The weather is scorching hot, so many people carry small fans with them to cool down. Recently, a Hong Kong netizen shared their unusual experience on a bus online. They said that a woman on the bus was using a small fan, but was stopped by a male passenger, and the two ended up in a heated argument.
According to HK01, the original poster wrote on social platform Threads that at the time, the uncle said to the female passenger, “Can you turn off your fan? It's very noisy.” The woman replied, “Sorry, I'm really hot right now, please be more understanding.” The uncle insisted, “But it's really loud.” Unexpectedly, the woman retorted, “There are all kinds of noises on the bus, you’re noisy too.” She even added, “I'll turn it off in a minute after using it for a bit.”
The uncle seemed unable to accept this and again, in a commanding tone, said, “Turn it off for me right now!” Their conversation kept repeating with neither side backing down, and when the original poster got off the bus, the two were still arguing, leaving him to sigh, “It's so hot, everyone is just really irritable.”
This post sparked heated discussions among netizens. Some felt that the woman was not in the wrong: “It’s so hot, it’s normal to use a fan to cool down, why force her to turn it off?” Others pointed out, “To be honest, some fans really are loud, especially those turbine-style ones; when they're at maximum speed, the noise is as sharp as a drill, it gives you a headache after a while.”
Netizens: The Tone Was a Command, Not a Request
Some sympathized with the uncle: “Not everyone can put up with high-frequency noise, some people are born sensitive to sound, nothing you can do about it, proper communication is always better.” But more people criticized the uncle's attitude: “That tone was an order, not a request,” and, “If the other party were another uncle, would he dare to be so fierce?”
The Key Issue: The Type of Fan?
Many netizens pointed out that the issue might be the model of the fan: “The old traditional fans weren’t that loud, but now a lot of people use turbine fans, and those are much noisier.” Others suggested, “Taking the bus is being in a public space, let’s all be more empathetic — don’t always force others to accommodate you.”