Being Responsible and Respecting Local Norms

I was just in a hotel lounge in Japan and was surprised to hear a man, seemed to be American, talking loudly on the telephone in a quiet area. I asked him to hang up because he was speaking loudly and disturbing me and other guests. At first he gave me some protest, and I told him to hang up, so he told his dad that he had to hang up and he promptly did so. After a few moments of looking cross at me and mouthing off, he then got verbally aggressive with me and then as I was leaving for an appointment downstairs, he dialed the phone again and started talking loudly again. I informed the manager of the issue on my way out, and they went to speak with the man to make sure he wasn’t bothering other guests.

Why is it that some people are so rude when visiting other places? There are times when you can ignore such foolish behavior, but after a certain point, and if it is clearly bothering other people, then people should speak up. I always will.

I also apologized to the manager of the hotel lounge for the incident, as I always take responsibility for situations, even if it is not seemingly initially my fault. That’s what it means to be the most responsible person in the room.