Has anyone else noticed the louder and longer a public mobile phone call the less content it has?

Long and Loud but No Content – Give Us Something Worth Hearing!

In public places, especially closed ones such as buses, trains or cafes, anti-social mobile phone users make long and loud calls about nothing at all. They usually consist of repeated occurrences of phrases such as "she said you said I said he said..." punctuated with odd, often very odd, bits of intimate personal detail about sadly dysfunctional lives. Although there is no real content in such calls they seem to be interminable and take place at a volume that demands attention.

On the other hand calls about major business negotiations or deep and meaningful relationships are short and to the point. If they need time they are taken away to somewhere or sometime private. The business deal is switched to e-mail on the corporate Blackberry or iPhone and the intense relationship is whispered into a cupped hand. Shame really, as these calls could be quite interesting.

Like reality television it is very easy to get sucked in. We know it will be irritating but like a broken tooth one cannot leave it alone. Those sad calls require real effort to ignore. It is the last acceptable (well almost) bastion of the voyeur. Although we hate to admit it we are all voyeurs as television producers have realised. So perhaps we should be grateful and not knock public use of mobile phones. It is one of the few guilty pleasures where we can feel superior to others' sad lives that the political correctness vigilantes have not got to, yet.