The speakerphone paradox

[u/NeighborhoodJust1197]

I was at the pool today when a woman started having a conversation on her phone using the speaker.

I politely asked her if she could not use the speaker and pointed to my headphones.
She said, “I don’t have headphones.”
So I said, “You can just hold the phone next to your ear.”

She looked at me with a completely blank expression and said, “I’m on speakerphone.”
I said, “Well… that’s the problem.”

Apparently, we had reached the limits of modern technology.

[u/nvmenotfound]

that post was definitely posted by someone who is often asked to turn their speakerphone off. 

[u/MMBitey → u/nvmenotfound]

"I don't get why other people find it so annoying. I use it all the time!"

[u/Okeydokey2u → u/MMBitey]

It'S jUsT nOiSe

[u/DigitalSheikh → u/MMBitey]

I mean, I don’t do it myself, but now I’m wondering what the big issue is. Is it really different from two people having a conversation with each other in public? Like I don’t like speakerphone either, just now that I think about it I can’t figure out why

[u/Jazzguitar19 → u/DigitalSheikh]

Someone was doing it while I was eating last night and I was analyzing what about it drove me crazy lol. I think just the volume being a lot louder than a normal convo but the sound quality being terrible was the two factors that were driving me insane.

[u/Okeydokey2u → u/DigitalSheikh]

If tell people were talking loudly broadcasting their conversation like a speaker phone does then they too would be obnoxious, annoying and rude.

[u/Lucky-day00 → u/DigitalSheikh]

Yes because it’s more tinny and cuts through background noise in a way a real voice doesn’t.

[u/Daft00 → u/nvmenotfound]

Anyone who uses the rationale that "you'll survive" certainly doesn't have a strong argument.

[u/Narrrz → u/Daft00]

I'll survive... But they might not

[u/Annie_Yong → u/Daft00]

If the point they're making is simply one about one one else overreacting, then I'd argue that the "you'll survive" point is because the argument itself is so simple.

Do I find teenagers watching til toks on their phone together on the bus annoying? Yes. But I'm also not going toake dedicated posts about it on Reddit or engage in fantasies where I confront them because it's not that annoying and I'm not exactly entitled to complete quiet in a public space.

[u/GoldCode8622 → u/Daft00]

You'll survive being quiet in a library and being out in public around louder noises.

What argument would you like?

[u/Dapper_Brain_9269 → u/GoldCode8622]

People don't want to just survive, they want to enjoy life, including in public spaces.

[u/GoldCode8622 → u/nvmenotfound]

I have never been asked to do that.

I also don't expect an outdoor pool with a bunch of people to be perfectly quiet.

Go to a library.