to tune them out and read a book or play a chapter of
Phoenix Wright on the DS, but today, I failed miserably.
You see, this girl had an incredibly annoying voice, happily chirping away about her new condo in Utrecht, and that the price wasn't very high, and that her roommate was over the moon as well, and that the kitchen came with a stove... Hell, she descibed everything, just short of how to get there.
Anyway; after listening to her starting her story to the third person she called, I decided to get her to shut up.
Easier said than done, let me tell you. A short transcript:
Me: "Dear, I'm very happy for you and your new condo, but could you please take your phonecalls outside of the coupé?"
Her: "No, why should I?"Me: "Perhaps because you are bothering other people?"
Her: "Well, then, I advise you to get yourself a seat in a Silent Car. I'm free to do as I please in this one."Me: "But isn't it..."
Her: "No, I don't want to discuss this!"Well, so much for taking other people into account.
After some more pressure and other people openly agreeing with me, the girl finally decided to do it the easy way, cut her phone call short and remained there pouting for the duration of the trip.
The whole thing got me thinking; are we really at a point where people seem to think they can do as they please, just because no-one wants or dares to stand up to these people?
Are we really becoming this dense, to a point where we just let things happen, without reacting to it?
Apparently, we do.
Afterwards, I checked the train rules, and it turned out that in the Silent Cars, talking on your cell is prohibited. As for the regular cars; you're allowed to use it, but quietly. Perhaps it's a good idea to just teach people to "refrain from using their mobile phones" in trains altogether, as is custom in Japan.
Would be nice...
Cheers, K.