📘 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.

Discussion

M: Hey, thank you, Rory, for your answers! Well, Rory was very polite. What do you think, dear listener?

R: Very tolerant.

M: Very tolerant, very like, open-minded. Yeah? You may not be, dear listener, if you kind of dislike this thing. If you think it's really annoying, you can be, you know, stricter. You can be, like, very emotional about it. And the question is about talking on the phone in public places. The verb that is used is mind. Like, do you mind when people talk on the phone next to you? Like, do people mind others? Other people talking on the phone. If you say, like, oh, I don't mind. Like, I'm okay. It's okay. Right? So usually people don't mind when others talk on the phone next to them. So it's okay for most people when others talk on the phone. Careful. On the phone. And Rory said like, yeah, it's okay. But if they are not loud if they are not obnoxious. What's obnoxious?

R: Obnoxious is just rude or thoughtless behaviour. It's usually quite loud and overblown and not courteous towards others, I suppose, is the best way to describe it.

M: Obnoxious, negative, very unpleasant or rude. You know? Some people are very loud and obnoxious. And if the disruption is minimal, then it's okay. So if disruption? If they don't disturb too much, but when people are rude, obnoxious or disruptive, then it gets on people's nerves. So other people could be disruptive if they are super loud and actually disruptive is C2 vocabulary. Band nine. Disruptive - causing trouble, stopping something from continuing. So people are so loud that they disrupt others. So they are disruptive or rude. And then it gets on people's nerves. So other people find it very annoying. We say to talk on the phone in public. Then again, Rory is very tolerant. It's okay, you know? If people are respectful, if they are not too obnoxious, if they are not too loud if they don't bother other people. Remember? Our verbs from the previous episode.

R: If they don't upset them.

M: Yeah. Pester, bother, annoy. It's okay. Yeah, so talking on the phone is okay, Rory, but what about playing music or watching a video out loud on your phone next to you?

R: What do I do? Or what do I think?

M: Like, what do you feel?

R: Oh, right. I feel extremely annoyed. Because there's no need to do that. We live in the age of headphones and earbuds like you just don't need to do that. It's excessive.

M: Yeah, it's excessive. Kind of over the top. Too much. Don't do it. If we want to stop people from talking on the phone in public, we can say people should be banned. Banned from doing something, yeah? And people talk loudly in public, they talk loudly on their phones, and they should be banned from doing it. And the question is, how to enforce this? So, okay, it's a law, people are banned from doing this, but how to make it real? How to enforce it? How to implement this law? And then the idea that like, what is loud? What is considered loud music? It's very subjective.

R: Yeah, it's down to the individual to decide what that means. So it's not practical. It's not something that you could do in real life without a whole load of problems.

M: Some people don't care how they act in public. Yeah? Like teenagers, some young people. Actually, older people too, they kind of... They do what they want sometimes, huh? Scream around, throw things. Well, can happen. So why do people do that? They could lack self-awareness. All right? What did you mean by this? So they lack self-awareness. They don't know what they are?

R: Just they're not aware of the impact they're having on other people around them.

M: Like they don't know that they are disruptive?

R: Yeah.

M: They don't know what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. So they lack, they don't have concepts of appropriacy, like what is appropriate in this particular situation, in this particular culture, for example. Or maybe they value the fact that they can do what they want. They can act as they wish. You know? I want to do this. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna pee in the street. Can I say pee in the street on this podcast? Is it okay?

R: You cannot say pee.

M: No? I cannot say pee?

R: You cannot say pee. You cannot say pee, and you cannot say poop.

M: No.

R: Yes...

M: Oh, come on... Jesus Christ.

R: I know. The censors.

M: For example, if they feel like it, like I'm gonna urinate in the street.

R: Stop it.

M: For example, people drink a lot of water, and then they want to kind of release this water from their bodies. So what do they do? They urinate in the streets. And really that's a problem in some areas because it kind of like... People do it, the place becomes dirty, and local people complain. So, you know, horrible. But these people can think that I can do what I want. I can act as I wish. Parents should teach children to behave well in public. So to behave themselves, or to behave well. And you can say that it can't just be down to schools and teachers. So it's down to schools. So schools should be responsible for teaching children how to behave well in public, or it's down to parents. Or you can say it can't be down to schools and parents only.

R: Well it can't be down to schools and parents only. Or it can't just be down to... It's not the responsibility of them alone.

M: And who else is responsible?

R: Everybody's responsible.

M: Yeah, everybody's responsible for our children. Yeah. And you can say that it's the parent's duty. Duty - responsibility. Like it makes sense, it's sensible that parents should teach. Also, teachers should teach. Everybody should teach. And the final question is a bit strange, like the difference. You sit next to someone talking on the phone and you sit next to people talking to each other. Well, just it's noisier, right? Kind of you have more noise. It's noisier when you have two people. More people - more noise, right? But on the other hand, when the person is talking on the phone, they feel they should be kind of... They should speak more loudly.

R: Yeah, I think there's more of a need to speak loudly when you're on the phone, even though you should try to avoid this.

M: Hey, dear listener! So I wonder what's it like in your country. Do people speak on the phone loudly?

R: What do you do when they do that?

M: Yeah, hopefully everything's fine where you are. Thank you very much for listening, and we'll get back to you in our next episode! Okay? Bye!

Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff:

Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi

Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi