People being assholes about train seats

[katiuska]

Originally Posted by Fifthfiend, in the cellphone thread

Batgirl, you're my hero. People being assholes about train seats should be a whole other thread.

I'll take this up, though I'm going to expand it a bit to other things that impede people using the public transport, because I feel rather strongly about this. More recently, the city has favored packing their trains in favor of running them at reasonable intervals, so etiquette becomes increasingly relevant. To wit:

-- Do not sprawl yourself out over multiple seats.
-- Do not sit in between seats.
-- Your briefcase/backback/laptop/anything else does not need its own seat.
-- When holding onto a pole, do so with one hand and give it enough berth for other people to use it. Do not hug it.
-- People who are in no condition to brawl for a spot should not be forced to do so.
-- If someone in an inside row from you needs to get out, you're going to have to get up. Do not pull the "half-ass maneuver," which is exactly what it sounds like and doesn't actually make that much room.
-- If someone is apparently trying to exit the train, clear a space. Do not continue to stand in the way of the door. Do not stare blankly or look indignant when they ask you to move and then return to your newspaper/handheld game/cellphone conversation.

[Allanon]

I would like to add something to this if you don't mind.

-- Please do not continue to start at the person in front of you constantly, makes them uncomfortable.

[Torque]

I don't live anywhere near a train, or anywhere near where a train might one day decide to visit.
To clarify, that is not to say that I don't live near where trains travel, or the roads on which they travel (by which I am referring to train tracks), it's just that I've never once had the (apparently) unpleasant experience of being on a passenger train.
So am I to assume that this would be similar to Bus etiquette? And if so, can I also add then, that if you're in a packed bus/train and you're listening to music on a set of headphones that you perhaps crank it the fuck down a few decibels? I enjoy music, but don't need to listen to it coming out of your face.

edit: Allanon, I'm guessing that you meant to say do not "stare" at the person in front of you? Not "start?"
Or are you referring to like just suddenly spazzing a tiny bit like you've been startled, just to see the other persons reaction?

[greed]

I've been using trains and buses for about 5 years and never had any experience more aggravating than

Originally Posted by Torque

that if you're in a packed bus/train and you're listening to music on a set of headphones that you perhaps crank it the fuck down a few decibels? I enjoy music, but don't need to listen to it coming out of your face.

Which isn't really that bad, hell I had one fun experience with it when two girls starting tearing into a kid for listening to fairly offensive gangsta rap really loudly. He thought they were coming on to him so he took off his headphones then they tore in to him so viciously he actually ran off the train at the next stop to jeers from the half the carriage. It wasn't his stop you could see him waiting for the next train on the route. Poor bastard.

Other than music though I've never had a problem with public transport. We got a good system here.

[Meister]

Originally Posted by Torque

if you're in a packed bus/train and you're listening to music on a set of headphones

At least they're using headphones and not those motherfucking obnoxious cell phone speakers science apparently still hasn't figured out how to silence remotely, seriously I'd pay good money for a gadget that does that.

[katiuska]

Originally Posted by Allanon

I would like to add something to this if you don't mind.

-- Please do not continue to start at the person in front of you constantly, makes them uncomfortable.

I don't mind, that's kinda what this is here for.

On that note, I wouldn't mind if you check out what I'm listening to/reading if you'd at least try to be kind of discreet. When you lean over my shoulder, that's when it feels awkward.

Trains (and buses) aren't necessarily unpleasant. I've generally enjoyed using some systems. I also have a friend who lived in Chicago for a while whose conversation for two years essentially reduced to "Sweet mother of God, I hate the El." Maybe he just wasn't used to urban life, I have no perspective of CTA.

[Eltargrim]

Originally Posted by Meister

At least they're using headphones and not those motherfucking obnoxious cell phone speakers science apparently still hasn't figured out how to silence remotely, seriously I'd pay good money for a gadget that does that.

I have an idea. It's 2/9ths of an inch wide and gets the point across :p

Torque: Being in the same general geographic region, bus etiquette is nearly identical.

We have seats that fold up to allow for wheelchair/strollers to not have to stand in the middle of the aisle and clog the bus to hell. My pet peeve? People who don't get out of them. I've yet to have a chance to pull a Batgirl, but it's on my list of things to do.

EDIT: On the subject of music: I have my music constantly cranked. The difference is that I have noise-cancelling headphones, and therefore they can't hear my music, and even if they could, I couldn't hear them complaining

[CelesJessa]

We don't have trains, but we have a pretty popular bus system in my college town. Which the etiquette is new to me, because my hometown is small enough that we don't have ANY public transportation other than school buses. But it doesn't seem to be that hard of a concept. Basically: don't be an asshole.

Originally Posted by katiuska

-- Your briefcase/backback/laptop/anything else does not need its own seat.

Oh yes, this is one of my biggest pet peeves. Our buses are a very popular mode of transportation, especially for college students because for those who don't have cars, it's their only way to get to wal mart or the mall or other places around town. But it's also commonly used by non-college students. Specifically women who go to wal mart to get their groceries. Now that's all well and good, but little old ladies looove to put their junk in the seat beside them (and I'm not talking like a BIG grocery trip, I'm talking, like, one barely filled plastic bag). It's so infuriating when people are trying to find a seat and are forced to stand because of this.


Rules to add the list:

- If somebody who gets on is in lesser health than you (including, but not limited to the disabled or the elderly), give them the goddamn seats in the front. If there's no room in the front, give them the goddamn seats in the back. There's no reason why a 20-something college student should be sitting and a 80-something grandma stand the whole trip.

- If you get on with your friend, SIT WITH THEM. You don't need to each claim a seat of 2 parallel to each other and then sit sideways with your legs across the other seats. If the bus is empty, sure. But as soon as people start getting on, you two should be sharing a seat to give the other riders their fair choice of seats too.

[42PETUNIAS]

The only time I ever use the subway is either during rush hour, where it's so crowded that if you mess around with taking another seat, you get crushed by the mass of standing people that should really just wait for the next train, and when it isn't busy at all, which means there aren't really any problems at all.

[Khael!]

The little O-train they have set up in Ottawa has a very short commute currently (fuck you conservative government for cancelling further development like that), so there's nobody on the poor thing.

Buses though, oh MAN.

-- Stop leaving your damned newspapers all over the floor. Same with all your other shit. Garbage cans are real! And in winter, don't you fucking dare put your slush drenched boots on the seat. Some of us enjoy having dry, dirt-free pants.