Everyone must admit that they have been listening to other people’s conversations, with curiosity, even though it’s wrong!
The definitely best places for eavesdropping are the public transports, cafes and anywhere where it is relatively quiet.. until somebody starts speaking in their phone!

London is a great place for eavesdropping. Gossip is everywhere. The newspapers are based on gossips, facebook and twitter are made for gossiping and the public transportation system is used by millions of people every day. Besides the English people, they speak load.

How annoying it is to listen to somebody talking without wanting?

When I was living in London the first time, I was 18 years old and away from home the first time by myself. All the girls living in my house were same nationality and we went out together a lot. In those times there was no drinking ban on public transportation so on our way to club, we used to have a few drinks with us. After all, it might take an hour to reach the wanted place, even by underground.
One Saturday night we were caught up talking our language in the Tube and playing a game of spotting something disturbing in other people around us. How naïve were we chatting away and laughing on other people’s appearance! There was a middle aged, bold, fat man seated in front of us with big round classes on her nose and he was staring at us furiously and we reacted like a fire catching fuel and kept on going even louder. As the next stop came, he stood up and in pure Finnish, our mother tong, wished us a great evening, spitting the words on us. That really caught us.

Another unwanted eavesdropping occasion happened to me in front of ASDA supermarket where there were two men sitting at a bus stop, the other one talking on phone. I accidentally laid my shopping bags on the ground to balance them a bit. Just in time to hear the man talking on the phone about killing someone. I did not look back and I hurried forward, the other man following me. He glanced at me, took out his mobile and called the police with exact time, place and date of the future killing we had just heard. Then our ways separated.
In the next days free delivery news paper there was a big article about the organized crime and gang fights in London suburbs and how the police is encouraging the community to get involved and listen and report.

Lotta Lonka
International Hospitality Management student from Lapland, Finland
Travel Guide