A train passenger was left furious at another person on their carriage who was ‘insisting on conversation’ and people online have offered tips on how to avoid unwanted chatter
A train passenger vented his fury online after he was stuck with someone “insisting on conversation” during his journey.
They attempted to engage in conversation despite the fact the disgruntled Reddit user had his headphones on, leaving him feeling “inclined” to take them off.
Taking to the r/britishproblems subreddit, he wrote: “I’ve got my overear headphones on and everything… Which makes it worse because I feel inclined to take them off and say ‘you what mate?’ Anytime he tries.” Plenty of advice followed in the comments section, with some suggestions more suitable than others.
One user suggested: “Just get up as if it’s your stop when the train gets to a station and go sit in another part of the train.” To which another user added: “But make sure they can see that you just moved seats.”
Others considered just ignoring the man entirely and refusing to engage with any chatter on the train. “F**k that. Pretend they had a headset on and was talking on the phone. Just ignore them, just as they ignored your headset. It’s the British thing to do.”
But some users were not as understanding and suggested the original poster had chosen to engage in conversation. One wrote: “You are choosing to reinforce his behaviour. Take responsibility for that.” Another claimed it was the original poster’s fault for “making eye contact” in the first place.
Whoever was at fault mattered not one bit to another user who suggested he “hold their nerve” and refuse to engage with conversation entirely. “You have to hold your nerve,” they wrote. “Do not respond. Do not look up. Do not make eye contact.”
Others chimed in with tricks they use for getting out of the same scenario, with one writing: “I just do my best blank expression and start speaking German to them which generally works pretty well.” However, another explained they once tried this and it “horrendously awkwardly backfired” when it “turned out the guy was fluent in German”.
