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10 passengers we love to hate: Day 7 -- mobile phones and Bluetooth headsets
It is already day 7 of our 10 days of passengers we love to hate lineup. Today's annoying passenger is a relatively new phenomenon, and has been slowly going from bad to worse in recent years.
I'm of course talking about people who never learned basic phone etiquette.
As a geek, I should be more immune to these annoyances, but there is something about the loud Bluetooth headset wearing passenger that makes me want to punch them in the face.
For some unknown reason, as soon as some people clip their headset to their head, they turn into really annoying people. Even people who are normally quite quiet think the airport is the perfect place to make random loud calls to people they'd normally not talk to.
I have a theory about it - these people think that talking on the phone at the airport makes them look important. They see "real" business travelers around them, and have the urge to try and blend in and look impressive.
Well, I have news for you - if you walk through the airport wearing your headset and talking loud enough for the entire terminal to hear you - you are a dork.
The worst offenders are people who don't hang up and remove the damn headset when they are talking to someone else. Ever been behind one of these jerks? They are in line waiting for a ticket agent, and kill some time on the phone with their stock broker/money manager/bookie/therapist. Then when it is finally their turn, they think it is cool to continue their phone call and try to have the ticket agent help them.
I love technology, and I think the Bluetooth headset is a great tool, but unless you are expecting phone calls 24/7, just put the headset away. Really, you are not that important.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
benderillo Jun 9th 2009 12:09PM
Hey Guy, it's Ken Tarmac. I know!
Alex Jun 9th 2009 1:34PM
FYI - When you follow the link to the Passengers We Love to Hate Series, there's only days 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7 - what happened to days 3 & 4??
Scott Carmichael Jun 9th 2009 1:35PM
Well spotted, thanks! Fixed it.
Emland Jun 9th 2009 2:56PM
The reason most people speak too loudly when using the bluetooth is because that little headset doesn't relay their voice into the earpiece and they are overcompensating so they can hear themself speak.
Barbie Jun 14th 2009 12:14AM
As a former ticket agent I will admit that I became the agent from hell when people would walk up to my station carrying on a full blown conversation using their cell or Bluetooth enabled device. I would ALWAYS look right past them and call up the next passenger. I believe that if your conversation is that important, then you need to go ahead and deal with it and not hold up the other people in line behind you. I will say that I would usually give them a bit of warning by saying something like "oh, let me take care of this person while you finish up that important call". Yep, I'd do it all with my perfect customer service smile all while deep inside I'd want to fist pound that flashing blue thing down to there inner ear. Let me tell you when you have over 2K people to check in for flights that are departing within a 4 hour window, there is no time to deal with even one Bluetooth dork. NEXT PASSENGER PLEASE!
boredwell Aug 4th 2009 8:45PM
Airing one's dirty laundry, gossip and personal confessions have now become part of the public forum. Fortunately, there are earplugs -non bluetooths- out there. Invest in some.