(NEXSTAR) – Few things are as universally reviled as a loud phone conversation infringing on your personal space. (Mosquitoes and taxes aside.) Doing it on loudspeaker is even more incendiary.
To me, having a phone conversation on speakerphone in public is puzzling. Doesn’t it make it harder to hear for everyone involved? Yet in the past month I’ve seen this behavior play out in a crowded airport terminal, the lobby of a boutique fitness studio and the grocery store pasta aisle. (Nowhere is safe!)
Aside from being odd, it’s rude, say etiquette experts. “Taking a call on a loudspeaker around others can unintentionally send the message that you’re not considering their presence or personal space,” said Myka Meier , founder of Beaumont Etiquette . “It can come across as inconsiderate or even self-centered, as though you assume everyone else should be subjected to your conversation.”
A default TV setting makes movies look cheap. Here’s how to turn it off
The fact that it’s a phone conversation — not just in-person chit-chat — could be part of the reason people find loud speakerphone calls so grating, speculated Ozlem Ayduk, professor and chair of the UC Berkeley psychology department. Because people have another choice (using headphones, or waiting until they get off the hypothetical bus), it seems like an intentional affront to other people’s peace and quiet.