Talking loudly on your cellphone in public is just plain stupid

[Anonymous]

I used to think that people who yammer on and on on their cellphones in public places were just rude and annoying. Now I realize that they are also stupid. Yesterday I was waiting (waaay too long) at the gynecologist's office. A woman in the waiting room was having an endless conversation on her cellphone, totally obnoxious going on and on about how hard it was for her to hire a new housekeeper (she already had a nanny). She was totally rude to the front desk staff--when they needed to ask her some questions, she kept talking on the phone while answering them. She was talking super loud for at least 30 minutes about her "problems."

I was on the verge of asking her to please keep it down, when the nurse came out and called her name. Presto! I was able to Google everything about her on my phone as I continued to wait--having heard her name from the nurse, and having already heard from her loud mouth her husband's name, where he was last week for work, how many kids she has, etc. In just minutes, I knew her address, where she worked, where she went to college, etc. For me, this was just idle cyberstalking as revenge for having had to listen to her for half an hour. But then I started thinking--what if someone with even worse motives had heard everything that I heard? Perhaps the real karmic punishment for rude cellphone behavior in public is identity theft, or burglary, or something else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to think that people who yammer on and on on their cellphones in public places were just rude and annoying. Now I realize that they are also stupid. Yesterday I was waiting (waaay too long) at the gynecologist's office. A woman in the waiting room was having an endless conversation on her cellphone, totally obnoxious going on and on about how hard it was for her to hire a new housekeeper (she already had a nanny). She was totally rude to the front desk staff--when they needed to ask her some questions, she kept talking on the phone while answering them. She was talking super loud for at least 30 minutes about her "problems."

I was on the verge of asking her to please keep it down, when the nurse came out and called her name. Presto! I was able to Google everything about her on my phone as I continued to wait--having heard her name from the nurse, and having already heard from her loud mouth her husband's name, where he was last week for work, how many kids she has, etc. In just minutes, I knew her address, where she worked, where she went to college, etc. For me, this was just idle cyberstalking as revenge for having had to listen to her for half an hour. But then I started thinking--what if someone with even worse motives had heard everything that I heard? Perhaps the real karmic punishment for rude cellphone behavior in public is identity theft, or burglary, or something else?

haha. I have thought this MANY times about the idiots I have heard having what-should-be-private conversations in very public places. There was one very obnoxious chick on the bus having multiple conversations about her salary negotiations for a possible new job. I kept thinking "you just gave a potential thief a great reason to follow you home, you idiot."

[Anonymous]

Yes, she behaved badly. She shouldn't have trampled on your boundaries, but then you indignantly responded by: trampling on her boundaries. More than she did yours, actually.

[Anonymous]

there's a lady in my office who just minutes ago was walking around chatting it up on her cellphone. she looked like my grandma w/the old school corded phone extending the coil and cord from here to everywhere! i wish someone would tell her how ridiculous she looks and she is not that important or busy. grrrrrrrrrr...

she does this constantly! i see her in the mornings loading the fridge down w/her lunch and such all while yammering away as though she's home in her own kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, she behaved badly. She shouldn't have trampled on your boundaries, but then you indignantly responded by: trampling on her boundaries. More than she did yours, actually.

Agreed. I mean, realistically you Googled her because you heard her name from the nurse. Not that she wasn't being annoying, but that's pretty over the top on your part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, she behaved badly. She shouldn't have trampled on your boundaries, but then you indignantly responded by: trampling on her boundaries. More than she did yours, actually.

Agreed. I mean, realistically you Googled her because you heard her name from the nurse. Not that she wasn't being annoying, but that's pretty over the top on your part.

OP here--her name was common enough that I wouldn't have been able to identify her online without all the other details she so generously shared with all the other patients in the waiting room. I don't feel like I trampled on her boundaries--she acted like she was the center of the universe and, since I was forced to live in her universe, I took the full tour!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, she behaved badly. She shouldn't have trampled on your boundaries, but then you indignantly responded by: trampling on her boundaries. More than she did yours, actually.

Agreed. I mean, realistically you Googled her because you heard her name from the nurse. Not that she wasn't being annoying, but that's pretty over the top on your part.

OP here--her name was common enough that I wouldn't have been able to identify her online without all the other details she so generously shared with all the other patients in the waiting room. I don't feel like I trampled on her boundaries--she acted like she was the center of the universe and, since I was forced to live in her universe, I took the full tour!

Your Momma didn't raise you right, clearly.

The expression "two wrongs don't make a right" applies here.

Loser.

[Anonymous]

We're fooling ourselves if we think that we have any shred of privacy anymore. It doesn't exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, she behaved badly. She shouldn't have trampled on your boundaries, but then you indignantly responded by: trampling on her boundaries. More than she did yours, actually.

Yours was an invasion of privacy. What's really unbelievable is that you're proud of what you did. Of the two, you were the worst.

[Anonymous]

OP, you were mildly annoyed. That justifies being a stalker? Because that's what you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, she behaved badly. She shouldn't have trampled on your boundaries, but then you indignantly responded by: trampling on her boundaries. More than she did yours, actually.

Agreed. I mean, realistically you Googled her because you heard her name from the nurse. Not that she wasn't being annoying, but that's pretty over the top on your part.

OP here--her name was common enough that I wouldn't have been able to identify her online without all the other details she so generously shared with all the other patients in the waiting room. I don't feel like I trampled on her boundaries--she acted like she was the center of the universe and, since I was forced to live in her universe, I took the full tour!

Your Momma didn't raise you right, clearly.

The expression "two wrongs don't make a right" applies here.

Loser.

And clearly YOUR momma raised you right, since you make a point by calling other people losers, right?

I think you're missing the point of the post--that many people have become so narcissistic and addicted to their devices that they believe that their electronic worlds somehow create a bubble which shields them from the normal defenses of privacy. I've been on the train with college students who foolishly announce their names, where they live, where they go to school, how long they will be out of town, etc. Just like the people who post on Facebook how long they will be on vacation--might as well put up a "please rob me" sign on the front door!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you were mildly annoyed. That justifies being a stalker? Because that's what you are.

Oh, please! Tell me you have never googled someone and found out more about them then you otherwise would know. I love the self-righteousness of DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, she behaved badly. She shouldn't have trampled on your boundaries, but then you indignantly responded by: trampling on her boundaries. More than she did yours, actually.

Agreed. I mean, realistically you Googled her because you heard her name from the nurse. Not that she wasn't being annoying, but that's pretty over the top on your part.

OP here--her name was common enough that I wouldn't have been able to identify her online without all the other details she so generously shared with all the other patients in the waiting room. I don't feel like I trampled on her boundaries--she acted like she was the center of the universe and, since I was forced to live in her universe, I took the full tour!

Your Momma didn't raise you right, clearly.

The expression "two wrongs don't make a right" applies here.

Loser.

LOL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you were mildly annoyed. That justifies being a stalker? Because that's what you are.

Oh, please! Tell me you have never googled someone and found out more about them then you otherwise would know. I love the self-righteousness of DCUM.

I have been asked by single pals to Google away in order to find out anything about men they're dating.

It's fun actually - and an eye-opener to say the least.

Thankfully, my life is so boring that there's barely anything on me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you were mildly annoyed. That justifies being a stalker? Because that's what you are.

Oh, please! Tell me you have never googled someone and found out more about them then you otherwise would know. I love the self-righteousness of DCUM.

Never Googled a complete stranger to find an address and spouse's name. No. Never.