I asked a lady in line at the post office what language she was speaking

[Skittles]

she was behind me in line yakking on her cell phone which normally would annoy me but her language intrigued me. She looked like she could have been either Latina or Middle Eastern. I thought the language sounded very interesting, pretty, but I could not identify it........when I was about to get called to the counter I couldn't help myself, I asked her, "May I ask what language you are speaking?" It was Kurdish - she said she was from northern Iraq - which was where my package was going to a soldier. I told her the language sounded cool and she smiled and said THANKS and apparently relayed the info to the person to whom she was speaking. :)

[Maestro]

1. Still don't know why people insist on yakking on a cell phone

while in line but I am glad that this situation turned out well. Languages can be very interesting. They intrigue me.

[Connonym]

2. with all due respect, what's the difference between that and talking to someone else present?

I've never really understood why this bothers people. I can see it's annoying if they talk extra loud to be heard but if they're talking in a normal conversational tone how is it any more annoying than if they're speaking to someone they're physically with?

[NewJeffCT]

4. I don't know why, either

It's probably because people are paying attention to the phone instead of to them.

A lot of people would really hate it if they traveled outside of the country - cellphones are even more ubiquitous in Europe & Asia.

[Patiod]

5. Because they're usually yakking when everyone else is quiet

so all you can hear is their conversation (and they usually DO talk louder than normal conversational tone). In a restaurant or bar or shop, conversation is the norm. On early morning trains or in line at the post office, people don't tend to talk that much, do the lone yakker stands out.

What's funny is when someone on a cell phone gets in an elevator where people are already having a conversation, and looks visibly annoyed that anyone would be interrupting his call (where if he got in the elevator with a colleague, both his conversation and the one already going on in the elevator could both go on at once).

My S.O. theorizes that a lot of people are just like birds, using their inane cell phone conversations to broadcast "I'm here! I'm here!"

[Maestro]

7. In my exeperience, when two people are having a normal

conversation, the two people respect the personal space of each other and other people in a line for example keeping the tone lower and such, but with cell phones people tend to speak more loudly and especially when in line with others will just blab right next to me as if I weren't even there. It is extremely annoying. Now, if someone is just walking past me in a store it doesn't bother me really, but I still ask myself if it is really that important to talk to someone on the phone while shopping unless it is about the shoppping I suppose. :shrug: I'm just not a phone person. :)

[Skittles]

11. that is EXACTLY the difference

people on cell phones not only do not repect personal space but they do not use normal volume either. I think the way I look at it is like this: if someone was on a pay phone it would be totally unacceptable for me to stand a foot behind them and listen to their conversation. But when I am standing in line somewhere, people on cell phones think it is perfectly acceptable to put me in this position. It is IGNORANT, RUDE and SELFISH.

[Maestro]

15. Agreed!

:hi:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. It makes it harder to eavesdrop on the conversation.

:shrug:

[DS1]

9. I think it's partly because we're 'trained' to pay attention to phone calls

because we're so used to missing words here and there. I have a great deal of difficulty with office speakerphones, if I ran a company there would be a single speakerphone in a locked conference room and that's it.

People who have those radio-style conversations, where the person on the other end is coming through the main non-ear speaker of a cellphone deserve to be punched in the face.

[Ellen Forradalom]

3. I love trying to identify languages too

I had a linguist friend who had the opposite situation once--understanding a language she couldn't identify. It turned out to be Serbo-Croatian, and she could understand it because she was fluent in several other Slavic languages.

Incidentally, is the package to a soldier you know personally, or are you doing this as part of an organized care-package effort? In any case, thanks for doing such a kind thing.

[SoxFan]

6. Serbo-Croatian

It's funny you mention Serbo-Croatian. I actually live in one of the few places where you hear it spoken (in its Bosnian dialect) on the streets. Manchester has a large Bosnian refugee community, so you now hear Bosnian S-C spoken in the community along with English, Spanish, Greek, and French in both its Haitian and Quebec variants.

[Skittles]

10. the package is through a website

www.anysoldier.com

This package was shoes and toys for local Iraqi children

[darkstar]

13. You do kick ass.

:toast: :bounce: :toast: :bounce: :toast: :bounce: :toast:

[Skittles]

14. I've sent over 1200 Texas postcards to Iraq and Afghanistan too

yes INDEED

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Shoulda just given her the package and told her to take it with her.

:rofl:

Anyway.... I love the sound of a lot of those middle-eastern languages. Beautiful stuff!

I'm glad you asked her, and not in a Republican way. Because I could just see what your post would look like on free republic. :scared: