I actually don’t mind taking public transportation.
I know some people think it’s demeaning, degrading and/or only for people who can’t afford a car, but none of that is true, and I like taking the subway most of the time.
(Did it up until the age of 25 when I got a car only for work; then donated said car to charity and went back to the bus!)
Reasons why I enjoy public transportation:
- No need to think about driving — you just sit/stand there, stare blankly off into the distance & wait
- You get to see interesting things / people / ads (I get a lot of fashion inspiration, believe it or not)
- No traffic to deal with — I think that during rush hour, I can get home in the same time or faster
- It’s cheaper — $5.30 barely covers the cost of parking for an hour ($3 per half hour) let alone gas!
- Don’t need to find a parking spot or wander around in a circle looking for one for 15 minutes
- No limits on how long I can be out — “OMG is this half hour going to cost me ANOTHER $3?!?“
- Can wander and go anywhere I want without having to trudge back to my car
- I get a lot of thinking done when my brain is not active, which also helps me make ‘To Do’ lists
Of course there are times when I wish I had a car, such as late at night coming back from a friend’s place, but those occasions are fairly rare.
(Yes, this is exactly why I keep bugging all of you to eat earlier and meet me earlier than is normal for a non-senior citizen.)
… but some days, you get really annoyed with people who don’t know how to respect others who have paid the same fare and are using the same system.
So this is my Public Service Announcement (PSA) to anyone who takes the subway, bus or streetcar:
THE WANNA-BE STARS
Headphones in? Check.
Humming, rapping, or singing off-key to a song that NO ONE ELSE CAN HEAR? Check.
STOP IT.
You suck. Most people SUCK at singing and you are one of them.
(…and if you don’t suck at singing, you should find a stage to sing on, but please don’t torture the rest of us who don’t have headphones and/or your music to listen to, neither of which are appealing options, to be honest.)
WE DO NOT need to hear your rendition of whatever it is you’re singing. I can understand that it’s impulsive, and the music is so loud that you can’t hear anything, but trust me, the looks I’m shooting at you is not because I think you’re the next Christina Aguilera.
PEOPLE WHO THINK THEIR GROCERIES/THINGS DESERVE A SEAT
Unless you are standing, and you put your items down on the seat instead of sitting down, you are NOT to hog up every seat around you for your purse, bag, or whatever it is.
I don’t even care if you want to pretend like you’re such a tired, worn out student who needs to nap.
Go to bed earlier, or hold your bag in your lap if you’re able to nab a seat.
Once during rush hour, I saw a guy taking up TWO seats. One for his groceries, one for him. An old man gets on with a cane, glares at him the entire time (he managed to get a seat), and then before he leaves the train he says:
That’s all very well and fine isn’t it?
Taking up a spot just for your groceries and being totally disrespectful to others around you?
Can’t you see there are people who would love to sit down?
The idiot has the nerve to reply:
But.. that seat… it’s for my groceries!!!
OMG. He had a straight face on and everything.
I didn’t know whether to laugh at how pathetic that guy was, or to cry at his idiocy. You tell me.
Anyway the point of this whole story is:
A) I’m going to be that person one day, too old and frail to get beaten up for telling people off for their disrespectful behaviour.
B) Don’t put your things on a seat unless you’ve given up that seat to your items unless you want some old woman yelling at you.
So when I see things like this, I say a: HELL. YES!!!!!!
YES. The chicken stands up for the people!
Via Stomp.Com.SG — for those of you who are uneducated in URL lingo, “SG” refers to Singapore, not China. China is “CN”.
And no, Singapore is not located in China. Get yourself a map.
“BACKPACK-HUMP’ERS”
I have names for all of these people.
TAKE OFF your backpacks from your back, or at least move them to the front of your body like a kangaroo so that you can see it annoy people, and back off.
Otherwise, don’t be surprised or angry when your backpack pushes up against me and I give you a shove back the direction you came.
Yes, I am THAT girl.
(No, I was not in that chicken costume, it looks like it could be a guy because it’s a pretty tall chicken.)
I am that rude girl who will push you right back because you didn’t think about all the ways your backpack can annoy someone.
Oh you didn’t think about your backpack annoying people?
Exactly my point — You didn’t think about it.
I know it’s not an extension of your body and you can’t feel it being shoved in our faces or throwing us off balance, but even though it isn’t intentional, deciding to leave it on your back, while on a crowded subway, IS.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you for the next time. You heard it here first.
(And yes, I always pull my bags in front of me out of consideration of others.)
“POLE HUGGERS”
You know who I’m talking about. Pole huggers.
Those irritating folks who either won’t take a seat for whatever reason (yeah it sucks in winter because we’re all dressed like Michelin Rubber Men in our winter gear, taking up one and a half seats).
These pole huggers aren’t strippers, they’re people who HUG THE POLE with their elbows or their crook of the arms and then start playing with their smartphone because they can’t really use their phone without both hands.
Normally, this wouldn’t annoy me, except that during rush hour, you are HOGGING THE ENTIRE POLE when there is NO SPACE for anyone else to stand or sit.
They also can’t seem to wait for 1 – 30 minutes with nothing to do but reflect upon their thoughts, and desperately NEED to be entertained immediately. They can’t even wait until they are able to get off the train, or bus or streetcar to record down whatever it is they’re doing.
They simply MUST do it now, and hug the entire pole, ignoring everyone else around them.
I can’t even get my hand in there to hold the pole because your whole body is wrapped around it like a koala bear, so don’t be surprised when my hand shoots out in front of your face to grab onto the pole before I fall down.
“BLOCKHEAD BOOMBOXERS”
Yes.
Instead of having headphones, why don’t you go ahead and blast your music (horrible or not, it makes no difference), and pollute the airways of everyone else who is silently, and respectfully doing their own thing?
I mean, no one really cares that your music not only is not to our taste (read: it sucks to everyone who doesn’t want to listen to it), but sounds awful coming out of speakers not meant to play music in open-air.
HEADPHONES, PEOPLE.
HEADPHONES!
INVEST IN THEM.
Via
Yes, I am also talking to you, mom or dad with their precious child holding some very loud, annoying, beeping toy/game!
(And people wonder why I carry earplugs around with me).
“PASSIVE PARENTS”
I can sympathize with parents who are frustrated have babies crying, who don’t seem to want to stop no matter what they do or say.
No one wants to hear that squealing, especially not the parents who are near their wit’s end.
I feel really bad for those parents trying to shush them, calm them down, or try all the tactics in their parenting book to keep them to a low hum.
I SALUTE YOU, PARENTS WHO CARE!
But those other parents?
You know which ones I’m talking about.
The ones who have the nerve to say to you:
What am I going to do about it? It’s a kid!!
This is usually followed by an inane laugh or ‘aw shucks’ giggle, and a shrug, with a smile.
Ummm… how about you try keeping them quiet?
The way my parents used to do to me when I threw a fit in public?
I don’t even need you to shush them completely, I just want you to give a damn about other people around you and TRY.
Or they say things like:
It’s their right to make noise, I’m letting them be their own agent to make their own decisions.
Even if that means they want to scream, cry and flail their arms for the whole time.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
What kind of New Age book have you been reading, while smoking your wacky tabaccy?
They don’t know any better! They’re young, unformed blobs when they’re kids (just as we all were), and they have NO IDEA what is right, wrong, or socially acceptable.
It is your job as a parent to teach them what society may eventually have to when they get into the world and realize that throwing themselves down on a floor, threatening to hold their breath, kicking and screaming is not going to get them that $10,000 a year raise.
How can it be that there are perfectly well-behaved kids who are polite even as toddlers all around us, and then we have to suffer and endure your little monsters?
“SHOES ON THE SEATERS”
Your disgusting, muddy and/or wet, filthy shoes on seats that other people with their clothes have to sit on.
You should not definitely not be wondering why I am staring at you with this look of disgust on my face.
I can even understand a kid doing it without thinking, and then a parent saying to them:
Put your feet down.
You are in a public place, and being rude by putting your dirty shoes up on a seat.
You aren’t at home. Have some respect for others.
Heck, I’m sure my future kids will do that some day, and I’ll say the exact same thing to them.
But anyone who is young or old, should have enough respect to keep their feet DOWN ON THE GROUND where they belong.
“ONES WHO DON’T WANT TO MOVE BACK”
Seriously? MOVE BACK. There is more space right up by the back seats, and we all won’t have to cram up in each other’s armpits if you do.
Move. BACK. Especially if you aren’t getting off at the next 2 stops.
I think that about covers it of the top habits I hate.
I can’t believe that people have no idea how to behave on a subway or a bus. Most of the time it isn’t bad.
Actual schedules and service aside, taking public transportation shouldn’t be difficult, annoying, frustrating or filled with inconsiderate, disrespectful folks.
It really is COMMON sense and common courtesy to be respectful of others around you.
Feel free to chime in on what other subway habits you hate.
