Barking Space

Riding the subway every day usually creates a callous on the soul for most people. I don’t know why it doesn’t seem so for me. Most of the time I just like to watch people, and some of the things they do amuse me. Some things I see are plain stupid, and I’ll become a little annoyed. I can’t seem to turn the emotions off and become a zombie like some people. I’ll give some examples.

One thing that bothers me a little are some of the younger crowd that need to sit.

They make their way onto the subway, and seach for any available seat. This act is not something horrible in and of itself. It is the fact that a lot of these kids don’t get up when an elderly person enters the subway. I rarely take a seat, as I prefer to stand. But if I happen to be sitting, and someone wanders into the car who needs a seat more than I do, I’ll give it up. No questions asked.

Another thing that irks me are the people who have the need to get off the subway before everyone else.

Even before the final approach to the station, a lot of people will elbow and nudge their way past everyone else, just to be in front of the line to get out. What is funny is the fact that half the people they shove past are usually getting out at the exact same station.

In places like Japan and China, the trains are packed to capacity. But from what I understand there is still a fundamental respect for others. There is just a smaller zone of personal space. People pack themselves in like tuna, and flow into any and every empty space possible. No one really cares. People get off at their station when the train stops, because there is nowhere to go.

The worst are those fine, upstanding people who sit down, and then get up and try to get to the front of the exit queue halfway through the ride. This is just silly. And it’s almost always teenagers that do it. As far as I’m concerned a person waives their right to get out of the train first if they are too lazy to stand up near the door.

It’s only fair.

Filed under: Rants, Spaces Archive |