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Abso-friggin-lutely. Shoot them twice to be sure.

It’s such an annoying, disrespectful thing to do in public. If you do it, you’re either a giant asshat or too dumb to keep around.

Aight, someone explain their point of view please. What level of volume severity have you commenters experienced? Someone listening to something has never bothered me, but it also has never been loud enough I can't have a conversation with someone. Most restaurants play music louder than I hear from a stranger's speakers. I don't get what is rude about it. Even the Everett True comic below, several of you are that on edge about a person whistling or humming to themself?

I'm so old I remember when you'd get thrown out of restaurant if you used a cellphone

I was once on a Greyhound bus where a guy was loudly talking on his phone, but not on speaker. The issue was he was just repeatedly saying:

"Listen....... Listen..... Listen.... Listen... Lemme tell you.... Listen... Listen .... Listen lemme.... Lemme tell you .. listen"

For half an hour.

Finally a hero yelled out: "Listen! Lemme tell you to shut the fuck up!"

He said "lemme call you back later" hung up and shrunk down on his seat as the whole bus clapped.

I was in the surgery waiting room for 12 hours while my mom had spinal surgery and some piece of shit Boomer kept watching political commentary videos on his phone and would very aggressively say to people "This isn't bothering you, is it?" And when we let him know it was, he'd just move a few seats away - not far enough to make any real difference. I wanted to beat the asshole to a bloody pulp, but I was equally as mad at the hospital who didn't put an end to it.

Same with fuckers in restaurants watching sports on their phones, or on speakerphone calls, or kids playing their fucking preschool games with their volume turned up. If we can't kill these motherfuckers then we should at least be allowed to smash their phones out of their hands.

i love how cory doctorow is consistently right about literally everything

Seconded.

A lot of people blame this on people losing their social skills during COVID, but I remember people doing it when I was in high school in the mid-2010s.

This is why the removal of 3.5mm jacks is bullshit.

I can't just forcibly attach headphones to someone's phone and silence them anymore.

I don't get why anyone who rides public transportation doesn't wear headphones themselves. Big obvious ones are best so people don't talk to you.

I do find that the more righteous I feel about someone's actions the more annoying it becomes to me. Despite how rude it is, and you're absolutely right about that, try to not give a fuck. It really helps to consider their obliviousness as a disorder. They're pathetic.

If nothing else, hopefully it'll keep you from actually pulling the trigger one day.

Shooting them is a kindness. They could be reported to the RIAA for violating public performance copyright.