Another interesting poster from Tokyo metro. The text says not to make calls inside the train, but the image goes further by saying why you shouldn't. It describes that in a confined space, people are forced to hear other people's conversation and can be irritating.
Some people say it is annoying because you only hear one side of the conversation. But I doubt if that is the case? I lived in Finland for five years and during the time, I traveled back to Japan once or twice a year. Every time I took trains in Japan, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information I was forced to digest. High school girls talked about boy bands; boys talked about characters that appeared in computer games. So perhaps it is a matter of whether you share a same amount of knowledge, which is naturally a reflection of your interest, to the topic of discussion?
The most recent conversation I could not stand inside the train was by three young businessmen.
A: "I didn't know what is Lotus 1-2-3, what kind of name is that? Is that a joke?"
B & C: (laugh)
A: "I didn't know Excel either, I thought it's a name of a country."
Call me short-tempered. I don't know if you will be annoyed with this conversation, at least I was. Firstly, because I felt so old for knowing Lotus software, and second, because I am a Excel geek. But the final blow was his ignorance about the geography. I do hope he was simply joking in front of his close colleagues. From where I stood, I didn't hear the second laugh coming.
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