The Decline of Public Etiquette in the Age of Speakerphones and Misophonia

<p>I was stuck in the most annoying waiting room in history.</p> <p>There was a flat screen TV in the corner, mounted at a subtle crooked angle. Its cords dangled below like dead snakes. It was replaying a two minute corporate loop about their great dentistry and caring&nbsp;<em>deeply</em>&nbsp;about their customers. But that wasn&rsquo;t my big problem.</p> <p>A silver-haired man came in wearing a bright, multi-colored Hawaiian shirt. He had two buttons undone, teasing his hairy chest outwards for any takers.</p> <p>We were the only two customers. My problem began when he sat down a few seats over and started playing mobile casino games on speakerphone at near-max volume. It gave this loud &ldquo;bling!&rdquo; every 10&ndash;30 seconds. The volume levels varied, adding to the annoyance.</p> <p>My appointment was running late and the TV was on its 12th loop of the same clip. I have this bad habit of being too nice, avoiding conflict and confrontation, until it builds up and I unload. I tried to just ignore the noise and smile and go to my happy thoughts.</p> <p>But it just continued.<em>&nbsp;Bling. Bling. Bling-bling-bling-bling-bling!&nbsp;</em>It stopped. I thought it was over. Then I heard the clicking wheel from Wheel of Fortune echoing across the waiting room. It was madness.</p> <p>&ldquo;Happy thoughts. Go to a warm, sunny place, Sean,&rdquo; I thought.</p> <p>It didn&rsquo;t work. I turned to the guy and kindly, but assertively said, &ldquo;Would you mind turning down the phone? It&rsquo;s not very nice to play that on speakerphone.&rdquo;</p> <p><a href="https://seanjkernan.medium.com/the-decline-of-public-etiquette-in-the-age-of-speakerphones-and-misophonia-315a87010be"><strong>Visit Now</strong></a></p>