I haven’t been on a bus in years but I probably would if there was no chance of being caught.
I think it’d be an interesting prank type thing at least, but because it’s technically a big deal with the FCC getting caught makes it far more of a hassle than it would be worth.
I wouldn’t do it regularly, though. As annoying as I think cellphone use is, I think if you want a quiet bus or train then the transit authority needs to establish no cellphone rules and then enforce them, it isn’t the place of individual passengers to commandeer the airwaves.
As an aside, something I always find funny in any thread complaining about cellphones is you usually hear from someone saying, “yeah I agree cell phones suck but you really need them so someone can get in touch with you in an emergency!”
I remember most of my life people didn’t have cell phones and we still seemed to handle emergencies pretty well.
I was thinking more in terms of movies and cafes, but I see your point.
I didn’t vote but morally a hero, legally the devil.
I can’t believe some of the conversations I’ve been subjected to in public places. The stuff discussed would create an instant lawsuit if it was the result of eavesdropping and yet there are people who scream out the most intimate details of their lives.
You ain’t kidding. Just off the top of my head I can recall:
-man behind me calling his mother while his young son was in the bathroom and bitching about how his wife won’t cook or clean and he wants a divorce
-tearful woman crying into her boyfriend’s voicemail about how sorry she is about some big fight and please please please pick up the phone and blah blah blah
-woman bitching and moaning to her doctor’s office about not calling in refills of her Lyrica for her fibromyalgia. I cannot believe how many people will talk loudly on the phone about intimate medical issues on the subway.
My personal favorite: guy sitting next to me calls up his bank to report fraudulent transactions on his credit card. Apparently someone has been using it to eat out in Quebec. He then proceeds to scream out his account number and the answers to all his security questions within earshot of about 50 people. Then he says, “I just don’t understand how this could have happened!”
You don’t understand? I will be happy to explain it to you, but first could you repeat the last three digits of that account number and your mother’s maiden name? I can’t write that fast.
Throw the book at this asshole-- all 16/$16,000 of the fine plus max jail time.
(No, I do not own a cell phone).
Go for it. It’s an interactive world we live in - they want to affect me with their transmissions, I’ll affect them with mine. 
There are things you’d LIKE to do, and things you just DON’T do.
This is both. If you don’t like to hear about other people’s lives, wear some earplugs or earphones and listen to something enlightening, ffs.
It’s not hard.
FWIW, I don’t use my cellphone for much of anything but emergencies, but come on, people. Grow a pair and control your own life, not everyone else’s just because you don’t like what they’re doing. That’s just…really childish.
The man’s a jackass, and I hope he gets fined (jail time would be a bit much, IMO.)
Cell phone jammers are illegal, I’m pretty sure. For good reason…how the fuck does he know that every conversation, every phone call, every text, is pointless? Doctors, nurses, and even just people in jobs like IT have to be “on call” from time to time. Wouldn’t you love to be the guy on the operating table while the staff is wondering why the surgeon isn’t answering his phone? Or the manager of a large online…thing…and you can’t get a hold of your head IT guy when the router goes down?
Agreed. Absolutely agreed.
We all like to think of ourselves as Koko from The Mikado. We all have a little list of people who’d not be missed.
But only a sociopathic monster actually goes out and acts on these fantasies.
I do have and use a cell phone; I try to be responsible, but there are times when I have had to take a call at an awkward time. Emergencies happen.
What if this jackass had kept a doctor from taking an emergency call? Or a soldier from getting his unit’s call-up? A sailor might miss his ship. A parent might miss an emergency call from his or her kid’s school.
Throw the book at this twerp.
I had a T shirt made that on the front reads “If I wanted to hear somebody else’s conversation…”
on the back, “…I’d listen to my husband.”
I don’t have a cell phone, but I’ve wanted to (block?) a few.
My cell phone is the emergency contact number for every third party that takes care of my child; her school, her art class, her summr camp, and if she’s with relatives, them.
So if it’s all the same to you, would you guys mind staying the fuck away from it?
I heard a lady screaming into a phone she held at arms length that her boyfriend should tell his mother that they had sex in her house and on her kitchen table. I could hear this a good 100 yards away. Another was in a gas station store using language that would make a sailor blush and she covered so many topics I couldn’t keep track. How would these people feel if someone you-tubed their ass?
Sounds like an idea for a site.
I hear people all the time running their business in the street in full hearing and view of lots of other people, and they don’t seem to care, and they don’t need cell phones to do it. Fights, questions, damn near make-up sex. I ignore it. If they were doing it on a phone it wouldn’t make it any harder to ignore. So I wouldn’t use a jammer, for many of the excellent reasons already stated.
Lots of things in this world are annoying, but there isn’t much you can do about them, nor should you. They are the price you pay for living in a modern society. If you want to go back to the era of 3 TV channels and a phone anchored to a wall, you will probably find it more quiet there. I wish you joy of it.
(Note: the “you” in the above paragraph is intended for anyone who thinks it’s ok to do what this man did.)
Roddy
Damn it. Now I want to why she thought he should tell his mother.
You see, this is the real problem. You get involved in a good story and the next thing you know, you have to decide if you should get off at your stop or keep riding to find out what happens.
And how does he know he’s only interrupting phone calls? (He doesn’t, because things that are illegal to manufacture, sell, purchase, own, or use aren’t really subject to rigorous quality control.) In any case, the FCC and the licensee decide what uses of the spectrum are “pointless,” and the property owner decides what conduct is acceptable, not some slack-jawed moron who bought a fancy doodad that evaded customs.
I think public transportation providers have a responsibility to act in this situation, too. I can’t imagine that the fare conditions allow passengers to commit federal crimes while in transit, so people who do this should be banned from riding.
Maybe public transportation ain’t for him…
This is my concern, what if such a device interfered with the train conductor’s radio (or whatever they use now to communicate with the dispatcher)?
NO, ffs. Why should I have to use earplugs?? All pollution should be stopped at its source, and that includes noise pollution.