I try to be a patient guy, but I no longer have any tolerance for louts who have no decency…like the folks who do not use earphones when using their mobile phones in public settings. Here’s a perfect example from a United Club in Chicago.
Incredibly Rude: Man Holds FaceTime Call In United Club Without Using Earphones
A reader sent me the picture below:
This guy was having a phone call loud enough for everyone to hear it:
“Sitting in the C Terminal Club at OHare and this guy is video calling all his friends…on speakerphone. Nasty glances from everyone just don’t seem to have an effect.”
While I’d love it if lounge staff would quickly act upon such blatant disrespect and throw the loser out of the lounge, I realize that policing hundreds of people is not an easy task and confrontation can be unpleasant.
I have a new approach to dealing with folks like this. I think the old Matthew would just passive-aggressively take pictures or video and then post it on the blog and fume about it.
No. Not anymore.
I don’t waste time any longer confronting such people…and for anyone who dares say otherwise, it is my business because when people play music or video loudly or conduct a phone call or meeting on speakerphone, it ruins my enjoyment of the lounge.
Some people like to sit down next to the offender and start conducting a lounge conversation of their own. I find the more direct approach works: sometimes that stirs up anger, but it almost always results in compliance.
It is only when the loud conversation continues that I will ask for help from the lounge staff.
If we all just confronted offenders directly, I think we’d all enjoy a better lounge experience.
And to folks who think the rules do not apply to them like the man above: you’re horrible.
A couple things have changed that make this more likely…
Work cubicles are almost extinct, they used to be a staple of lounges
No more headphone jacks on iphones, and limited battery life of bluetooth headsets
The one time I mentioned to a seatmate who was scrolling through social feed with audio on she was quickly shocked into realizing what she was doing and stopped. As in, not deliberate, but unaware.
Gee, my non-Apple phone has no earphone jack, yet this causes me no problem. My bluetooth headset has 10 hours of charge and recharges in the case. In the event my bluetooth earphones are dead, I also would have a headset I can plug into the usb-c port when I’m in a lounge.
BTW, for all those who bemoan the loss of headphone jacks, are you unaware of the existence of inexpensive good quality hardwired headsets that plug into a usb-c port? And, yes, with a small adapter you can both charge your phone and listen through hardwired earphones.
The lout was Tim Cook who kicked off a “cool” trend that the other CEO golfers picked up: Let’s make it inconvenient for people to be polite (use headsets) and make a million or so on the “savings’ (which we can use for yacht fuel for the year) and let the proles deal with the fallout.
Even with the affluent who can afford bluetooth headsets, consider the photo above: Appears to be a boomer (I’m 1 year off of that generation myself so no hate) and sometimes they have problems configuring newfangled devices. In my own case, I have to go through a bit of a hassle to get a pairing going with my Amazon earbuds and I’m technical.
Then there’s battery issues but also one of cost. If someone was acting like this in the old days, I could helpfully go up and offer them a pair of dollar-tree headsets and it’s win-win. Costs me $1.50 to be nice to someone but I can’t hand over a $30 pair of pre-charged bluetooth headsets.
It’s sad, but killing the headphone jack was as great an idea as the invention of the leaf blower, speed bumps, and tiktoc.
I have trouble with the concept of affording a smart phone and cell service and thinking $25 for a Bluetooth headset is pricey. I’m old and I can adapt.
Dave W, if I may humble educate you on human nature, what appears reasonable to you is due to you being an erudite, civilized person. This may surprise you to hear, but not all people are like you.
I learned to consider stupidity and ignorance to be an advantage: I wouldn’t have advanced to where I am if most of the world was smarter than me. The disadvantage to that is there are millions of people who somehow get their hands on a smartphone, even in a business class lounge, but somehow couldn’t get bluetooth headsets and didn’t want to fork out $30 for airport prices for a cheap set.
So, now they blast their junk on speakerphone thinking it’s ok because they “need” to and, besides, ‘everyone else is doing it’.
Even before I reached the age where I begin to forget people’s names, I learned to design my life to be simple. Remember when apple products were EASY to use and were supposed to IMPROVE life?
Oh, and on Amazon you can buy USB Type C Earbuds in-Ear Wired Earphones for $12.07. No excuses.
Yes, the proles must deal with the fallout…while they relax in the lounge 🙂
$2.99 USD on Amazon for a cheap set of Bluetooth earbuds now
Expecting avid readers of a points and miles blog to buy and use the accessories makes sense. Expecting the general public to adopt with zero friction…well I have a bridge to sell you.
Quite simply there’s more friction involved to make listening to a smartphone private than there was when there were headphone jacks.
Yes people did it when there were headphone jacks, but it was just a touch easier to use headphones then. Multiply that by hundred million plus users in the US and the number of ‘outliers’ gets more noticeable.
THANK YOU.
That’s the problem with elitists. “Why can’t the proles just ride to the airport like me instead of using busses? There are limousine outside!”
Some boomers don’t know how to use the Internet like we do. Sometimes people forget to bring headphones. Sometimes they can’t figure out how to pair them.
The whole POINT of the iPhone, originally, was ease of use.
In the past, if someone forgot a headphone, they could get one free from the airline (I grab ‘em when I can) or even get a cheap set from someone else. I wish I could just go up to them and say: “Here’s a $1.50 set from dollar tree, enjoy”.
Thanks so much golfing CEO’s. May you rot in the 4th level of Dante’s hell.
That’s fine. And all valid points. Sometimes my earbuds are dead or sometimes I have even forgotten to bring them. But then, here’s a thought: don’t take the facetime call. I don’t even know what they were talking about, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say the conversation was inconsequential and only consisted of small talk. He could have just as easily sent a text message saying, “hey I’m in a public setting, can’t talk at the moment.” And then continued the conversation over text.
So how did you handle it?
It was a reader, not Matthew who encountered this uncouth not-so-gentleman.
If the volume is not too loud, it’s not much different from a regular call. If the person is using ear buds or a headset, you can’t hear the other party, just that person. So half the amount of talk. Of course, some people with a headset purposely talk softer.
I was in that same lounge not to long ago and a guy was holding a conference call so loud that several people asked him to stop… people clapped when he left… after that another guy was on a conference call and you could barely hear him, big difference in people.
Have you ever noticed that people on calls in public (with or w/o headsets) can’t t seem to ever get to some point and drone on exceedingly long? I’m not interested in your call, but, dude, you’re on a 13 minute call while the plane is boarding, I’m forced to gear your side. At best you needed 35 seconds, but you must talk until the doors shut about the most boring things.
Why don’t you just put on some noise canceling headphones if his conversation bothers you? It’s not your club, it’s United’s, so not sure where you get to make up the rules of the lounge. Once broke the nose of a lout who confronted a family member about their use of electronic device while speaking to an elderly family member who can not hear properly when spoken to through headphones,etc. So really don’t know why you don’t mind your own business or stay inside your private home if you get too triggered in public surrounded by public conversations. Safe space = your home.
Hey Leslie, I guarantee you’ll be escorted out of the lounge if you try to pull that crap on me. Be polite or stay home in your cage.
It’s a commentary on the low-trust society we’re in as the bad behavior filters up through the ranks of the underclass up to what should be a 7th circle tier of affluence: business class lounges.
Even in Eastern Europe, I rarely saw loutish behavior on the busses. In Northern Europe in Y2K, polite behavior was the norm nearly EVERYWHERE. It was… inspirational.
We don’t respect Karen’s enough. Sure, some are busybodies hassling people over the tint of their mailbox color in the association but going up to someone and politely educating them on manners beats dozens of frustrated people doing the ignored eye-glare thing. Sadly, as the low-trust society becomes more pervasive, even that becomes risky lest someone get assaulted as “bad boy” behavior becomes normalized where a statistically small, but non-zero, chance of violence scares off the well mannered from expressing basic communication.
In the case of the lounge act, I’d notify an attendant to come deal with it.
That being said, the intent to act rather than glare is the manner of an adult in a civilized society. It’s via our actions positive change occurs and standards are upheld.
“broke the nose of a lout…” If you REALLY did that, you are worse than the loud phone user. Why not be considerate of others, and at the very minimum, go off to a corner of the lounge and talk there?
The broken nose never happened. It’s a fantasy.
@Leslie Deal Akins,
Dumbass, if you look at the Club rules, they explicitly tell people to use earbuds.
https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/united-club-terms-and-conditions.html
“As a courtesy to other guests, headphones or earbuds must be worn “
People act like assholes because we let them get away with it. It’s time we all quit letting them get away with it.
Tripping and spilling a drink on them works as well. It requires a fake “apology” but the internal satisfaction makes it worthwhile.
I’m a fan of the flatulence attach…. sneak up on them and deploy a ‘silencer’!
Ah, the good old Crop Dusting, I like it.
“I don’t waste time any longer confronting such people”
“If we all just confronted offenders directly, I think we’d all enjoy a better lounge experience.”
So do you confront them or not?
Did you read the story?
I think this person interpreted following comment
“I don’t waste time any longer confronting such people”
as you don’t confront people and let the situation slide off your back instead of your intended purpose of not waiting for the behavior to correct itself and dealing with it expeditiously.
I see your point.
Yes I did. There were many contradictory statements. In one sentence you stated you won’t confront. Then in another you said we should all confront (with the exception of you?) Then you said you’d ask a lounge attendant to confront. So I can’t make sense of it.
I appreciate all constructive criticism and will try to do better, but I still think it was clear.
Matt, my wife when she took ESL classes had fun arguments with the English instructor (who was a college prof but taught at the county as a sort of pro bono). He said: “You can’t begin a sentence with because”.
So I told my wife to tell him: “Because is the word that begins this sentence.”
And it pissed him off.
Youtube “grammar nazis”.
FYI, My 90yo father-in-law will be visiting this August for 2 months from Odessa. I used my Chase Ultimate points to get him a flight KRK-IAD Lufthansa and return via Swiss. I’m excited that Swiss has a route now from/to IAD in that I loved Swiss, but ever since moving from LAX, I couldn’t go to Zurich.
Glad your FIL is coming.
Is your job safe from the tentacles of DOGE?
In 9volts defense, I too had to go back and re-read to process that the picture was sent to you by a reader. Blogs are light-duty pleasure reading, and sometimes I skim over what I assume are captions for what I think is an obvious photo. In this case the caption was exceptionally critical for context. The whole post other than that 7-word caption does read like it was a first-hand experience minus the climax of the actual confrontation. So your snarky “Did you read the story” was perhaps a bit abrupt 🙂
I see so many people do this in the US and Europe. I get you think you’re important to just do this but I don’t want to know about what business deal you’re trying to close or what a family member did last night. I’ve had to tell a couple of people to use headphones once every while if their call is 30+ minutes and can hear them even using my airpod max noise cancelling.
Not going to lie, when I travel, it gets intense where I’m on a 7+ hour flight every other day and things like this kinda get on my nerves. I’m privileged to be in this position, but I get exhausted and want as much peace as I can get and usually telling them nicely works since everyone around is watching us. For those who get unruly, either a lounge agent steps in or if they pull out the “who do you think I am,” I also pull the “who do you think I am” but it shuts them up. There was a reddit post about me two years ago or so and it was hilarious to read the redditor’s point of view where they thanked me and called me a “polite a–hole”
How to say that you’re a younger governance consultant to the board of a larger institution without saying that you are this.
Jokes aside, I wouldn’t confront them because I’m older and don’t have the energy to go at it. I, instead, just tell a lounge agent while I move to a different section.
I think personal wifi/cellular jammers should be legal. Say a 10-20ft range.
Such a thing would help for this situation. Won’t do much for previously downloaded content, but who does that these days.
Yes, you can already buy such things (look on eBay), but in the US they are illegal. Some other countries allow jammers in some situations (like theaters in Israel), but they must be professionally installed and are part of the facility, not personal devices.
I automatically confront people like this and tell them to end the call or put in earbuds. When that doesn’t work, I join the conversation. I stand behind them, answer questions, make comments, and piss them off.
Facetime? In addition to lounge talk, photobomb the guy. Maybe someone on the other end of the call will disapprove and tell the guy as well.
Me, I have walked up to this senior child and screamed into his right ear. Then I would have B****ed him in his left ear. I have never seen so many pompous senior citizen children in my entire life. Oh, I misspoke. SWA is the best example, I am 65 and flown them one time, SWA needs to focus on the customer, getting close to AA lack of etiquette
14 hours ago, my day started with a face call with my best friend (virologist ) from Barcelona. Subject quickly evolved into our recent dislike of anything in the ear. We both have more recently found them to be extremely uncomfortable. Weird. Her son, ( radiologist ) has said this can happen with hormone fluctuations!
TL;DR Menopause, manapause, if suddenly you are having problems, check with your doctor. If you are simply a donkey’s butt, no one can help you.
@ Matthew — I carry disposable airline headsets for people like this. Just hand them to the person. No disposable airpods yet…
Jeezuz talk about a 1st world problem.
How spoiled can you get?
Frankly, Matthew, I’m beginning to think you’re a liberal snot.
I’m so tired of this “first-world” argument. It’s a silly argument used by people who can’t come up wiith a real argument. It is the equivalent of dismissing criticism of your favorite singer by claiming “you’re just jealous [sic].”
I once heard an executive close a $2.6 billion dollar deal in the BA First lounge at IAH speaking on a zoom call at a reasonable volume within earshot of me. Presumably he was a full fare F passenger that evening to LHR. I was in club world (POS).
I’ve been in Admirals Clubs with someone screaming at the top of the lungs where their six thousand dollars are before boarding a red eye from lax to jfk in main cabin extra.
People are full of shit. Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see.
I’m reminded of a time my wife and I were in Denver waiting for our flight to EWR. We went to one of the United Club locations and this one man was not on speaker, but talking loudly and seemingly without a care in the world. He was explaining how he rented out his home using VRBO (then relatively new) and just by listening we got details on his address, travel plans, finances, and—wait for it—his Amex Platinum card number and expiration date. I looked at my wife and whispered, “Do you want to go commit several federal offenses?”
Loud, obnoxious person on a phone? I just go sit down right next to them and “join the party”
I don’t think that confronting people directly is a great idea. You never know whether someone is high on cocaine or happens to be the brother in law of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the African country to which you’re flying.
I would flag things up with staff and hope they can have a word with the offender.
This is why we need portable directional EMP devices.
Talk to the Club manager, confront him or her and/or move somewhere else. This is a regular occurrence in airports everyday. It’s a lot worse outside any club but it’s part of humanity. For Chrissakes just deal with it. People get killed and/or fight in airports, they melt down because they missed a flight, they drink too much and lose it.
Quit being such a pussy Matthew. This is literally nothing in the cash register of life.
You didn’t have the balls to confront them yet you write a column about it? Jeezuz.
Tell us your caviar wasn’t cold enough and your vodka was too warm.
Just respond to what is being discussed, if it’s loud enough to be heard then it’s a public discussion open for all to respond to..
the Frequency app deployed nearby is AMAZINGLY effective.