PEOPLE TALKING TO THEMSELVES LOUDLY (COMMENT).

PEOPLE TALKING TO THEMSELVES–LOUDLY (COMMENT). Dick Weisfelder commented here on the extensive use of cellphones in Southern Africa and Sweden. When I visit New York, it’s hard to get used to the large number of people who seem to be talking to themselves, although they are actually talking on phones or singing along with music. It brought back memories of the old days in New York when a surprising percentage of people on the street really were talking to themselves. Russell Baker once claimed that there were more people talking to themselves on the streets of New York than there were people in Pittsburgh. Back in the day, you would notice people scattering like birds at the approach of a ranting street person. One day Mary Jane saw two such persons, well known in the neighborhood, approaching each other. People scattered. They faced each other. There was a pause. Then the lady said to the man, “Get out of my realm.”