So basically, he was annoyed people were talking on the bus? Its not a public library, I don’t think there’s really any expectation that people will or should sit quietly. And its not like people having loud conversations in public was invented with the celphone.
If it was in a movie theatre or something, I’d be a little more understanding, but in this case the guy just seems like he’s unable to cope with being near other human beings in a public space.
I read the news and my email on my smartphone while riding the bus. That doesn’t bother ANYBODY, but would still be stopped by the jammer. Break his thumbs and throw him in the gutter.
Same goes for people who scream loudly on their phones annoying the rest of us. Why resort to technology when good old fashioned violence is sufficient?
Later on, the man was caught slashing the bus’s tires, because internal combustion is the devil’s work.
The guy was upset about people having cell phone conversations on a public bus? He needs to get over himself. People talk on public transportation and there’s nothing wrong with that. This guy was just being a dick.
Now if you want to jam cell phones in a church or a library or a movie theatre, maybe you have a point.
Like everyone else said, it’s public transport. By using the jammer, he’s at least as bad as they are.
At least as bad? People using mobile phones on a bus aren’t doing anything wrong. If this prick doesn’t like hearing people speak, then he either needs to get a car or buy some earphones. I’m another who hopes the guy gets reamed.
He is perfectly welcome to not take the bus if he finds the experience so odious.
I just want to point out that even if you miss a call because of jamming, as long as someone leaves a message, you’ll get it as soon as you get off the bus - same with texts. So what we’re really talking about is only a delay for as long as you happen to be on the bus.
It’s still illegal though and on that basis alone he deserved to get busted, but let’s at least try to put things in perspective.
Because as we all know, there are absolutely no phonecalls that you may want to act upon straight away. Like, for example, ones regarding my job as a sysadmin where the “wrong” phonecall would see me getting out my laptop and logging in to fix things - something I also wouldn’t be able to do if someone was jamming 3G signals.
He was also jamming people at random as the bus drives past, there are reasons these devices are illegal. Lets hope no-one was making an important or emergency call huh?
And what percentage of the total cell phone volume in the US falls into that category - specifically, calls that absolutely, positively can’t wait - period? Like I said, perspective.
That’s not always true; only my newest phone has voice mail show up instantly. With some of my previous phones/ carriers, messages took a while to show up.
Besides, perspective would be realizing that wanting a public bus to be your own personal quiet zone is ridiculous and that you don’t get to enforce your whims on everyone else just because you can’t tolerate other people doing normal things like speaking.
I say throw the book at him, and I keep my non-home cell calls brief and limited to vital information I can’t send via text or chat. I do, however, use the 3G capability nearly constantly.
I can understand how annoying it is. I try not to make calls on the bus, and if I’m taking a call I’ll explain to the other person that they caught me on the bus and wrap up the call as quickly as possible.
But still, jamming is at least as jerkish as chattering for the whole ride at normal volume. (Not as jerkish as shouting for the whole ride.) Especially since I’m a big believer in public transit productivity - did this guy think that he might be inconveniencing somebody who needed to send a quiet text message on his phone without bothering anybody? Or use her laptop with a datastick/cell tether?
What I don’t understand is why a conversation between two people on a bus is OK, but if you only hear one side of the conversation, that’s annoying? What if two people carry on a conversation with each other, seated side by side, using cellphones? If you aren’t looking at them, it would sound exactly the same.
Or is this nut saying all talking on public transportation should be banned?
Besides, assuming the guy was riding a bus in downtown Philly, the homeless guys and people talking to one another are going to be WAY louder than even relatively loud cell phone talkers. What’s he going to jam them with? A rag on a stick?
Perspective means being able to gauge relative importance. I’m not trying to justify what he did, but I think it’s ridiculous to trot out worst case scenarios. Such scenarios are possible certainly and that’s why shit like this is illegal. That’s not the point I’m trying to make.
This guy has arbitrarily decided that the importance of his enjoyment of his bus ride is greater than that of the much larger number of people he’s inconveniencing. The possibility of him doing real harm with his antics is just icing on the cake.
So, is the point you’re trying to make that public busses should be quiet zones and that everyone who can’t tolerate hearing other people speak should have the right to stop any and all signal traffic around him? If not, then what is it?
I’m trying to put it into perspective - as I’ve said 3 times now.
They did a study on this, and the human brain finds half of a conversation much more distracting than a full conversation. I think it’s because the brain automatically tries to fill in the other half of the conversation.
I don’t think this guy was in the right, but I do think many people dramatically overestimate the importance of a cell phone. I can think of very few instances where an incoming call would be so important that it would justify annoying other people.
I don’t talk on my cell phone in public and I really wish other people would institute the same rule.
Sure. I can add two more.
-On Saturday I had an appointment, but I was running late and getting a little lost. Without my phone, I never would have made it there.
-Yesterday, my family was desperately trying to reach me. My father’s health took a sudden turn for the worse, and I may have to take an emergency flight to Florida to say my last goodbye.
In addition, most cell phone users are not loud. Texting is silent. Reading e-mail is silent. Surfing the web is silent.
I agree that there are far too many frivolous and loud cell phone conversations. The problem is not the phones, it’s the rude people who use them. A bigger problem is assholes who use illegal technology to impinge on the rights of others.
Fine the mother fucker.