Second-hand smoke causes health problems; I've yet to hear about anyone developing cancer as a result of too many overheard conversations.
And to every special little snowflake who needs a soundproof bubble of personal space, I have a couple of solutions: buy a car, and live in Montana. You won't have to worry about public transit not meeting your exacting standards of quietude, and the population density will be low enough that you'll barely even have to deal with other people period.
If you do decide to stay in a place where you're forced to interact with the loud unwashed masses, you still have a few options. You can use your legs (those lower body protrusions are not, in fact, vestigial) to distance yourself from the person making noise. Should escape not be an option, I've found it helpful to develop a healthy sense of curiosity, and to surround myself with intelligent people. The stranger talking loudly suddenly doesn't deserve my attention when there are interesting things to think about and clever people to talk to. If you can't concentrate on anything more important than the trivial, transitory annoyance of someone else talking on a cell phone, that's your own fault.
And to every special little snowflake who needs a soundproof bubble of personal space, I have a couple of solutions: buy a car, and live in Montana. You won't have to worry about public transit not meeting your exacting standards of quietude, and the population density will be low enough that you'll barely even have to deal with other people period.
If you do decide to stay in a place where you're forced to interact with the loud unwashed masses, you still have a few options. You can use your legs (those lower body protrusions are not, in fact, vestigial) to distance yourself from the person making noise. Should escape not be an option, I've found it helpful to develop a healthy sense of curiosity, and to surround myself with intelligent people. The stranger talking loudly suddenly doesn't deserve my attention when there are interesting things to think about and clever people to talk to. If you can't concentrate on anything more important than the trivial, transitory annoyance of someone else talking on a cell phone, that's your own fault.