I had it happen to me, on a long-haul flight, in business class. I was shocked. I stood up to look at the guy after no-one did anything.

I told him that phone speakers "make me gassy" and then he turned it off.

Kids playing games is the truly annoying one. You feel terrible saying anything but it’s also some of the most annoying sounds.

Speaker phone is probably necessary nowadays since many people only have a smartphone.

With the old phones you could reasonably tilt your head and raise your shoulder to hold the handset in place so you could do something that required two hands while talking/listening, like looking up something in a book or taking notes.

Smartphones are smaller than the old handsets and much flatter. I can pinch mine between my shoulder and head but I've got to raise my should pretty high and do some other contortions to get my head tilted enough making it much more awkward to do anything with my hands. Also that phone is small enough that it is pretty well covered in that position by the side of my face and my shoulder, so I'm not sure the mic could pick up much.

There are times you need speaker-phone mode. My parents almost always turn on speaker-phone when they call me because they both want to be part of the conversation. I don't think they will ever take a plane or a bus trip in their lives so their speaker-phone isn't going to hurt anyone.

I need speakerphone when I'm home alone and attempting to be on a phone call while doing other things. Some of those calls are even about instructing me to look for something, so it necessitates me to be moving about. Speakerphone is an incredibly useful utility.

Don't take functionality away because of a few bad actors. That'd be like getting rid of drones because a few people are assholes.

Put rules in place to correct the bad behavior. Kicking them off planes seems fair.

Another angle is kids who have been given a tablet as a pacifier. Their parents are often on autopilot, having checked out months or years earlier.

On topic (and discussed already on HN): https://github.com/Pankajtanwarbanna/stfu

The idea someone doesn’t know they bothering everyone around them is absurd. It is 100% malice.

> no punishment is too harsh, this should be considered the equivalent of lighting up a cigarette on a plane.

Okay this is ridiculous. One is a fire hazard and the other is not. Do you really need the hyperbole here?

My business includes my ears. If you don't want me in your business, keep your business to your ears.

I've found that looking the person in the eye and giving a quick "hey, forget your headphones?" sometimes does the trick, and has yet to start a fight. Everyone has to act in ways they are comfortable with - but mass inaction is what creates space for this shitty behavior in the first place.

But on a plane they'll have already been asked by a flight attendant either by the time the plane takes off, or as soon as it stops climbing. So clearly this isn't working on the people this rule targets. In fact I think this rule is actually the ideal response from the airline and should be adopted everywhere, as anyone who is so unconcerned with the wellbeing of others as to play audio on their device without headphones shouldn't be allowed to fly, as they're obviously happy to fuck up everyone's day, and won't follow instructions.

Bluetooth headphones too?

This is actually a really good response though. Because the act of having a device blaring demonstrates contempt for everyone one around them. It's hard to act in a hateful way to someone who just offered you something for free.

Big "Kill them with kindness" energy.

It happenes in Dutch trains, but it's not the Dutch doing this.

It’s very much a thing on US public transit, with the added negative bonus that no one ever confronts the person doing it, because chances are they’re either crazy, armed, or both.

Doesn't surprise me, but I'm only speaking from my experience in America.

Yup. Eg guys getting on Thameslink services in south London, walking right up to the area behind the driver's cab and and start creating a disturbance. Driver stops the train and has a go at them if he's feeling in the mood...

I get what you're saying, but blasting music on buses has been a thing since boom-boxes were invented, it's nothing new. I am also not inclined to blame systems instead of individuals because most people with the same background of injustice will choose to respond to that injustice by being better than it. It's only a very small number of people being disruptive like this, while the number of people with fair and understandable grievances against society is massive.

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> How is walking over a road without a light inconveniencing anyone?

They said “walk out into traffic.” That’s rude. You should wait for a signal or a break in the flow so nobody has to brake for you.

It’s going over your head. He’s talking about certain people.

Depending on where you live it may not really be relatable to you, but living in NYC -- there are people that will intentionally jay walk on a green light and even _stare you down_ knowing that you will stop and let them pass.

People jay walk when there's no traffic all the time, that's totally fine. This is a totally different act of passive aggression.

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Are there some dog whistles in your comment and its parent? If not then could you restate your point more clearly, it’s not immediately apparent what you’re talking about.

Or the parent should just take the phone away! If the kid won't listen to it quietly then they should do that thing that I believe is called "parenting". Bring a picture book or something for them if they need to be entertained without the phone.

This was done by my parents when I was a young kid. I wouldn't turn the volume down on my Game Boy on a flight, so my parents took it away from me until I promised to keep the volume down, which I did after that.

But you said people on busses and trains doing this get shut down. My experience is they don't.