Take your phone off speaker phone. It isn't a difficult concept. Entitled assholes. Keep your voice down so you don't irritate the hell out of others. I don't want to hear about your intestines. (BTW not aiming this at the op just at those that can't figure this out.)
In theory a great idea. But more and more people are walking around with guns and more and more people believe violence is the answer to everything and more and more people are just completely unhinged because they have main character syndrome. I'm not risking getting shot.
Lots of people are intentionally rude, hoping someone says something because they're addicted to rage and want to be "attacked" for something they feel is acceptable.
They'll immediately escalate, and especially in America you have no idea who has a gun. Making a reasonable request can be met with screaming and if you respond in kind then they feel "threatened".
Doesn't really matter what happens at trial, a crazy person that was looking for conflict just pulled their gun. The next 5 minutes matter more than the next five decades.
This means their current behavior becomes normalized, so now everyone is acting like it, people respond to anything with aggression because acting mentally unstable works. It makes the other person go away until you do it to someone even more unhinged.
A polite request to someone like that is a sign of weakness and guarantees an escalation, so even reasonable people stop being polite and start with direction.
The craziest are directing society.
It's not new and it's not the first time, but it rarely works out well for society.
I don't disagree with anything you said, but I also won't live in fear of the crazies with guns (police excluded because holy fuck they will murder you and your family, including your dog, without remorse).
But like I said, in that situation what happens in the next five minutes matters more than anything else. Whether that unhinged person decides to shoot you or not.
I do by joining into the conversation. People get offended but shut up, walk away, or call the person back later. In an airport or worse yet, an airplane I don't worry about the conflict. On a subway, different story.
Kids and idiots base their phone usage off vapid camera-ready idiots on reality TV whose entire usage is to play for an audience. They don't understand that holding their phone like a slice of pizza
I'm Norwegian, and travelled to the US in 2004. I remember people on the bus using their phones like this. On public transport. Never saw that in Norway back then.
I don't know about this. In my experience, the speakerphone speaker is way higher quality and easier to hear than the normal phone one. I just don't make phone calls
The harder to hear might be true for the people they are talking to. But for the one holding the phone that we are talking about it is actually easier because of how the speakers are aimed. Personal experience on this.
But if they would take it off speakerphone then the speaker is at their ear.
"Oh!" Matt fumbled in his pouch and got out his phone. "Hello?"
"That you, son?" came his father's voice.
"Yes, Dad."
"Did you get there all right?"
"Sure, I'm about to report in."
"How's your leg?"
"Leg's all right, Dad." His answer was not frank; his right leg, fresh from a corrective operation for a short Achilles' tendon, was aching as he spoke.
"That's good. Now see here, Matt-if it should work out that you aren't selected, don't let it get you down. You call me at once and-"
"Sure, sure, Dad," Matt broke in. "I'll have to sign off-I'm in a crowd. Good-by. Thanks for calling."
—Space Cadet, Robert A. Heinlein, written in nineteen fucking forty eight!
I had a flight back home from Vegas not too long ago and there was a loud woman who could not shut up near me. Even with my earbuds in I could still hear her going on about nonsense. And when we were trying to deplane there was a couple near me as well who were very vocal about how frustrated they were that it was taking so long for people to get off, because they just had to go smoke a cigarette 🙄