And if the OP had any stones at all, he’d walk over and ask them politely to maybe keep it down a little, please. I have done this several times on the Train (but for very loud cell conversations or loud music, not the laughter of girls. :rolleyes: ). Works about 75% of the time, and most of the rest of the time the Conductor comes by and make them STFU. If he had done this and the girls continued or made fun of him, then, sure he’d have some support here.
Is this the explanation for so many raucous-behaviour apologists in this thread? One of those things like “shoes off in the house” that are so basic here that they are not even commented on our thought about, but seem like bizarre requirements below the 49th parallel?
Yeah, I take it for granted that I can go to-and-from work on public transit in relative quiet, because that’s just the done thing. With very few exceptions, people have some consideration for their fellow commuters.
This isn’t the usual thing?
I know transit etiquette varies from region to region - I remember being shocked at first that it was common on Edmonton public transit for people who weren’t mentally ill to engage strangers in conversation. But the “patron’s right to quiet enjoyment” isn’t a universally-embraced concept? Colour me nonplussed. No wonder Americans love their cars so much. :eek:
I’m a bit surprised at some of the reactions here. Two of the most irritating sounds in the world are a toddler screaming and a teen girl laughing. And I don’t mean a normal laugh, I mean that high pitched, squealing noise that sounds like…well sort of like a toddler screaming. It sounds like the group was employing that sound in the OP. Sorry you had to go through that Larry. You could always imagine that their parents are preparing to send them to a military boarding school. That’s how I get through dinner out sometimes when a kid is starting in.
I am with you and feel your pain, as it is my pain, as all the suburbanites ride the train downtown and shuffle down the sidewalks, swinging their arms at 90 degrees, baffled at the tall buildings. I am cutting out of work early tomorrow so I can get out of here before the hordes arrive for the fireworks.
What you need are noise isolating headphones. (Isolating, not cancelling, because the latter really doesn’t block outside noise, it just tries to make the music sound clearer in a noisy environment)
I use a pair of Shure E3c in-ear monitors with the foam tips. Cuts out around 32dB of outside noise. Pure bliss. I can barely hear the outside world when the music is on, and what I do hear even when there’s no music playing is muffled and indistinct. Bring on the raucous laughers, the obscenely loud talkers, the loud cell phone talkers who don’t seem to care if everyone can hear their bidness, the just-got-their-cell-phones-and-are-trying-every-single-fucking-ringtone-on-its, the listening-to-50-cent-on-their-mp3-phone-through-its-built-in-speaker-because-they-want-everyone-to-know-how-cool-they-ares, and everyone else. They all cease to exist when the music starts. And I don’t even have to have it up full blast.
Apart from the stinky food eaters, the ones who sit on the outside seat leaving the inner seat empty, the ones who lounge across an entire bench seat, the ones who decide to dig through their entire purse/bag/backpack right beside you and keep elbowing you in the process, and the sardine can trips, transit commuting is a lot better when one of your senses is only assaulted by what you want it assaulted with.
I cordially invite you to take my bus home at around 3:30 to 4:00 p.m. It goes past the local high school and private school. I promise you will change your mind.
That’s how I get through dinner out sometimes when a kid is starting in.