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Ask Amy: ‘Can you hear me now?’ YES!

Amy Dickinson, Tribune Content Agency on

Dear Amy: What words of advice would you have for addressing someone who is in a public place having a very public, loud, and personal phone conversation on their Bluetooth earbuds (or cellphones in general)?

I'm completely baffled as to why someone does this, but I see it all the time – in grocery stores, business offices – you name it.

No one wants to hear it, and it personally makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable.

– KQ, in Kentucky

Dear KQ: I believe the reason people tend to yell into their cellphones while they are using earphones or earbuds is because they can’t actually hear themselves very well … because their ears are plugged by their earbuds.

People tend to quickly believe that they are isolated when engaged in a private cellphone conversation – even in a public space.

 

Landlines (remember those?) have microphones in the earpiece so speakers can hear themselves. Cellphones don’t seem to utilize this function as well.

The so-called “Lombard effect” describes the human tendency to raise our voice to match the noise around us, even when this is unnecessary.

Yes – this is annoying!

I’d like to augment this gripe by adding an additional annoyance: People who use FaceTime in public.

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