Bumpkins

[sr71plt]

When did Americans decide it was all right to yap yap (including loud monologues on cell phones about their colonoscopy test results) and move around the stadium during play during--and bring fussy babies to--tennis tournaments? (And to live concerts--other than Rock--and theatrical performances, for that matter).

I'm at the Legg Mason tennis tournament in D.C., and I might as well have saved the $500 and watched it on the tennis channel at home.

 

[michchick98]

When did Americans decide it was all right to yap yap (including loud monologues on cell phones about their colonoscopy test results) and move around the stadium during play during--and bring fussy babies to--tennis tournaments? (And to live concerts--other than Rock--and theatrical performances, for that matter).

I'm at the Legg Mason tennis tournament in D.C., and I might as well have saved the $500 and watched it on the tennis channel at home.

Right about the same time they decided it was okay to allow cellphones in certain areas in hospitals.

With my recent stay, I thankfully had a private room, but the person in the next room decided he was going to be up half the night, on the phone (actually the two-way) with his wife/girlfriend/whoever and talk, in detail, about the surgery he'd just had. Something with his testicles....more than I ever wanted to know about a complete stranger. The nurses even closed his door and he could still be heard (and my door was closed also).

Then of course, he got even louder when they finally told him he had to lower his voice and turn off the two-way speaker to make the conversation private.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

It began with Jack Bailey and QUEEN FOR A DAY. That is, go on teevee, whine about your sad life, and win a case of dog food. It caught on!

 

[al_Ussa]

Right about the same time they decided it was okay to allow cellphones in certain areas in hospitals.

And on planes, in cars, just about everywhere else actually. Everyone likes to walk around thinking that they and their conversations are SO important. Those damned walkie-talkie phones are especially annoying. I honestly think people should be pried away from their cellphones at least a couple hours a day... if only because it deflates their sense of worth.

 

[jomar]

I know what you mean. Thoughtless and rude.

 

[michchick98]

And on planes, in cars, just about everywhere else actually. Everyone likes to walk around thinking that they and their conversations are SO important. Those damned walkie-talkie phones are especially annoying. I honestly think people should be pried away from their cellphones at least a couple hours a day... if only because it deflates their sense of worth.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think anyone is so damned important that they need those fancy cellphones with all the gadgets and bells and whistles.

Aren't people distracted enough, especially when driving? A new law just went into effect on July 1st here in Michigan: No texting while driving. Okay, that's great, but what about talking on the phone while driving? Sure, I have a cellphone and I do use it while driving, but rarely if ever, do I use it without my bluetooth headset. Even then, I limit my use.

I think more states need more laws about cellphone use while driving. I get so damned annoyed with drivers who are clearly not paying attention to the road, only to see they're talking on the phone without a hands-free device.

More and more places I walk into around the city I live in have signs on the door "please end all cellphone conversations before entering" and I applaud those businesses. I think every place should be like that or have tougher restrictions.And those damned walkie-talkie or click to talk phones? Yeah, there should be restrictions on that too. I don't want to listen to someone else's conversation and IMO, no one is that damned important.

While I liked the fact that when I was in the hospital, I could use my cellphone (to save having to charge calls to my credit card from the phone in my room) I still think stronger restrictions need to be in place.

 

[3113]

When did Americans decide it was all right to yap yap (including loud monologues on cell phones about their colonoscopy test results) and move around the stadium during play during--and bring fussy babies to--tennis tournaments? (And to live concerts--other than Rock--and theatrical performances, for that matter).

Sorry to hear about such people ruining your tennis tournament. The cellphone chatting folk bug me, but really, the babies and kids bug me more because not only do the parents make others miserable with squalling children, but the parents have made the kids miserable. Parents bring them to movies that aren't age appropriate for them (loud ones that hurt small ears), to, as you say, tennis tournies and such where they'll be literally bored to tears.

I remember being at Shakespeare in the park--Henry V--and people brought kids. WHY? Henry V has these long speeches and crazy conversations. It doesn't have fairies or music or magic. No surprise, the kids were running up and down and around during the entire play, going out of their minds with boredom and often whining as much to the parents, loudly.

Just because it's at a park, people, doesn't mean you should bring the kids! Get a friggin' babysitter!

 

[Stella_Omega]

I took my first baby everywhere at first-- but she woke up and started dancing and babbling in a cinema and that was all she wrote on that one. Unless it was explicitly stated that the baby was welcome, she didn't come along.Problem was-- I missed a lot of grown-up times because there were no babysitters to be had. No Henry V for me-- nor anything else that required careful attention for more that fifteen minutes at a time.

By the time I had my second, though, I was somewhere where there were trustworthy babysitters. Whew!

 

[3113]

Problem was-- I missed a lot of grown-up times because there were no babysitters to be had. No Henry V for me-- nor anything else that required careful attention for more that fifteen minutes at a time.

I thank you for being a considerate parent to others and to your kids, who you knew wouldn't have been happy at Henry V. There was once a "Dr. Suess" style Midsummer Night's dream I went to, and I was perfectly okay with kids being there--in fact I expected them as it involved a lot of puppets and crazy costumes and clowning. I didn't mind the laughs and shrieks as none of them were from bored kids. The production was amazingly well done (worked! Who'd've thought?) and kept both kids and adults entertained.

I do sympathize with your plight and those of other parents...to a point

It's too bad the days of drive-in movies are gone. Used to be parents would toss their kids in the back of the station wagon and go see movies at the drive-in where their kids wouldn't disturb anyone but them as they all hung out in the car. Now, of course, they do have some theaters that offer afternoon movies for moms and babies so moms can watch the movie and only disturb each other with the infants/toddlers. So there are options for parents if they're willing to look for 'em.

 

[djserani]

I am SOOOOO glad my kids are older. When my oldest was young, we used to take her with us to movies, but she was a freak of nature. She didn't cry at ALL, not even at loud noises (and, surprisingly, she had normal hearing!), and so we were lucky. The second one, things were a little tougher, but not too bad.

By the time my third one came along, the oldest was old enough to babysit. Yay!

 

[oggbashan]

Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Americans visiting the UK were easily identified because they talked louder and in inappropriate places such as a church or cathedral.

By the late 1950s and early 1960s identifying an American wasn't so easy. We ALL talked louder and visiting Americans were more used to crowded public places.

Now? The behaviour complained about in the first post isn't confined to Americans. It seems almost universal as people seem to have become more self-centred and frankly, selfish. They don't think it is necessary to consider anyone but themselves when talking on their mobile phones. If driving, playing their music, whatever genre it is, so loudly that passers-by can't continue a conversation on a pavement across the road is just rude.

While I applaud the desire to parents to expose their children to culture, the movement has gone too far. Babies and toddlers should not be taken to see a play or other entertainment aimed at adults or teenagers. When a crying baby has to be taken out of a theatre production of a detective play, my response is "What were the parents thinking when they decided to take a baby there?".

Og

 

[sr71plt]

Now? The behaviour complained about in the first post isn't confined to Americans.

I'm aware of that OG--I'm loved most of my life outside the United States. This means that I'm more aware of the cultural differences than most.

And, speaking of tennis, I've been to both the Australian Open (getting to be almost like going to an Argentine football match) and Wimbledon (which is still as knowledgable of tennis etiquette as the American venues used to be).

And I'll have to disagree with you on the Americans as chatterboxes in cathedrals and such in past years (although I recognize this as a stereotype). Having made observations all over the world for decades, I found Americans more like the British (reticent) than the Latins and Southeast Asians (chatterboxes).

And added gripe on sports events--why is it so hard to sit in the seat you paid for at least through the first half of an event? You know chances are good the seat owner's going to show up.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I'm aware of that OG--I'm loved most of my life outside the United States. This means that I'm more aware of the cultural differences than most.

And, speaking of tennis, I've been to both the Australian Open (getting to be almost like going to an Argentine football match) and Wimbledon (which is still as knowledgable of tennis etiquette as the American venues used to be).

And I'll have to disagree with you on the Americans as chatterboxes in cathedrals and such in past years (although I recognize this as a stereotype). Having made observations all over the world for decades, I found Americans more like the British (reticent) than the Latins and Southeast Asians (chatterboxes).

And added gripe on sports events--why is it so hard to sit in the seat you paid for at least through the first half of an event? You know chances are good the seat owner's going to show up.

Ah, but if the owner doesn't show up, then you've got a better seat. And even if they do show, you've had a better seat for a while. The potential reward is good enough to make the slim odds worth it. Our culture stopped making a fuss about those kinds of bad manners back in the eighties, IMO.

 

[3113]

Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Americans visiting the UK were easily identified because they talked louder and in inappropriate places such as a church or cathedral.

But most Americans at that time had never traveled outside of the U.S. Some had never traveled outside their own state or city or town. They had no understanding of other cultures. I think a lot of the loud an inappropriate chatter related to ignorance, as well as a mix of amazement, nervousness and maybe even discomfort at being in a strange world.

As average Americans became more connected to the world and understanding of other cultures, they also (I would hope) became less boorish. But then, the boorish will, like the poor, always be among us.

 

[ishtat]

But most Americans at that time had never traveled outside of the U.S. Some had never traveled outside their own state or city or town. They had no understanding of other cultures. I think a lot of the loud an inappropriate chatter related to ignorance, as well as a mix of amazement, nervousness and maybe even discomfort at being in a strange world.

As average Americans became more connected to the world and understanding of other cultures, they also (I would hope) became less boorish. But then, the boorish will, like the poor, always be among us.

I think Og's comment was a residual effect from the British wartime experience of having many young American soldiers who were commonly labelled as "overpaid, oversexed and over here"

All cultures notice differences from their own cultural norms and those with the differences are always found wanting, for examples Germans are arrogant, Italians are mamma's boys, Australians are drunks, Americans parochial , the Japanese are racists, British are hypocrites and the French take a shower once a month(maybe).

Then you visit them in their own countries and discover how much they have all improved!

 

[Dragonlipz]

When did Americans decide it was all right to yap yap (including loud monologues on cell phones about their colonoscopy test results) and move around the stadium during play during--and bring fussy babies to--tennis tournaments? (And to live concerts--other than Rock--and theatrical performances, for that matter).

I'm at the Legg Mason tennis tournament in D.C., and I might as well have saved the $500 and watched it on the tennis channel at home.

There ya go..................

 

[squarejohn]

It began with Jack Bailey and QUEEN FOR A DAY. That is, go on teevee, whine about your sad life, and win a case of dog food. It caught on!

Queen For a Day goes a long way back. But you're right, It caught on.