What on Earth is ‘bare beating’?
No, it doesn’t involve klapping a bear, even if Namibia had bears.
Nor is it a typo in ‘breast beating’ – about that heated debate on women breast-feeding in public.
No, ‘bare beating’ means bare, as in kaal – stripped, specifically of headphones – when playing music, videos, or taking calls in public.
It’s the joy of blasting audio from your mobile speakers as loud as you fancy, with zero regard for those sharing your post code, because you’re so self-involved you have no care in the world about their ears.
Bare beating is the hallmark of someone either too stingy to buy earphones or someone who simply loves terrorising others with their sounds. If you can afford data to stream music or video on your phone, surely you can afford to buy some N$90 headphones from a corner shop.
Bare beating has a dash of the sadist too – knowing your audience is trapped in a taxi, a lift, a doctor’s waiting room, even the office, forced to endure your choices.
The term is officially ‘in the wild’ now. Wiktionary defines this as the practice of playing audio from a mobile device on public transport without headphones, specifically to the annoyance of fellow passengers. It’s basically the digital equivalent of *manspreading.
Most of the mannered world considers this the height of rudeness, and some countries have actually made ‘shush’ a law. Some even have ‘quiet carriages’ on trains, where the atmosphere is meant to be library quiet.
Witty internet users have even dubbed this loud phone behaviour ‘Main Character Syndrome’, where the noise makers assume everyone else is just an extra in the movie of their life. They assume everybody around them is dying to hear their personal choice in music or video.
Dealing with ‘bare beaters’ is awkward because many aren’t being aspris or onbeskof – they’re just totally unaware that sound waves actually travel.
But here are some tips:
* The curiosity play: Instead of barking, try: “That sounds fascinating, what are you watching?” It’s a polite way of saying “I can hear every word”.
* The nudge: Sometimes a gentle reminder does the trick. “I’m struggling to hear my clients, would you mind using ear buds?”
* Pick your battles: If it’s a two-minute bus ride, breathe through it. Life is too short for a shouting match over a 15-second reel.
* Safety first: If they look like they’re itching to klap you, or win an argument, just move.
* Manspreading, according to Wikipedia, refers to the practice of some men sitting in public transport with legs wide apart, thereby covering more than one seat. – Frau Rottenmaier
