Last Christmas.
I was on a long train journey from Chesterfield to Aberystwyth. That's about five hours of travelling, three and a half of them spent on Arriva Trains Wales.
If you've not travelled by ATW, here's what you need to know: timekeeping by Dodgy Ioan's Discount Rolex, upholstery and fittings by Davies Brothers Migraine-Inducing Textiles Emporium, cleaning by No-one Ever, clientele from Satan Himself.

It was half eleven at night and I, along with most of the other people in the carriage, was trying to get my head down. And pair of rather obnoxious young women were sat in the centre of the carriage, playing loud music, swearing and shouting at the top of their voices.

My fellow passengers seemed to have decided to deal with this the British Way (Writing a strongly worded letter to the editor, but otherwise doing nothing.)

But I had had enough.
I politely asked if they'd mind being a bit quieter.
They politely told me to fuck off.

So I sat down in the understandably empty table next to theirs, got out my phone, found the most annoying MIDI ringtone I could (That Nokia one.), and put it on repeat, holding it across the aisle about three inches from the ringleader's ear.

"I'll turn it off when you do." I said. "You're keeping me awake and I've got nothing else to do."

Scowling, they stopped.

Of course, I couldn't go to to sleep after that in case they gobbed in my hair or something, but I took a stand, damnit!
(universalpsykopath loves what you've done with your hair., Thu 10 Feb 2011, 13:59, 4 replies)

Nicely.

( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 10 Feb 2011, 14:09, closed)

good idea, nicely executed

( camp freddy well, would you look at that!, Thu 10 Feb 2011, 17:48, closed)

Oh you had better believe I am clicking this.
I have suffered at the hands of Arriva Trains Wales many times.
(ConanTroutman thought we would free the vulture, Thu 10 Feb 2011, 22:28, closed)

Arriva trains...
...always remind me of school buses from the mid 90's, but with train wheels...
(Megamoss, Fri 11 Feb 2011, 1:42, closed)