Quiet please!
As a telephone answering service we positively promote the use of vocal communication. The old BT advert used to encourage us…‘Its good to talk’ – and we totally agree! But there seems to be a dark force on our public transport systems that is trying to shut us all up.
If you travel by train you will have undoubtedly experienced them – the Quiet Zone Police. An army of people descend upon Great Western & Virgin trains on a daily basis and head straight for the quiet carriage to partake in their assault on anyone that dares to mutter a word or emit sounds of any description.
Returning from London last week I encountered one of these cruel monsters. As soon as I sat in my seat I could see her glaring at me over the top of her headrest. Seeing that the bodily movement of removing my coat and the ear-splitting sound of rustling cotton had alerted her I found myself saying “sorry…”, sorry about what I’m not quite sure.
What I didn’t expect was the full scale attack when I opened my laptop and began typing some notes up. “DO YOU KNOW THIS IS A QUIET CARRIAGE!?!?!” she bellowed across the carriage causing the passenger in front of her to take a bite out of his coffee cup. Unaware, that she was directing her vitriol at me I carried on tapping away oblivious of the volcano that was about to erupt. “DO YOU MIND PLEASE!!!!!” she exploded, standing up now and spinning around to glare at me like an extra from Doctor Who. Unfortunately, I did the worse possible thing. I started to chuckle. Not directly at the woman but at the chap that was sat opposite me wagging a finger at me and smiling…
I could go on and tell you about the infamous Battle of Swindon on the 19.45 from Paddington but it gets a bit messy and is not suitable for a business blog. However, after reviewing the rules on Quiet Zones from the train providers I couldn’t find any mention on the use of laptops apart from that they should be set to ‘silent’. Does that include typing?
If so then Virgin may want to rethink this advertising campaign…
by Steve West
Marketing & Business Development Manager
Click here to watch awful Virgin Train advert with TYPING in the quiet carriage!!!
