The Sheer Blast Power of the Ringtone

I found myself recently sitting in the office, listening to a podcast while I edited photos for a future promotion. This was lovely.

Not so lovely was the sound of a colleague's ringtone, sounding again and again (and again).

Ringtones are cherishably odd in Bangladesh, and I have no objection to them most of the time. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen conservative Muslims slowly fish out phones trilling with beepy renditions of 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' or the like, which is of course very amusing and benign. Weirdness like that is one of the reasons I like Bangladesh.

Similarly, the common Bangladeshi habit of taking your phone out of your pocket and poring over the number on the screen for 30 seconds or so before answering is understandable, given that many Bangla phone users can't read English and so have to identify each caller by comparing the (European alphabet) numbers on screen with the list of numbers they have memorised for their nearest and dearest and vaguest associates. Understandable. I mean, I'm saying I can go along with that, even if the sound is so loud that their faces seem to distort at the edges as they peer into the sheer blast power of their ringtone. Perhaps this north-face-of-the-Eiger experience is why it's normal to leave your mobile phone at your desk in Bangladesh.

However. It is in this context that I humbly submit the following. A ring tone which is loud enough to drown out in-ear headphones from the other side of the office is too bloody loud.

I SAID, TOO LOUD!

Oh, balls...hang on, I'll write it down for you....