Mildly Infuriating

Was in a Trader Joe's and this woman was practically shouting into her phone. Even worse, she had it on speaker and the woman on the other end was shouting back. Bad enough in the same isle, but then she walked up right next to me and they continued shouting into my ear. Well, if you're going to be that rude...

I looked at her and began hacking as loud as could which is really loud. When I paused the shouting resumed so I started hacking again. The look on her face when she shouted, "Ewwww!" and backed away was priceless.

Perhaps not one of my finest moments, but one I will always treasure anyway.

my rule is if strangers can figure out your job title from your coffee shop call, you’re doing too much

We were at a restaurant just tonight next to a table where a man had a FaceTime on speakerphone for like a half-hour.

Remember when that was impolite?

People who have full on conversations with Ai in public are insufferable.

Ive been seeing it a lot more often recently. The shit is on speaker, I can hear you talking to a clanker

Once sat in a coffee shop and some professional therapist had a client meeting at the table next to me.

Full snot crying client. Really personal stuff.

I could understand if it was about agoraphobia or some sort of supported social interaction, but nope, it was a therapist who decided to use a public space as their office and inflict emotional distress on random people trying to drink a warm drink.

Sorry, couple of times it's just been unavoidable. I do avoid it as much as possible, but I have a bus transfer that sometimes takes 45 minutes and there's a coffee shop. The last one my boss' boss wanted a sudden meeting, and well, it happened.

I don’t care what kind of call it is, frankly. I don’t want to hear you talk in your phone, or hear your phone make any sound whatsoever. Sitting there watching videos with the speaker on, at a restaurant? Damn.

Zoom callers are the SECOND worst invasive species at the local coffee shop. Those annoying TikTok dance and sing while doing "normal" shit at ten X full volume? Those are the worst.

I'm sorry :( I'm currently homeless, and thus my only access to WiFi is at public locations like coffee shops (and libraries, but my local library is well used and so quiet that I'd be even more of an asshole to do calls there).

Though I am admittedly part of the problem, I confess that this has, if anything, made me more judgemental of people who engage in calls like this in an assholeish manner. For instance, I try my best to be as discreet as possible, as well as choosing places that are busy enough that my voice is more likely to blend into the background noise (I'm fortunate that my headphones are quite good at picking up my voice).

Sorry my dude. Sometimes there ain't no option. If internet cafes were still a thing I'd do them there.

This can be related to any calls or even watching a YouTube video without a headphones.

Did this once with a team meeting. There was a guy who showed up 3 minutes into my call and was playing the guitar. I muted myself but when they asked me a question I had to quickly unmute and answer, then mute. My coworker was like "where the fuck are you?"

I actively avoid using coffee shops to take calls, but sometimes it's the only place with wifi and power. I do try my best to keep my conversation at a level that is equal to others at the coffee shop. It's really unavoidable sometimes.

walk behind them and start making faces

and on public transit. or in a washroom.