# Mobile-fucking-phones and my near psychotic episode. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 11, 2002, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271 "2002-11-11T11:43:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/21 "2002-11-13T22:26:32Z")
Kambuckta An electronic leash. What a wonderful metaphor! ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/22 "2002-11-13T23:28:06Z")
Ha! That rocks, **Eve**. I wish I was there. Honestly, I have a cell phone and I see no need to talk so loudly. I speak like I would on any other phone and the other party never has a problem hearing me. Wasn’t there a Seinfeld where he got all pissed at a guy in the restaraunt talking on a cell and he kept trying to but in on the conversation everyone could hear? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/23 "2002-11-14T01:38:42Z")
I’m still curious as to why it was made worse by the fact that “they were all speaking in different languages”. If anything, that should makes their voices easier to tune out. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/24 "2002-11-14T02:00:36Z")
I don’t know about anyone else, but for me conversation in a language I don’t know is more distracting than conversation in English. I think it’s because my brain keeps trying to make sense of what it’s hearing but can’t, so instead of ignoring the “noise” it channels more energy into interpreting it. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/25 "2002-11-14T06:49:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\*I’m still curious as to why it was made worse by the fact that “they were all speaking in different languages”. If anything, that should makes their voices easier to tune out. \*\* It didn’t make it _worse_ as such, it just made it more surreal. This was, for me, no ordinary trip home from work. As I said in a previous post, it was the entire setting that suddenly made me feel as if I had just decended from the planet Ork to find myself surrounded by an unintelligable cacophony of strange aliens yelling into little black boxes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/26 "2002-11-14T14:02:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LurkMeister \* > \*\*I don’t know about anyone else, but for me conversation in a language I don’t know is more distracting than conversation in English. I think it’s because my brain keeps trying to make sense of what it’s hearing but can’t, so instead of ignoring the “noise” it channels more energy into interpreting it. \*\* I find it a lot less distracting. I **don’t** try to make sense of the conversation of strangers; I do my best to tune it out. This is easier if people are talking in a language where I don’t even know where one word ends and the next begins. If they’re talking English, there’s always the possibility that they’ll say something that gets through my filter. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/27 "2002-11-14T19:23:07Z")
Believe me, **Rilchiam** , it’s not something I do consciously; I think it’s just the way my brain’s wired. Conversations in English(unless they’re _really_ loud), station announcements, even music leaking out from other people’s headphones all get filtered out so I can concentrate on the book I’m reading. But for some reason my brain insists on trying to identify unrecognizable sounds. Maybe I need a software upgrade. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/28 "2002-11-14T21:52:55Z")
I just returned from a business trip to Chicago. These new (at least, they’re new to me) earpiece-thingies that people have for their cellphones are freaking me out. People are walking around having conversations with no one, apparently; at least, that’s what I think until I notice the dangling black cord coming from their ear. What’s worse, these people can’t seem to just sit down to have a conversation; they have to walk around and talk to the air. And what’s even _worse_ is when they seem to be looking at me and saying something to the person on the other end of the line. While waiting for my flight yesterday at O’Hare, I was sitting in a chair at the gate, reading my book. Peripherally, I noticed a man walking toward me. He stopped about three feet away, facing me. I looked up from my book. While looking directly at me, he said, “So you went with the red?” As it happened, I _was_ wearing a red shirt. I looked down at my shirt, and back up at him. He was still staring intently at me (or so I thought). I said, “Well, yeah, I thought it looked okay.” Then he turned away and said something else. That’s when I noticed the little dangling cord coming from his left ear. I felt like an idiot. I HATE those earpiece things. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/29 "2002-11-14T22:43:09Z")
Yeah those earpiece dealies freak me out. Its a very surreal sight to see an “insane” yuppie screaming stock quotes to himself whiilst pacing down the street. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/30 "2002-11-14T22:49:29Z")
Yeah those earpiece dealies freak me out. Its a very surreal sight to see an “insane” yuppie screaming stock quotes to himself whiilst pacing down the street. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/31 "2002-11-14T22:55:23Z")
Yeah those earpiece dealies freak me out. Its a very surreal sight to see an “insane” yuppie screaming stock quotes to himself whiilst pacing down the street. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271/32 "2002-11-14T23:03:37Z")
So much in fact, I had to say it 3 times to get my point across. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-fucking-phones-and-my-near-psychotic-episode/136271.md?page=1)