Plan for dealing with obnoxious phone calls on trains?
 

In message , Laurence Payne
writes

There was a time when you could say "I'm not ruining my front door by
cutting out a letter-box!".

Several years ago I leafletted this village for the Parish Council.

I was very surprised to find how many modern houses had front doors
without a letter-box.

Mike
--
M.J.Powell

Plan for dealing with obnoxious phone calls on trains?
 

Laurence Payne wrote:
On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 10:15:20 +0000, Roland Perry
wrote:

It's all about reasonableness. I have no time for the people with
silly ring tones (someone on the train yesterday had one which
shouted "answer the phone!" over and over again) or with those who
conduct one-sided conversations as if they were speaking at a public
meeting.

Nevertheless, it's galling for those of us who do know that we can
talk quietly and still be heard the other end, to be prevented from
doing so by "one size fits all" rules.


My ring tone plays "Nellie the Elephant". Do you find that
acceptable? (Actually, if you don't, tough ****.)

Agreed, we don't need more "nanny" laws.

Quite true, we don't. However, as long as some people insist on behaving
like spoiled brats than Nanny has to give them a smack occasionaly.

Plan for dealing with obnoxious phone calls on trains?
 

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 15:10:33 +0000 (UTC), "Brimstone"
wrote:

Agreed, we don't need more "nanny" laws.

Quite true, we don't. However, as long as some people insist on behaving
like spoiled brats than Nanny has to give them a smack occasionaly.


So do you want nanny laws or not?

Plan for dealing with obnoxious phone calls on trains?
 

In message , at 13:05:51 on Fri,
18 Nov 2005, M. J. Powell remarked:
What, I hear you ask, would I have done before the days of mobile
phones? I've had one since 1988, so we are going back a fair way, but
the answer is that I employed a fulltime secretary to organise such
things for me when I was otherwise uncontactable, and whose job it was
to make sure that when I went out she knew the landline numbers of
everywhere I was likely to be (and the names of the secretaries of all
the people I was visiting).

In the days before mobile phones I travelled all over Wales and the
West Country organising OBs. I managed perfectly well with telephone
boxes and hotel phones. And those were the days when phone boxes were
regularly vandalised.

I managed too, but with support (as I described) and the level of demand
from outside the organisation was lower, too. What's increased over the
years is people's expectations.

A trivial example: I've replied to your posting within half an hour of
it propagating. In those days you'd have been lucky to have email at
all, or expect a response in less than a few days.

--
Roland Perry

Plan for dealing with obnoxious phone calls on trains?
 

"Laurence Payne"
wrote in message

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 00:35:08 -0000, "Ivor Jones"
wrote:

Or they go elsewhere. It's a privilege to have
employment now. Let us get on with it.

How did you ever manage in business before mobile
phones were invented, "dear"..?

How did you make a living before 'busses were invented?

I wasn't born, perhaps you were, I don't know. Anyway, to get back to
trains, I worked for BR for 15 years, although not on trains.

There was a time when you could say "I'm not ruining my
front door by cutting out a letter-box!". When you
could say "I refuse to install a 'phone! If they want
me, let them write!". When not having an answering
machine, a fax, email were possible options. When you
could say "I'm traveling today. I'll be out of touch for
several hours!".

None of these are currently possible. Tough, ain't it?

All of them are possible, what makes you say they're not..?

Incidentally, my living is driving buses, I don't see
why I should spend my entire working day subjected to
other people's noisy conversations. Or shall I come and
park myself in your office all day and make phone
calls..?

A bad analogy, and you know it.

Not so. My bus is my workplace, it is my office. I don't see why people
should be allowed to do what they want in it.

Ivor

Plan for dealing with obnoxious phone calls on trains?
 

"M. J. Powell" wrote in message

In message ,
Laurence Payne
writes

There was a time when you could say "I'm not ruining my
front door by cutting out a letter-box!".

Several years ago I leafletted this village for the
Parish Council.
I was very surprised to find how many modern houses had
front doors without a letter-box.

I did a stint as a temporary postman a while back, while between jobs. It
was amazing how many doors had either no letterbox at all or one you could
hardly get a postcard through.

Ivor

Plan for dealing with obnoxious phone calls on trains?
 

wrote in message

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 00:35:08 -0000, "Ivor Jones"
wrote:

Incidentally, my living is driving buses, I don't see
why I should spend my entire working day subjected to
other people's noisy conversations

What makes you think you have any business doing that?
What do you think people did before buses were invented?

Walked..?

Works both ways, doesn't it? If people want to use your
bus, why shouldn't they? If they want to talk to people
on the next seat, or on the phone, why shouldn't they?

Because it's disturbing to others. Also a loud voice can be distracting to
driving, especially in a busy city centre.

Of course, buses used to have the driver kept separate in
a driving cab, deafened by the roar of the engine. But
the drive to cut the cost of the conductor put paid to
that. Perhaps you should campaign for soundproof screens
rather than **** off you passengers - the people who pay
your wages.

No, the company pays my wages. The passengers rarely pay anything at all,
they just walk past with two fingers in the air saying "I ain't got no
money, **** off". Then they sit down and proceed to make endless phone
calls.

If you really find the chatter of your passengers such a
problem, perhaps you should get a new job. There aren't
any lighthouse keepers any more, but perhaps you could
herd sheep on some hillside miles for other people.

It's not chatter I mind, it's LOUD and PERSISTENT chatter. Shall I come
and sit in your office or living room for half an hour and make some phone
calls..? The bus is my workplace, it is my office in effect. I need to be
able to concentrate to work (drive) safely.

Ivor

Plan for dealing with obnoxious phone calls on trains?
 

In message on Fri, 18 Nov 2005 13:05:51
+0000 in uk.railway, "M. J. Powell" tapped out on
the keyboard:

In the days before mobile phones I travelled all over Wales and the West
Country organising OBs. I managed perfectly well with telephone boxes
and hotel phones. And those were the days when phone boxes were
regularly vandalised.

Telephones ? You don't know you were ever born ! In my young days, I'd travel
around with a supply of carrier pigeons to send messages back to base. And if I
got hungry, I'd eat one !

Plan for dealing with obnoxious phone calls on trains?
 

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:50:38 +0000, Laurence Payne
wrote:

Funny how that sort of thing happens. Or how people like to say it
does :-)

No, it certainly does happen. I used to work on the train, and needed
some quiet.

After a few times of having to move away from the "quiet" coach for
some quiet I realised that all those people who are listening to their
walkman may be leaking "tsss tsss tsss" noises, but they aren't having
noisy conversations with one another.

And of course, if lots of people are talking, you have to talk louder
to be heard, and so on, till the quiet coach is a deafening hubbub.

--

Iain
the out-of-date hairydog guide to mobile phones
http://www.hairydog.co.uk/cell1.html
Browse now while stocks last!

Plan for dealing with obnoxious phone calls on trains?
 

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 16:37:35 -0000, "Ivor Jones"
wrote:

No, the company pays my wages. The passengers rarely pay anything at all,

That's where you are wrong. Fares only provide a small part of the
revenue that pays for most bus services. The state pays for a huge
proportion, one way or another. Fares are really only there to
regulate demand.

they just walk past with two fingers in the air saying "I ain't got no
money, **** off". Then they sit down and proceed to make endless phone
calls.

So not only are you unable to concentrate on driving, but you are also
unable to do the rest of the job. You really ought to look for a
different job. Can't say I'd blame you. A bus driver round here just
walked off the job last month (or maybe it was the month before) after
doing the job for fourteen years. He'd just had enough of it.

It's not chatter I mind, it's LOUD and PERSISTENT chatter. Shall I come
and sit in your office or living room for half an hour and make some phone
calls..?

No. My workplace is arranged so that I can work effectively. If people
were disturbing me, I'd do something to stop it, whether by changing
the work environment or by changing their behaviour.

However, I'm known for being able to work steadily through all sorts
of distractions, so I doubt I'd care.

The bus is my workplace, it is my office in effect. I need to be
able to concentrate to work (drive) safely.

The terrible design of the bus is not the fault of your passengers.

I suggest you get a job driving a hearse.

--

Iain
the out-of-date hairydog guide to mobile phones
http://www.hairydog.co.uk/cell1.html
Browse now while stocks last!