Public transport, and mobile phones.

Like a lot of people i know, and indeed, a lot of people in the world, i quite like having my mobile phone; it allows me to keep up to date with my friends, my family, and even lets me punch in a short memo on an important, up and coming appointment.
That is where it's functionality falls flat for me. Everyday i endure public transport twice per day in order to get to work and back; but every single day, on my way home from a little place called Bonnybridge in Scotland, there seem to be kids, well, young teenagers; perhaps thirteen or fourteen years old, on the back seats of the bus, playing some of the worst music known to humankind on their mobile phones (hard trance, happy hardcore, and commercial rap 'booty' music ain't good after a hard shift); not only that, they play it pretty loud, the whole bus can hear their music, they cuss and swear like they have just learned how to say the 'f' word for the very first time, whilst drawing some scorning remark and dirty looks from the elderly.
I know, i am a twenty five year old bloke, and i sound as if i should be one of those elderly blokes grumping and moaning, but the bus is a public place, and i find listening to someone else's music and swearing quite intrusive, surely hey should respect other people public privacy

reply to post by Smugallo


This reminds me of my daughter and her experience with mass transit.
She was commuting back and forth from a far north Chicago suburb into the city each day to attend college.

I made the mistake of calling her one day while she was on her way to school. She made the call extremely short, and called me back at the end of the day.

She told me (while she was on the train) that it was rude to even receive a phone call on the train because it was disturbing to all the other passengers who would sit quietly just reading a paper or enjoying their morning coffee. I was asked in a whisper to never call her back during her commute unless it was an emergency. Everyone was staring at her!

While this was an unwritten law amongst the commuters, everyone was curteous to follow this rule, no matter what their age was.

Does public transportation in Scotland have any security to enforce rules against this sort of behavior you describe? If not it sounds like they need some!

They don't have any security measures at all, except the bus driver himself, and if it is getting on his nerves then he will most likely tell them to shut up; All drivers are different though, some have a higher tolerance than others for things like that.

On the matter of receiving phone calls on the bus, don't think many people really bother about it, it's mostly people playing music for the whole bus to hear that most don't really care for!

I don't mind phone calls in the afternoon, but in the morning is a different story. Phone calls and loud talkers should not be allowed on transit before 9:00 AM. Loud music and swearing any time on public transit just shows poor manners and inconsideration.

Dirty looks aren't going to do anything about it though. I usually say 'I'm sorry, but there are little kids on the bus? Do you mind toning it down a bit?' and I've never gotten any lip back from the kids.