If you have nothing intelligent to say, then say nothing. If you’re in a waiting area and you have nothing useful to talk about, then how about reading one of the magazines. If that’s not good enough, then bring a fucking book with you, if you know how to read.
A year ago I was waiting for my wife’s medical appointment and her doctor had, what by WASP standards would be a “funny” name, like Bamizoo or something. These two low-life women in the waiting area could only talk stupidly about his name for half an hour. And no, they weren’t discussing the possible etymology of his name. It was more like “Huh, huh, huh (stupid chuckle), ‘zoo’, ‘zoo’, his name’s Bamizoo” for half an hour.
This morning I was in the waiting area of a car servicing place and this fucking loud, obnoxious woman came waddling in. For the next hour she dominated the fucking place talking loudly to everyone. For a while she focused on this one woman, going on about nothing for about 20 minutes. I found out later that the target woman asked one of the service people to “Say something to get me the fuck out of here” to escape this thing.
Is it really that fucking difficult to simply sit down and be quiet as an adult? Is it really that difficult to have a book (or device or whatever) with you so that you can occupy yourself?
People who feel the need to flap their gums just to fill silence irritate the hell out of me. Particularly since I’m usually listening to something far more interesting than their yammering on my iPod.
My favorites are the ones who see me with a book and are all like “Are you reading a book? What’s it about? Do you like it?” GTFA and leave me alone, I’m fucking reading!
Its not so bad now that everyone has a smart phone or e-reader. Those of us who use e-readers tend to get grouped with smart phone users, who are assumed to be surely sorts. I rarely ever read dead tree books when I’m out and about for just that reason.
I could fill a thread with pitting of the medical office personnel I’m forced to deal with these days - repetitive stuff, like orthodontia and allergies. But since this is about fellow travelers in the waiting room, DO YOU THINK YOUR KID COULD SURVIVE FOR TWO SECONDS WITHOUT HER iPAD MAKING NONSTOP NOISE, THE BLARING TV IN THE CORNER AND SINGING LET IT FUCKING GO NONSTOP?
Let me know when there’s an answer to this. I had some weirdo glom onto me at the train station the other night, just yammering on and on at me. I barely said four words to her. When the train finally pulled up, she at least had the courtesy to acknowledge she had done all the talking, thank me, and get in a different car.
I’m with you 100% on this. I was at a meeting of a new camera club a month ago and it was basically about 15 people sitting in a smallish room at a conference table. Some people knew each other but most did not, so people were TRYING to introduce each other and chat a bit before the meeting began. Except Obnoxious Asshole. OA was talking to the guy next to him IN THE LOUDEST VOICE IMAGINABLE all about football stats, baseball stats, and all other things MIAMI SPORTS! Holy crap dude, the rest of the room has people speaking in quiet tones and having low voiced conversations so TAKE A HINT and STFU!! And he never picked up on the glares shot his way at all, he just went ON and ON and ON.
The only peace and quiet you will ever get from my step mother, is when she had laryngitis. My father refuses to get hearing aides, because he would only turn them off anyway.
And as if that weren’t bad enough, people in charge of public waiting areas (doctors’ offices, airport gates, etc.) seem to feel compelled to provide additional virtual people to talk to us nonstop from television screens! AAAggh! Turn it off and quit yabbering!!
I swear, some people just seem to think that if the air isn’t filled with human vocalization then it means everybody else must be a zombie, so they desperately seek out continual babble to reassure themselves.
A while back, I learned that if I’m the first person to get to the waiting room at the car dealer, I can turn the volume on the tv way down (though loud enough to be hear in the chairs nearest to it), and no one who comes in after will choose to (or think to) turn it back up. I’m always first now…
This is one of the things I do not miss about doing extra work - sitting in holding for who knows how long, with non-stop chatterers. Yammer a body to death, some of them could. I perfected what I call “the iPod maneuver” (this was from around 2005 on, when I got my first iPod). Earbuds go in the ears, whether or not I was listening to anything!
The absolute worst was this one guy, when we were shooting at a hospital. Our holding was a tiny room, barely big enough for all of us. We were not allowed to wander over to craft services or take a walk when in holding, we had to sit there. And this one guy just would not shut up, and he was super loud and obnoxious. When lunchtime came, several of us chose to walk the quarter-mile to the lunch area rather than be vanpooled with him. He didn’t seem to care if anyone was listening, he just wanted to talk, and talk, and talk…loudly. I knew he was going to be a problem when he arrived late and began giving the PA a hard time - lateness is a huge no-no in that business, and it’s never wise to give the PA a hard time.
At the end of the day, I guess he finally noticed the death glares I had been giving him, because he asked if he’d done anything wrong. I replied, truthfully, that I had been annoyed with him all day because he was very loud, in a very small room and he had not stopped talking all day! I’m afraid I used my Stepmother Voice on him, poor dear. I sometimes wonder if he was any quieter on his future gigs, but I never saw him again.
I love to meet strangers, to stop and chat, and to listen to what they have to say.
But…they’ve got to be willing to take turns!
You tell a story, then I tell a story. I listen and nod, you listen and nod.
Follow the Golden Rule, and it’s probably going to be a worthwhile encounter. By and large, people are interesting, and, while they may not be highly-skilled story-tellers, they can usually unreel an anecdote that’s worth a friendly grin.
But, oy vey, that 2% at the low end of the scale… I’ve actually resorted to blunt stratagems – like shouting, “Oh, my God, I’m gonna be in trouble!” and running like hell.
Thank you… these things are a life-saver even when the battery is dead (better if it’s not, obviously).
Also, to the OP, this happened a year ago and you’re pitting it now? It doesn’t make it wrong, I just hope you’re not still stewing on it - not healthy. Plus, if you had pitted them a year ago, you could have bought an mp3 player by now.
The worst part is, to them, YOU are the rude one for not engaging them. “Well, excuse me, I’m just trying to be friendly and sociable like a normal human being in a functional society!”
Oh no, the first episode was a year ago. The second was a day ago. And I’ve had an ipod for the last several years and in various episodes it was never bad enough to require one. Yesterday’s, however, was, and I didn’t have it with me. Interestingly I was at a Judas Priest concert the night before, on the floor about 20 feet back from the stage; the lady at the garage was louder:).
And the funny thing is, if the conditions are right, I will gladly discuss (as I said, I’m judiciously sociable). But I am also very wary of imposing on others. I’ve had some really interesting conversations (once about sea lice, of all things, from a professor at a veterinary college).
Oh I cordially invite you to my local library any day of the frigging week! Now, I thought we were all taught as kids that the library is a sacred place where you compete with others in an effort to see who can be the quietest . Some kids apparently did not get this message because on a daily basis I see unlimited jerkwads who just can’t figure out how to STFU.
You have the people who want to talk in their very best outside voice to the person right next to them about whatever inane BS is currently tickling their 3 and a half brain cells. Then you have the morons who see the signs about taking phone calls in the foyer yet still try to whisper-yell their way through a call. And don’t get me started on the folks who scream their way through a conversation w/ the librarian.
Your day will come defilers of the silence. May you rot in hell
j.k.