It was another beautiful day yesterday and so we decided to spend the afternoon sitting outside our local pub. We were having something to eat with our pint, when a young fellow stood just a couple of feet away and began to have the loudest mobile phone conversation with his pal. This conversation lasted about half an hour and during it we found out that he’d taken the last week off ill from work, spent this time buying a new bike for £1000 to replace the last one that got stolen. He was surprised that his insurance paid out so handsomely and he was very proud of his £1000 bike, so much so that he kept staring at the bike and mentioning to his friend just how nice and expensive it was.
Now I find mobile phones an irritant at the best of times, but when you are trying to enjoy an afternoon in the sun, eating and drinking and generally chilling, you don’t seem some oik to come along and share his coversation with you. And this guy was REALLY loud. He just wanted to show off and inform everyone of his own self-importance.
Anyway, the Missus came back with the next round and then turn to the fellow and asked him if he could take his phone conversation elsewhere. He promptly told her to “fuck off!” (nice fellow) and a little spat insued. I intervened and told him that I had no interest in hearing about his life and that he should conduct his conversation a little quieter. Much eye contact happened and I stared the guy down. He continued his phone conversation but at a much more reasonable level and we moved tables to get away from him. He spent over an hour on his phone talking about nothing in particular. I guess this is symptomatic of our “always-available” culture.
Man, I hate mobile phones! 🙂