Wednesday 22 April 2009

Mobile phones, trains, and a racist university student

On the train there are signs saying please be aware of other passengers when using mobile phones, there is also a special carriage designated a 'quiet carriage'. Unfortunately there are very few people who take any notice at all of the signs, even though they clearly mean 'no using mobile phones'. Every time i catch the train its guaranteed that a twit will phone somebody, start a conversation and talk loud enough for the whole train to hear every single word about whats going on in their, sometimes sordid, little lives. They know every one is listening and they must know its pretty rude since its been on the t.v and in magazines, yet they don't give a toss about the fact that no one really wants to know what time they are getting home, what they are having for dinner, how their day at work was, or, like the guy on the train today, how long the garage is taking to repair his sons new girlfriends car.
I've often wondered why people start conversations on their phones on the train. I can understand its convenient and that kind of thing, but aren't peoples lives supposed to be private? So, what makes these particular individuals different? Is it an ego thing? I have an expensive mobile phone look at me type thing? Perhaps, but i doubt it as hardly anybody can actually see the phone on the train, we can just hear the conversation.
Its not any particular kind of person that does it, so the old can't blame the young. I've listened to all kinds of people have all sorts of conversations, as I'm sure you all have.

So why is it so irritating? I think its because Brits mainly like to be seen as private people, who don't like to air their laundry in public type thing. This has been seen recently with the arguments about Google Earth street view and its invasion of privacy. Its got a lot to do with the fact that if i don't do it, why should you?
The most obvious reason i feel that people seem more and more to use their phones on trains is linked to most of the other problems we currently have in society, and that's a basic lack of respect. Years ago everyone would think a lot more about how their actions would affect the people around them. Things such as parking outside your neighbours house, playing music late at night, etc, was only done after neighbours were asked or consulted. Very rarely did people do anything like this without talking to the people around them, mainly because no family wanted to be branded as bad and talked about, and people had more respect for each other back then so they considered everyone.

These days no one gives a toss about anyone but themselves and their close family. Most people nowadays don't even know their neighbours so why bother to consult them on parking your car when its a free road? The lack of respect for each other now means no one cares what other people think, no one knows their neighbours or the people on the train, so why bother asking them for permission when its sod all to do with them. These days people do not talk to people they do not know, be it their neighbours, people on the street, train or bus, practically every where, if people don't have a specific reason to talk these days they simply don't bother. This has led to the level of respect between humans decreasing with the years, and mobile phone use on the train is another example of this. Years ago it was the same people catch the train or bus at the same time each day, so people knew each other and chatted about the weather and such like. There was no particular reason to talk, apart from showing respect and not being ignorant.

But because no one cares any more what other people think, they simply just carry on regardless of whether they are being ignorant, loud, or rude. This lack of respect gets worse every year in children; they are more likely to tell you to f**k off then ask how you are or talk about the weather. The lack of respect is ingrained in our society, so now even the elderly are the same. No one gives a toss about people they do not know. Unruly children getting ASBO's is also a manifestation of the growing lack of respect. Its also not just a lack of respect for people, its also their surroundings and where people live. As we all know New Labour has its heart set on 'community' and the revival of it, and the government had a 'respect agenda in 1996', but maybe they should learn children to respect each other, their surroundings and home estates and the people who live on them, and be grateful for the great life Britain has to offer, instead of ruining it and other peoples lives.
Using mobile phones on trains might not seem that bad, but when you add it all up with all of the current problems our country is facing, its a sign of the way our country is heading. Our country is turning into a nation of pig ignorant technology freaks who have no respect for each other.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm entitled to my opinion. There's definitely a link between mobile phone use on trains, asbo's, students constantly late or talking in class, and that kind of thing. And its called respect.
Those who talk in class have no respect for either the lecturer or their fellow students, and they simply could not give a toss what any one thinks because as long as it doesn't affect them or their grades, then they don't care. Talking on phones on the train is the same, as long as they get what they want, and their little, selfish lives aren't affected, they couldn't care less about the person behind them who wants some peace. The children are growing up not respecting anyone, and they will then pass this on to their children, so soon the whole nation will be ignorant, selfish and respect no one.
I've also read here that trains trap the dangerous radiation given off from mobile phones being used on trains, so its about time people started taking notice of the signs. I'm all for the new kind of train carriages that are being proposed that block mobile phone signals.

On a final note. The other day in my social policy lecture i heard a student say, out loud, obviously so us at the front could hear, - 'Some of us black people simply don't like white people'. How terrible is that coming from a students mouth about their fellow students. I'd love to name and shame this particular person, but I'd probably get in more trouble then they would, but in total about five of us heard what this person said. And to think this person is going to work in health and social care! They have no respect for people now, so they are hardly going to have any respect for the poor bast***s they have to help at work when they have their degree. Not to mention the racist aspect of what this person said. Anyway, i hope that saying what goes around, comes around, comes true for this particular, ignorant student. And i hope this person never has to help anyone i know or my family when they are qualified. Its important to remember that if I'd have said that particular statement, i would have been kicked straight out of uni for racism. Enough said about disrespect.

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