No talking on the quiet carriage. No boom box on the subway. No conversation in the queue.
Is this capitalist isolation or is this western “decorum” or what? Why do I have to shake off the instinct to cringe when I hear someone playing music through their phone speakers? Why do I worry if anyone can hear my music through my headphones? What the fuck is this pathetic silence masquerading as a “culture”
feels like people are missing what you're trying to say kinda lol. Anyway I've been to Japan and public transit has the same sort of "keep to yourself" culture. in portland, people are very friendly, but you're a lot more likely to chat with a stranger on the street than on a bus. This makes me think it's a politeness thing to keep the public transit relatively distraction free, and I've noticed the same tendency in busy place all over - if you have no privacy, you pretend you can't see other people so they'll extend the same courtesy to you so we can all fake it for a bit. Similar vibe in apartment buildings with neighbors you can you hear/see - the polite thing seems to be mostly pretending each other doesn't exist. I mean idk, I'm autistic so I could be assuming the wrong things here.