No talking on the jitney!!

[liotte]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 11:34am

I was on the Hampton Jitney bus yesterday, and I was yelled at to shut off my cell phone because "Phone calls are allowed only in an emergency, and then there is a 3 minute limit. Your phone should be off at all other times." I was rather pissed, as I paid for a ticket and was sitting on a bus (with traffic) for 4 hours, and wanted to be in communication with my friends. It wasn't like on planes where phones can interfere with the system, it was just a grumpy lady who had too many rules.

Anyone else have any experiences on the jitney?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 11:37am

They usually make that announcement on the jitney, do they not?

Were you on the fancy one with the leather captain's chairs? I love that one.

[liotte]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 11:40am

Nah, I didn't need fancy. I opted for the one that stopped on the Upper West Side...

But why, if you are talking quietly, must they have that rule?

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 11:40am

You spent 4 hours on a bus? Just how large is the Hamptons?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 11:42am

It's a long trip, Bluemoon, and with traffic it can get even longer...

Because, liotte, so many people DON'T talk quietly, so they have to have a rule that encompasses everyone. A lot of people try to work on that trip.

[liotte]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 11:44am

I understand that I guess, but it's still annoying :)

And Bluemoon, I'm all the way down at the end in Amagansett, so it took quite a while!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 11:45am

Amagansett is where I used to go - I worked for someone who had a house there. So pretty and quiet!

[liotte]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 11:47am

A little too quiet for my tastes. Good for a short time, but I like the city life much better!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 11:52am

I was only there a few days a week, and they were work days anyway, so spending them sitting by a pool was quite fine with me. And the nanny (who is now, 11 years later, still one of my best friends and I am the godmother to her son) and I used to go downstairs every night to play pool and ping-pong, drink Zimas, and eat salt and vinegar chips. Good times!!

[liotte]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:51pm

I think as an alternative to the "no talking" rule, they should offer earplugs to all those who want a quiet trip, and everyone else can be as loud as they want. (well, within reason, but they can talk on cell phones for sure!)

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:56pm

What was so important that you had to stay in contact with your friends?

[Corine2]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:56pm

I love the Jitney, but another option is the train. It is cheaper and faster and you can talk.
My only pet peeve with the Jitney, I took my Father's dog (a few years ago) on the Jitney and they charged me over $20 for Rags. How ridiculous is that! I sat next to Andre Bishop, which was such a thrill!

Updated On: 7/29/05 at 12:56 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:59pm

I think as an alternative to the "No talking" rule, anyone who talks on a cell phone would be dragged out by their hair and shot in full view of other passengers.

I've sadly never ridden the Jitney, but would LOVE for this rule to come to all commuter trains and busses everywhere. If I never had to listen to someone elses cell phone conversation I'd be a happy happy man.

Is it really just a decade or so ago that we somehow survived FOUR hour (and longer!) trips with NO PHONE?? How did we ever survive!?

[liotte]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 1:01pm

There is only a train at 3pm and at 11pm, so I had to take the bus to go in between those times. Normally I do take the train. And I was trying to finalize plans with people that I hadn't seen in at least a month since I was out of town, hence wanting to be on the phone.

[robbiej]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 1:24pm

I'm a BIG fan of the No Cell Phones on the Jitney. It was such a delight to ride in peace. And I used my three minutes wisely. I called my friend and said, 'The bus is almost there...leave now to pick me up.' Everything else was able to wait till I was there.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 1:29pm

This is why text messaging absolutely rocks. Get it. It's such a cheap addition to your monthly plan. I pay $5 a month and get unlimited text messaging (last month, I sent/received over 600 texts and didn't waste a minute of my airtime).

As for the rule, it's just a courtesy rule. I discover I'm often called on the buses in Manhattan and I whisper my way through the conversations because, while it's acceptable to be a loud-mouth B*tch when you're talking TO someone on the bus, it's not allowed to do so on a phone.

[liotte]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 1:32pm

I do have text messaging, and I did that with some people, but there are lots of others who don't have it that I needed/wanted to chat with!

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 1:34pm

I love txting, but sometimes with lovely Verizon it can take up to a day or 2 for txt msgs to be delivered.

[MojaniD]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 1:51pm

I'm all for that no talking on cell phones rule in enclosed areas. Riding home on the bus last night there was no stop chatter from literally everyone riding on the bus. It really was annoying and I was so tempted to yell, "SHUT UP!!"

I also encountered this kind of behavior at an internet cafe and finally told the person to take his conversation outside because he was really loud.

JoeKv99 - absolutely!!!
Updated On: 7/29/05 at 01:51 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 2:01pm

No cell phones on any public transportation. Ever. Use text if necessary. If you friends don't have text, well, pretend you live in the 80s when we survived without cell phones. Last weekend, Jarico and I were taking the El from Evanston to Chicago and SEVEN people were talking on their cell phones simultaneously in our car alone. All of them trying to talk over each other. The sound was deafening. I pointed and counted each one making it very clear that it was unacceptable and all but three of them ended their calls immediately. When we rode the Metra, there was an Italian guy who talked loudly on his cell for the entire 1.5 hour ride and it drove us crazy. Wednesday night on the sidewalk, this girl walked by us and literally screamed "I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT IT ANY MORE!!!" into her cell phone. I'm sorry, but I'm beginning to think cell phones should be outlawed altogether. We survived without them not too long ago and we can do it again. I own a cell phone and use maybe 30 minutes per month. It's not that tough.

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 2:43pm

Agreed tenfold Mister Matt.

[baddadnpa]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 2:54pm

Good for them. I think public cell phone use is getting way out of hand. It is going to bring down the civilization.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:13pm

Remember the time, before call waiting, when the phone would ring, and no one would run to answer it. It was more along the lines of, "You want to get that or should I?"

And the longest cord you had was about 4 feet in length?

And phone booths had those door you could close so you wouldn't have to talk over people?

Now, folks are too lazy to make their plans ahead of time, they just figure they'll call when they feel like it.

And, frankly, I think 1 in 20 calls are actually important and need to be made. Most calls are nothing more than folks babbling at each other about their plans for the evening.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:37pm

We might need a whole new thread about this: The most inappropriate Cell Phone call you have had to overhear.

I once heard a woman on the El going over a subordinant's Perfromance review. "Elaine, I think you really dropped the ball on the Henderson account. It was an embarassment to the whole office when Tyler Ashman had to call me and tell me that you were 45 minute late for a meeting....I really can't see an increase for you this year. You are making $47,000 and I think that is more than generous." HONEST TO GOD!

I can't tell if it was worse to overhear the details of a miscarriage on the Metra train on the way up the northshore one day.

I once interviewed for a job (with what later turned out to be a boss from hell) and she interviewed me on her cell phone WHILE SHE WAS DRIVING. Later I found out that a co-worker had been in the car with her and had listened to the entire call. Horrible!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:41pm

MohaniD, sounds like you and I ride the same bus!