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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

He puts his phone in and he pulls his phone out. He puts his phone in and he crams it all about...

Before I begin this post, let me preface by saying I am well aware that first world commuting problems pale in comparison to everything else that is happening in the world such as Twinkies no longer being manufactured and Prince Harry's dilemma over whether to ask Cressida Bonas to marry him, so this observation of mine may seem petty.

Last night (and I have friends who do this as well) I sat across from a guy who pulled his iPhone from his pocket, read a text message, wrote a text message and then pushed his iPhone back into his pant pocket. Thirty seconds later, he retrieved it, read a message, wrote a message and put it back in his pocket. This was done with a lot of grunting and wriggling each time. This went on for the entire train ride. The longest duration his phone sat in his pocket was two minutes. I timed it. I couldn't concentrate on anything else but this ridiculous display of passive/aggressive obsessiveness.

I have a friend who does the same thing, but instead of her pocket, the phone is in her purse. She will pull her phone out and check it several times, rather than just hold it in her hand. She will put it back in her purse only to remove it seconds later.

It ... drives ... me... CRAZY.

You'll notice this same tic-like behaviour displayed with people with BlackBerries and the holders that flip up. How many times does the phone go in and out of the holder when you stand next to these people in a line for coffee, at the bus stop or at the bank?

I can go hours without checking my phone. In fact, I enjoy the silence. I can't imagine how distracting or disruptive it must be to be so attached to a device that one jumps or reacts each time it blips or you have to look at it to just squelch the desire to check it.

Anyone who has texted me knows I can take hours, sometimes a whole day, to text back. I'm not ignoring you. I'm probably down at the soup kitchen or at the humane society brushing bunnies, or I'm writing a letter to my sponsor child in Africa. But I always answer... eventually.

15 comments:

Bicky said...

Actually, Twinkies are making a comeback in the US but, sadly, not Canada.

And yes, that behaviour drives me crazy too.

C.J. Smith said...

I'M NOT ALONE!!!

mark p said...

ill say this, technology has made some people stupid (antisocial) and totally dependant, and last weeks rogers outage showed this clearly, i heard stories of people yelling and swearing at rogers reps....

@GOTrainsit said...

I thought that was ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

They were never pulled from Canada. We have Vachoon who makes em here.

Anonymous said...

The yelling at reps is normal. Especially when your call is sent to India and you can't understand a Damn. Word. Oh, and by India, I mean Brampton.

Harith said...

That is very petty indeed, especially since you hyper focused on him and even timed it!

C.J. Smith said...

Sigh. I know

Anonymous said...

You need to get a hobby or something. You seriously let something like this get to you? Wow....

C.J. Smith said...

Did you miss all the sarcasm?
And yet, you still wrote the comment.
I called myself out on it.

Wow is right!!!

As for your hobby comment, aside from this OBVIOUS website that you're reading as a benefit to THIS hobby, what other hobby do you suggest?

This not enough for you?

FRED said...

Totally got the point you were making. Not sure how the other dude missed it.

Anonymous said...

Funny you mention this because yesterday I saw how distracting it can be.

Got off at Port Credit. While I was walking towards the drop off/pick up lanes, a girl in her 20s is walking across the front of that area while staring down at her phone typing. She stopped dead smack in front of the middle lane while continuing to type. Mind you, I don't know if there was some serious info that came across her screen that would warrant someone stopping suddenly like that. Anyway, a guy in a Civic creeps toward her expecting her to move, especially since she didn't have any earphones on, but nope. As he waited a few seconds, not five feet away, he finally had to honk his horn before she looked up and continued on her way.

Anonymous said...

Why are you even looking at him!? Honestly, just mind your own business. S*** this is one reason why I hate commuting with the masses of plebs and would rather drive.

C.J. Smith said...

^ You people sure are dumb.

Anonymous said...

I sat next to a woman who kept her Blackberry in a case with a magnetic closure. Between leaving Toronto Union and getting to Weston (Georgetown GO train line) she pulled it out and put it back 17 times. Yes I counted.