Warning: Reading this thread will result in head shaking behaviour.

[johnny]

Woman fined for shushing mobile caller
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rough-call-at-the-movies/2006/02/16/1140037819272.html
February 16, 2006 - 11:58AM

An Australian woman charged with assault after trying to shush an American movie goer who was on a mobile phone has been fined $176.

Pauline Clayton was in Texas on holidays when she decided to catch Australian actor Heath Ledger's movie Brokeback Mountain last week.

Halfway through the picture, a woman film patron took a mobile phone call, and began talking.

Annoyed by the disruption, Ms Clayton, a former Sunshine Coast councillor, put her finger to her mouth, signalling to the woman to shush, then touched her on the shoulder twice.

The other woman then stood up and started shouting expletives at Ms Clayton before storming out of the cinema.

Police arrived and escorted Ms Clayton out of the theatre.

The maligned woman told officers Ms Clayton had been "invading her private space" and accused the Australian of assault.

Police subsequently arrested Ms Clayton and charged her with assault.

Ms Clayton was fined $176, the Seven Network reported today.

Seven showed vision of a smiling Ms Clayton leaving what appeared to be a court building but it was unclear whether she had paid the fine.

"If I don't have a traffic violation or touch anyone again in 90 days, there's no conviction," she said.

AAP

I think there should be more laws.

[shauno]

Hahahah what a bitch, thats fucked.
Bloody Americans.

[Ell]

THAT MAKES ME ANGRY.

i hope that doesnt happen over here.
its just totally backwards.
sombody having their personal space invaded while they are disrupting everyone else?
get fucked.
pardon the french, but really.

[Carlin]

Ahh cool.

Next time someone touches me I'm pressing charges:D

[demo man]

head shaking indeed.

some people mate, some people.

[Mo]

this was on tv 2 weeks ago

[Registered Nutcase]

hahaha, that made me laugh. what has this world come to?

[stinkytodamax]

That's just stupid.

Doesn't talking on the mobile phone interupt other peoples personal space???

I say fine everyone for being in everyones personal space!

[Atomizer]

Whose taking 'Freedom of Speech' a little bit too far? Hmmm?? :rolleyes:

What next?

[mpdowling]

i thought that it siad at the beggning of the move to turn of your mobile phones so you don't interupt other poeples viewing.... and she didn't turn it of there for intereupting therefore being in there personal space, therefore she was in the wrong.

this also calls for a "shaking head" emoticon (i love that word)

[dazz]

some people mate, some people.


^^^ read that a bit differently to it's intended meaning. He he he.
Well, I'm heading home to pack for Buller. I'll be sure not to tap anyone on the shoulder when I get there.

[Elbo]

i thought that it siad at the beggning of the move to turn of your mobile phones so you don't interupt other poeples viewing.... and she didn't turn it of there for intereupting therefore being in there personal space, therefore she was in the wrong.

this also calls for a "shaking head" emoticon (i love that word)
Exactly what i was thinking, obviously it mustn't apply to employees of the cinema..
Stupid litigation happy america, soon there will be just as many Courts as there are McDonalds there. Makes me so damn angry, (truelly shakes head)

[Ell]

Exactly what i was thinking, obviously it mustn't apply to employees of the cinema..
Stupid litigation happy america, soon there will be just as many Courts as there are McDonalds there. Makes me so damn angry, (truelly shakes head)


that explains all the lawyers!

[W2ttsy]

the aussie chick should be glad she didnt get tazored or something. just another reason why i dont want to visit america.

i reckon the aussie woman shoulda punched the mobile bitch square in the face during court to demonstrate to the jury what aussie assault is all about.
obviously american assault is different to aussie assault.

W2ttsy

[Ruckus_Lord]

Yeah, I heard about this is class the other day....Truly just backing up my thoughts on Americans. It truly has to be the most angering and saddest think you can do...I mean, Truly some people mustn't have anything important in their lives and just need to do something to gain the feeling of authority.:confused:

It amazes me what kind of a world we have come too live in...You can't do anything these days without being at the risk of getting sued.

[DEMONATION]

*shakes head*

[Pete J]

Would have been good just to hit her anyway.
If you are gonna get done for assault you might as well get your moneys worth!! :p

[RuDeZ]

i thought that it siad at the beggning of the move to turn of your mobile phones so you don't interupt other poeples viewing.... and she didn't turn it of there for intereupting therefore being in there personal space, therefore she was in the wrong.

this also calls for a "shaking head" emoticon (i love that word)

There is no emoticon for what i am feeling...

How stupidly rude and obnoxious can a person be. Not only does this perosn lack common sense she takes her ignorance out on an innocent bystander. I hate people like this... :(

[NCR600]

From what I heard, the Texas (San Antonio?) cops tried to talk the mobile phone bitch out of pressing charges, but she wouldn't be swayed. I think the judge let her off on the absolute minimum allowable sentance at law.

I have a similar story from when my girlfriend was having her BSc graduation.

We were sitting next to another family, when close to the end of the ceremony, the patriarch's (well we looked old enough to be a patriarch, 55-60ish) phone rang, and he proceeded to have a loud conversation into the bloody thing.

After a short while of tut-tutting from the people around us, it became clear he wasn't going to end the conversation anytime soon, and I leaned across my girl's mum and dad and said
"Show some f*cking respect and turn your phone off."

He said "mind your own business and shut up"

The gasp from the audience nearby was clearly audible in the hall.

Anyways, he got off the phone quicksmart when he realised that I (and several other people) were about to ram his phone up his arse!

I cornered him when the ceremony ended and told him that it was lucky for him that I was a polite and respectful sort of person, and I'd have hated to spoil his child's graduation, because if I wasn't I would have 'physically assaulted' his person then and there.

I suspect that the people around us would have sworn blind he lost his footing on the stairs!

[Rik]

Well, that just gives you more reason to either kick them in the head from behind, or at least grab the phone and lob it over yonder. We all feel such urges, as much as they'd be fun to live out unfortunately common sense gets in the way :o

[lotec]

If you are gonna get done for assault you might as well get your moneys worth!! :p
i like your way of thinking.

[nickz]

Truly just backing up my thoughts on Americans..
Your generalisations are a bit ignorant, you've got to be fair. My girlfriend is American, and she's quite normal, not litigation happy and a cool chick. Don't paint everyone with the same brush as it's not fair to the nice ones. Don't worry I know what you mean about "certain Americans", shit I've been there a few times and seen pathetic macho shit first hand, and heard many cases of litigation. All this litigation pisses off many, many Americans over there I can assure you, it's not like lots of them don't shake their head at it too. I watched 2 guys argue over a petrol pump and who got there first one time, almost ended in fists flying, very sad macho bullshit. It appears that you made your mind up about your opinion of all Americans, give people a chance to show you what they are about before you put the nice ones with the fuckwits like that woman. I hate to think of what people overseas thought about ALL Australians when that hideous footage from Cronulla was doing the rounds overseas.

ps: It's funny when people talk to my girlfriend, one of the first things they whinge about once they hear the accent, is the US Government and George W. It doesn't seem to matter that she didn't vote for him, and therefore is not associated with it ( in theory at least). But idiots assume any US citizen must have voted for the current US government and don't stop and think that maybe they share a similar opinion and outlook on life...with an American, how weird!

[NCR600]

Your generalisations are a bit ignorant, you've got to be fair. My girlfriend is American, and she's quite normal, not litigation happy and a cool chick. Don't paint everyone with the same brush as it's not fair to the nice ones. Don't worry I know what you mean about "certain Americans", shit I've been there a few times and seen pathetic macho shit first hand, and heard many cases of litigation. All this litigation pisses off many, many Americans over there I can assure you, it's not like lots of them don't shake their head at it too. I watched 2 guys argue over a petrol pump and who got there first one time, almost ended in fists flying, very sad macho bullshit. It appears that you made your mind up about your opinion of all Americans, give people a chance to show you what they are about before you put the nice ones with the fuckwits like that woman. I hate to think of what people overseas thought about ALL Australians when that hideous footage from Cronulla was doing the rounds overseas.

ps: It's funny when people talk to my girlfriend, one of the first things they whinge about once they hear the accent, is the US Government and George W. It doesn't seem to matter that she didn't vote for him, and therefore is not associated with it ( in theory at least). But idiots assume any US citizen must have voted for the current US government and don't stop and think that maybe they share a similar opinion and outlook on life...with an American, how weird!

I actually have a very good friend who is an American, and she's nowhere near the archetypal Australian view of Americans, and neither are any of her friends. Unfortunately the vast majority (according to her) of Americans are. The rich, well educated Americans have travelled, seen other countries and buck the stereotype, while the majority of shit-thick rednecks vote for George Dubya.

Kind of like Australia.

[nickz]

I know exactly what you're saying and the type of people you're talking about, it's a shame to generalise that's all. Australians have a lot of mis-directed negativity towards all Americans , when the issue is only with the dickheads, so people should treat it as a person by person thing and not as much of an "All Yanks do this..." mentality. I don't think people need to travel and be rich, they just need to be interested and open their eyes to get more of a wordly viewpoint on things and not just cop what Fox news pumps out, but many of these people are happy in their bubble unfortunately.

[October26]

I worked in a cinema when I was at Uni.
There was a number of occasions where I have politely asked people to turn their phone off as they were having conversations in the theatre.
When refusing to turn the phone off I simply took it off the person and told them they could have it after the movie and they could now kindly remain silent for the remainder of the movie or they would be removed (Physically).
Most people at this point became aware that the other hundred people in the cinema wouldn't mind if I had thrown them down the stairs.
I have removed people and had the manager of the cinema back me up over this.
The best thing was when patrons after the movie had thanked me for shutting the person up.

I wasn't just doing it for them I was doing it because it's rude and pisses me off.

[blt2ride]

I hadn't heard this story, but it seems unbelievable. The lady on the phone has some serious nerve. I really can’t imagine someone being that inconsiderate and then calling the cops on someone who told her to be quiet. I mean, if I was talking on my phone in a movie, I would expect someone to yell at me…

[wombat]

You know what's almost as bad? People sitting on other people's shoulders towards the front of a concert crowd, ay Rik?;)

[blt2ride]

Your generalisations are a bit ignorant, you've got to be fair. My girlfriend is American, and she's quite normal, not litigation happy and a cool chick. Don't paint everyone with the same brush as it's not fair to the nice ones. Don't worry I know what you mean about "certain Americans", shit I've been there a few times and seen pathetic macho shit first hand, and heard many cases of litigation. All this litigation pisses off many, many Americans over there I can assure you, it's not like lots of them don't shake their head at it too. I watched 2 guys argue over a petrol pump and who got there first one time, almost ended in fists flying, very sad macho bullshit. It appears that you made your mind up about your opinion of all Americans, give people a chance to show you what they are about before you put the nice ones with the fuckwits like that woman. I hate to think of what people overseas thought about ALL Australians when that hideous footage from Cronulla was doing the rounds overseas.

ps: It's funny when people talk to my girlfriend, one of the first things they whinge about once they hear the accent, is the US Government and George W. It doesn't seem to matter that she didn't vote for him, and therefore is not associated with it ( in theory at least). But idiots assume any US citizen must have voted for the current US government and don't stop and think that maybe they share a similar opinion and outlook on life...with an American, how weird!

Well put—I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’m American, and I don’t think that I’m some macho a-hole. I know that 99.9% of the world hates our president and his administration, but there is no need to take that hatred out on the entire country.

You have to look at it like this, George Bush’s approval rating is 39% favorable, which means that 61% of Americans don’t like George Bush and don’t approve of the job he is doing. It would be ridiculous to base your hatred for Americans because of our president. As I mentioned, 61% of Americans feel the same way you do about George Bush. Other than our president, what else don’t you like about America? If you’re saying that Americans are macho a-holes, well every country has macho a-holes.

This lady in the story is a nut, there is no doubt about that, but not all Americans are like her...as a matter of fact most Americans are NOT like her. There will be knuckleheads where ever you go. Don't judge an entire country on our mentally challenged president and some crazy lady who forgot to take her medication...

[tonka_202]

people fine people for the stupidest thing over in america, like this man was robbing a house and triped over the window and the window fell down on him, he had a few cuts he then sued the owners of the house for not haveing a secure window and got away with it, the house owners then had to pay the robber for compensation.


poor people, i supose it is also the judges fault

[blt2ride]

people fine people for the stupidest thing over in america, like this man was robbing a house and triped over the window and the window fell down on him, he had a few cuts he then sued the owners of the house for not haveing a secure window and got away with it, the house owners then had to pay the robber for compensation.


poor people, i supose it is also the judges fault

Unfortunately, we do live in a very litigious country—that I will say. However, laws have been changed in recent years to eliminate some frivolous lawsuits. A criminal can no longer sue a homeowner if they are injured in the process of burglarizing their home. It hasn’t happened as much as people think, but it has happen—namely from criminals being bitten by dogs.

Personally, I think our litigious society is due to insurance companies. We have pretty crooked insurance companies in America. When a burglar sued a homeowner for injuries suffered during a home burglary, he was actually suing the homeowner’s insurance company.

I must point out that not all Americans are sue crazy; however, there are a decent amount of people who do, and will, sue people for just about anything. In addition to American insurance companies, we also have way, and I mean way, too many lawyers.

Out of curiosity, how common are personal injury cases in Australia?

[Wattsy]

Only in america. God dam thats funny, "invading my private space".

[tonka_202]

Unfortunately, we do live in a very litigious country—that I will say. However, laws have been changed in recent years to eliminate some frivolous lawsuits. A criminal can no longer sue a homeowner if they are injured in the process of burglarizing their home. It hasn’t happened as much as people think, but it has happen—namely from criminals being bitten by dogs.

Personally, I think our litigious society is due to insurance companies. We have pretty crooked insurance companies in America. When a burglar sued a homeowner for injuries suffered during a home burglary, he was actually suing the homeowner’s insurance company.

I must point out that not all Americans are sue crazy; however, there are a decent amount of people who do, and will, sue people for just about anything. In addition to American insurance companies, we also have way, and I mean way, too many lawyers.

Out of curiosity, how common are personal injury cases in Australia?



What, so are you agreeing or disagreeing with me?:confused: :confused:

[Binaural]

......
Out of curiosity, how common are personal injury cases in Australia?

I can't easily find numbers but I recall that a few years ago (before legislation was introduced to make frivolous suits harder) we were well on the way to world second place behind the US in numbers of suits. No numbers or research behind that, and I don't know how things stand now but we still shouldn't sneer too much at America because we think it can never happen to us.

[blt2ride]

What, so are you agreeing or disagreeing with me?:confused: :confused:

I agree to a certain extend; however, you cannot say that frivolous lawsuits are isolated to America. Anytime you have a free country and free court-system, people will always attempt to take advantage of the system—no matter what part of the world you live in.

As for the guy who successfully sued a homeowner he was attempting to burglarized, I’m not too sure why, or even if, he did win his lawsuit. Although, you have to look at it like this, the guy is a crook! I would be surprised if a scumbag like him didn’t try to sue.