📘 Part 3: Public places

This episode's vocabulary

Obnoxious (adj.) - very unpleasant or rude.

Disruption (noun) - the action of preventing something, especially a system, process, or event, from continuing as usual or as expected.

Self-awareness (noun) - good knowledge and judgment about yourself.

To enforce (verb) - to make people obey a law, or to make a particular situation happen or be accepted.

Criterion (noun) - a standard by which you judge, decide about, or deal with something. (plural - criteria)

Appropriacy (noun) - the extent to which something is suitable or proper in the circumstances.

Limitation (noun) - the act of controlling and especially reducing something.

Semi-private (adj.) - having some private and some public features.

Duty (noun) - a responsibility to do something because it is legally or morally right to do it.

Questions and Answers

M: Do most people mind others talking on the phone in public places?

R: Assuming they aren't being too loud or obnoxious, then it shouldn't be much of an issue, since the disruption is minimal, particularly on the street and when it's already noisy. It's when people are being rude or disruptive that it tends to get on people's nerves.

M: Is it acceptable to talk on the phone in public?

R: Like I said, it should be fine, as long as those on the phone are being respectful and showing the same level of self-awareness. Most of the time, if you don't bother other people, they will not bother you.

M: Should people be banned from talking loudly in public?

R: I think most people wish this would be so, but how on earth would you even begin to enforce that? I mean, even the criteria would be hard, since, like what counts as loud is so subjective. So while it might be fun to dream about it, it doesn't seem particularly practical.

M: Why do some people not care about their actions in public?

R: Well, lots of reasons. They could lack self-awareness. Concepts of appropriacy vary across cultures. Or they might simply value being able to act as they wish over the good feelings of others, which is basically being selfish, isn't it?

M: And do you think there should be some limitations as to how people act in public?

R: There should be, but how to create and enforce those limitations is something that I think requires some thought.

M: Should parents teach their children to behave well in public?

R: Sure. It can't just be down to schools and teachers to do that, since they aren't in school for that long anyway, and schools are almost semi-private spaces. So it makes sense for the duty to fall to the parents in most cases. They spend the most time together, so they're more likely to be out in public together.

M: What are the differences between sitting next to someone who talks on the phone and sitting next to people who speak to each other while travelling by train?

R: Well the number of people present in the physical space. But in addition to that, I suppose, if they're on the phone, then there's more need to speak loudly, whereas people who are sitting next to each other don't have this need. I think that's the big difference most people would notice, anyway.