Living in a big city, you encounter all sorts of people displaying all sorts of behavior of which you may or may not approve. Every day on my commute, I see breaches of the social contract. People forcing their way onto the train before others have de-boarded, dudes taking up way too much room because of the way they’re sitting, and the worst of all: people who play music (or TikTok) or whatever out loud on their phones. I can’t quite put my finger on why it’s one of the most annoying sounds in the world, but it is. And there’s no excuse for it. 

I once, in my folly, posted on Reddit to genuinely ask people why they did this. I wasn’t looking for hate but for answers. My post quickly got taken down for trying to incite outrage. I remain answerless. This Twitter thread at least gave me proof that my people are out there.