I'm traveling with family this weekend in a touristy place and have been out in public in crowded areas. I am really shocked by the number of people who have loud, personal conversations on the phone in speaker mode. This ranges from walking down the sidewalk, to in line for washrooms, to seated restaurant dining.

I've heard people say that it's because the phone speaker breaks (for their ear) but I've never had that happen in all the years I've destroyed phones and never had a friend or colleague say that happened. Other people say it's because the glass is cracked and they worry about cutting their face, etc.

My personal bias is this is inconsiderate but then I ask myself how is it different from talking to a person next to them, say. I'm willing to be change my mind here.

People who do this, please explain what's going on so I can sleep at night. :)

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] mojo@lemm.ee 40 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As someone with really bad anxiety, these people are aliens to me. Whenever I start to think I understand people, behavior like this is so incredibly foreign that I can can't comprehend relating to

[–] MajesticSloth@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't even like taking a call or listening to other people take a call in the same room as I am. I always leave the room for privacy. In a home environment at least, could deal with it in a work environment. So I really don't get it for those that do it in public.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You never know what the other person is going to say. It's safer to leave the room in case they say something in what they assume is a private call. A few times when the group I'm with needs to hear what's on the phone, I always let the person on the other side I'm turning on the speaker. I would be pissed and stop calling the other person if I thought they had me on blast.

[–] ____@infosec.pub 4 points 1 year ago

People do that to me at work frequently - I know you have me on speaker, that's fine, but you're in your little private office so no worries...

Nope, Jerry from Billing is sitting there listening to every word, and will jump in and offer "assistance" on topics he knows fuck all about. The person I'm actually trying to assist will of course take Jerry's input over mine... So why didn't you just ask him in the first place?

[–] grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I have really bad anxiety but I'm really good at pretending I don't except under a lot of stress. That's partly why I asked this. I just don't understand. I've been on the road since I asked this but the few replies I've seen do make some sense so I'm glad I asked.