Talking on the phone in line

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I was waiting in line at Starbucks and got a call, I answered it and noticed a couple next to me glaring at me, and the man had his arms crossed like he was judging me. Is this rude, to answer a call while in line if I am not to the front yet?

I don't think it's rude. Even if some people do find it annoying, it's so benign that IMO there's no reason to avoid doing it.

No, wherever I go people are talking on their phones, it's normal. Those people had no reason to judge you whatsoever. Usually when I'm on the phone in public people stare at me with scowling faces, not because they don't want me to be on my phone but because they are judging the way I talk or something... even though I don't have any speech impediments or any abnormalities in the way I talk. But judge they do.

Agree with each of the above.

I dont get it.

They, like you, are standing in line waiting for something. Its down time. So why not use the time to chat on the phone?

If you were already at the counter and were about to engage with the barista, and stopped to chat on the phone then that would be different. Then you WOULD be holding things up. But apparently you were in the middle of the line- in front of them- but still not holding things up.

Was the couple elderly? Sometimes elderly people despise young people who use their phones. If they weren't elderly then they had no reason to respond like that, because it's perfectly socially acceptable to talk on your phone.

For me it depends on how loud the person is. But even if they're speaking at a reasonable volume, it still gets irritating. One time while in line at Walmart there was some guy behind me bellowing away on his phone. I finally turned around and told him "you're giving me a splitting headache". He acted like I was going psyco on him, but at least he ended the call.

Here's a comedy clip about it.

I have misophonia and people's voices can get on my nerves, especially if I'm hearing only one side of an animated or enthusiastic phone conversation. That's not to say you did anything wrong. You're allowed to answer calls. For me I just hope people speak quietly and without a lot of laughing or silliness. I doubt you did any of that, though.