kids these days

I'm on a bus on the way to Granada. As I was making my way toward the back of the bus, I was wondering why so many of the other passengers were crammed in the front of the bus.

Now I know.

I am back here with 4 teenagers and their cell phones, which are powerful and frightening weapons. Occasionally the teens talk on the phone, but that doesn't cause any particular problems. The problem is that they play really loud music on horrible, tinny cellphone speakers. Even if they put on headphones, the music is unbearable, and they sing along. Every once in awhile they want to talk to each other, so they turn down the speaker and yell, probably because they have such damaged hearing.

I had this experience once before, on a train in France. Last time I just stewed and shot dirty looks. This time, I jovially asked them not to use the speakers. It didn't work. One of them switched to headphones, but those seemed even worse. I could hear the music just as well, and he sang even more loudly.

Spanish rap sounds ridiculous, only slightly more ridiculous than Spanish teenagers trying to sing along with English rap. I think the ones currently annoying me might be Italians, though it could just be that Catalonian accent everyone is always warning me about.

Yes, I know I sound old.

Before I got on the bus, I didn't know whether it was three or four or five hours. I still don't know, but I'm counting every minute. Granada better be good. Really good.