Eavesdropping

Have you experienced being in a passenger van and someone is talking to the phone as if he/she is the only person inside? You will then be hounded by the personal stuff they leave behind the highways. There are those who quarrel and scold someone to the point that cursing the other seem to be the sound track of the trip. Some would seem to instruct a simpleton on how to open the cabinet using the key he left on top of the fridge.

But then I guess the most annoying thing is the time when the driver himself is the one taking the call and long discussions will happen. You often hear the driver informing the other end that he is driving but the caller would then insist on talking over the mobile phone. You will then look at the road and thought about an impending accident to occur. You’d like to yell at the driver yet it might be the cause of the accident!

There was one time when I had a seatmate in a jam-packed PUV who giggled a lot while whispering sweet nothings to her lover. I could sense that that the woman was married due to her built and the ring on her finger. Yet I could sense that she was not talking to her husband. I may be prejudicial but the things she said were not meant to be spoken to a husband. I might sound as an eavesdropper but I can’t help it! I am an auditory person and words seem to play a lot of stuff in my mind. My imagination is strong and inference is a competency I was able to master.

One study is claiming that persons who take lots of calls have some important relations that they could not attempt to disconnect themselves to the significant others. They might be close friends or others might have romantic ties. The validity of the study is still in question but common sense allows us to nod on the theory. Could the things to be discussed wait in the proper time and proper place?

Of course, there are important ones that you need to take. What if it comes from your boss and there are pressing matters that you need to address? But these are isolated cases and the etiquette of answering phone calls should be practiced most of the time if not all the time. I was even doing it one time when a personnel from the Central Office of our department called me up for an important matter in an area when signal is at its weakest. I had to raise my voice to be heard!

But then, there are those who take their calls with loudspeakers discussing on their business and how to bury the dead rat found in the bedroom. These times make you scream inside the passenger van. It is a public space and one must act and behave well. This is the reason why we study so for us to attain socially-accepted behaviors.

One time, I guffawed when I also chanced upon one of these these call-takers and unexpectedly, a reasonable woman shouted at the back : SHUT UP! My laughter sounded sick and uncalled for. Yet, I felt mirth when the thing that I like to do long before was realized.