It's happening on a huge scale over here too, "hip" youngsters driving scooters and thinking they're the bomb...

I've lived in a large city all my adult life and prefer it to suburbs or rural environments despite all the noise and nuttiness that come with an urban home. I tried living in the middle of a national forest for awhile. It was beautiful but I felt too young to do without the stimulus and cultural advantages of my home town, so I went back. The cell phone thing is a little different from most ambient noise associated with living in a city. I think that somehow increasing public awareness of standards of etiquitte that make living and commuting in close quarters is a more reasonable advocacy than "get out if you don't like it."

I don't like gang violence either but I don't see why city dwellers should just put up with it as part of being in a city. Some standards of civility go a long way towards making civilization more civil.

Well said, and I would add that it's also more reasonable than taking matters into your own hands by using a device that interferes with other peoples' devices.

It's very different in Japan, but it's also a country where 80% of the population has lived in 20% of the land mass for 2000 years.

The problem with cell phone communication is that you only hear one part of the conversation. It doesn't blur into the background like a conversation between two face to face people. Also, for some reason, cell phone users usually speak louder over the phone.

I deal with it as best I can. I can't live out in the sticks (it's too slow and freakishly quiet). I accept that once one steps outside of your home, that you are at the mercy of the general public and things are generally beyond your control.

wow interesting points from people.

the fact of the matter where i live is that everyone talks on their phone whenever they please.

asking them nicely, as you pointed out Roger, has in the past got me a "fuck you" and other things that aren't polite for me to type on a message board, so that for me isn't an option.

as liquid pointed out, copper mesh in the walls would be great, but highly unlikely here as it would be way too expensive for most business owners. movie theaters sometimes do this to great effect and i applaud them.

anyway, personally, having some cow howling into her phone at her husband that she'll be home in 10 minutes isn't cool with me. and it happens EVERY day on the train for me. a quick, "see you soon" will suffice.
watching people like this lose a phone call and have to call someone back would be fun for me for a day.

talking, fair enough.

Playing this shite at 7 am on a crowded train is a killer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSt3HBPBZGs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Pv7H4YkFKs

WHISTLE CRU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i actually noticed it a lot in Paris parks. it depends on your location here, but it does happen from time to time.
i listened to some interesting house music on a 7:30 AM paris commuter train, much to the chagrin of everyone except the hungover 19 year old with it blaring in his headphones (yes the whole train could hear the singing word for word)

it stinks....personal space is important to me anyway so maybe i'm just more sensitive than others.

thanks for the link parka...downloading that to my phone right away!!!

perfect soundtrack for the peckham to clapham bus....all ravin massive!!!!BIG UP!!!!

on a side note,,,i did not mean to sound harsh before....yes,,common courtesy goes a long way..even in manic cities...

but i also give loud city kids the benefit of the doubt that they are young (with lots of energy) and live in a cramped environment...of course they want to be loud & obnoxious....

getting pissed off and annoyed will only egg them on even more.....

i say let them make fools of themselves....

it is interesting for me to see what the yout' are up to anyway...

as for the original topic at hand,,,i wouldn't mind a phone jamming device myself,,just to mess with people...

people blabbing away is annoying,,,but that is what headphones are for....

You weren't too harsh Jeb ... I'm the first to admit that I'm whining.

Thing is, I do use an iPod on my public transportation commute ... almost always listening to podcasts or audiobooks. That's why some of the yappers annoy me. They're so loud that their volume interferes with my ability to hear what I'm listening to. I use earbuds with pretty good "passive noise cancellation." Anyway, it's true that these are the contemporary risks of riding public transportation, but I just can't justify driving when I live in the same city I work in, and a bus line basically goes from my home to my workplace.

Jeez when I was a teenager I promised myself that I'd never demonize youth for being youth or turn into one of those cranky old men.

Glad I drive to work now. My gas $$$ is the same cost as the CTA was in Chicago every week (god damned crooks) and I get to talk to my wife who shares the ride while I blast whatever the hell I want!

Sadly, I drive one of the deadliest commutes around so everyday is an action movie.

My main issue with cell phones is when people use them while driving. Everyday on my commute I see several cars run red lights, and I'd say 90% of the time the driver is on the phone. Being on a motorcycle this pisses me off to no end.

But back to the topic of public transportation - when I lived in Seattle and commuted via bus there was a guy talking VERY loudly on his phone. The entire bus was silent except for this guy. He had to have wanted everyone to hear his conversation. The part of his conversation that stuck in my memory was him saying something like "Yeah, I've been fucking my boyfriend's best friend for months now - AND NO ONE EVEN KNOWS! HA HA HA!" To which someone in the back of the bus yelled "Except for all of us!".

Die cell phones! Die!

driving whilst using a mobile phone is illegal over here. As it should be.

true..but unfortunately alot of drivers do not obey the rule at all...

I cycle to work & see numerous people talking & texting whilst driving everyday..

yeah, drives me friggin' insane. How do you indicate, turn your wheel, change gear and still talk on a phone?!

personally i like seeing people on the freeway reading the newspaper while driving in traffic.

I think tamper-proof jammers should be built into all cars. And all old cars should be required to undergo retrofitting.

naww man - what if a passenger needs to make a call?

I see soccer moms and other asst. boneheads break rules all day while driving and talking. I admittedly talk and drive all the time - but I never run lights break rules etc - seems like some people have the ability to safely do 2 things at once and others just dont. scary.

If the passenger NEEDS to make a call, they can get out of the car. As someone else pointed out, it wasn't that long ago that we didn't have cell phones and we all got along with our daily lives just fine.

What would Bernhard Goetz do?

There was just recently a news story about a young girl who called 911 from the back seat of a car while her father was drunk driving at speeds over 100mph. Probably saved her life when the cops pulled him over. There are perfectly valid reasons to make cell phone calls from inside a car.

I'm sorry, but for every "good" call by a passenger there's gotta be 100,000s of unnecessary calls made by drivers. Not worth it. We got along just fine without cell phones a decade ago - evolution doesn't happen THAT quickly.

wow, i just wanted to get one to fuck with people.....

As far as cell phone use in cars, i don't have much problem with some sort of hands-free solution. Many cars now have built-in bluetooth etc. which makes it even easier. Not any more distracting than working your radio, taking a drink etc. IMO.

Not worth it? Wow. It can and has saved people's lives, but because more people use it in a way that you find unnecessary, it isn't "worth it". Self centered much?

What about the multiple reports of people who've been carjacked and stuck in their own trunk? Screw 'em, 'cause more people are just using it "needlessly" and that bugs you?

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23418702-details/School-run%20mother%20who%20knocked%20down%20and%20killed%20OAP%20while%20using%20her%20mobile%20jailed%20for%20two%20years/article.do

swings and roundabouts.

I'm pretty sure more people are killed by reckless drivers using a mobile phone than are saved when they are stuck in their own boot.