rudeness on my train this AM, or karma will always get you

[Briar Rose 7457]

I usually take a 7:20 train and always get a seat. if I miss the 7:20, I take the next train at 7:52. this train is generally more crowded than the earlier one, and I don't always find a seat.

this morning I overslept, and wound up on the later train.


all the seats on the train face the same direction, except that at the vestibule near the doors there are groupings of 4 or 5 seats that face each other. when I got on the train this morning I noticed a young woman sitting alone in a group of four seats. she had her large suitcase wedged into the seating area so that no one else could sit with her. when I asked her to move her suitcase she became ... witchy. I noticed an empty seat a few rows away, so I didn't pursue the matter.

a man who got on the train with me was less tolerant. he politely but firmly offered to place her suitcase on the overhead luggage rack -- the suitcase was too large for her to have done this herself, and she never bothered to ask anyone else for help. so she wound up sitting with 3 other people.


at the next station the guy sitting next to me got off the train and I wound up sitting next to an empty seat the rest of the trip.


but the best part was the look on the witch's face when the guy who put her suitcase on the luggage rack got off the train one stop before she did!

yes, she did find someone else to get the suitcase off the rack.

 

[Pam]

And you snickered when the first man got off the train, didn't you??

(I know I would have!!)
Pam

 

[snoopy]

Never have I encountered witchiness and nastiness like I have on New York subways/trains.

Its a little better here on our Metro, but we still have our moments. My sister was telling me about her train trip into D.C. from Maryland the other day. She is pregnant, about 6 months but she looks like she is ready to pop anyday now (its the Tarantino family curse - we get HUGE with pregnancy!) Anyway, she said that when she got on the train there were no seats left. She felt very nauseous that morning, so she saw what looked to be an able-bodied young man, and asked if he would get up and give her his seat. He declined, and asked her why he should move since he was there first? She politely told him that she very well may throw up on his head otherwise. She said you never saw anyone get out of a seat quicker than this guy.

 

[CRB#33]

LOL Snoopy! Good for your sister.

It certainly is a me me world out there anymore isn't it?

 

[Serena]

BR, I would have laughed too at that lady. And Snoopy, I love your sister's comment to that man.

 

[aprincessmom]

BR that story made me laugh and think back to my years of riding the commuter rail into Boston. Our conductors used to make the announcement that seats were for your bottoms only -- not packages, suitcases, feet, etc. Unless you were willing to pay for tickets to seat the aforementioned items, move 'em.

I also remember riding in on the train, 8 months pregnant and standing the whole way because no one would give up a seat. What fun

 

[nativetxn]

BR, you are still smiling about the look on that woman's face when that man got off the train, aren't you? Hmmm??? Fess up. I'm smiling just imagining it.

Snoops, I love your story...

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

yes, I snickered. made sure to catch her eye when I did it, too.

just before Christmas I saw a young mother get on the train. she had an infant in a carriage and a toddler. there was no room in the carriage for the older child. she told him to hold on tight because she didn't want him to fall when the train moved. of course I offered her my seat, and she was very happy to have it.

another woman, who'd been standing, told me I did a good thing. I replied that I remembered travelling with my kids when they were little, and would have appreciated anyone offering a seat to me. what surprised me, I told her, is that I was the ONLY one to offer my seat to the mother.

my sister tells me that one day on the Long Island Railroad she saw a pregnant woman sitting on the floor. it seems all the able-bodied men and women who were fortunate enough to have seats buried their faces in their newspapers so that they were "unaware" that a pregnant lady was even on the train.

disgusting, isn't it?

 

[aprincessmom]

my sister tells me that one day on the Long Island Railroad she saw a pregnant woman sitting on the floor. it seems all the able-bodied men and women who were fortunate enough to have seats buried their faces in their newspapers so that they were "unaware" that a pregnant lady was even on the train.

That's the move!!!! They must teach that at train riding school.

 

[JulesMom]

Karma does make one smile, doesn't it

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

Originally posted by aprincessmom
That's the move!!!! They must teach that at train riding school.

so you've seen it too?

and I was hoping this story was unique.

 

[crazyme5kids]

Wow this is making me laugh! We spent 4th of July day in DC and after the fireworks the subway was packed. I had my 1 year old in a stroller, a big backpack on my back and was holding another bag. My husband was holding another of my sons(both of us stood), and our other 2 kids were able to sit. I was pressed up against the door as it was, so when it would open people would look and see there wasn't any room to board. At one stop a woman tried to get on with her son. I said there was no room. She literally shoved me to get on. I went flying, bumped into other people,and if that wasn't bad enough another woman started yelling at me for having a stroller on the train (it was an umbrella). So now I am steaming, the woman who shoved me is right next to me and we are exchanging words about her rudeness. My husband is doing the slow boil, my one son starts crying because he thinks he is going to get crushed to death. But the fun had just begun for this woman (the shover). I had worn a bright yellow tied dyed Grateful Dead tee shirt that day. Sitting in one of the seats was a Dead Head. He was relentless in his verbal attack (although polite) to this woman. Everytime he would say something to her she would get madder and madder. This went on for the entire train ride. My hippie boyfriend as my husband likes to call him came to my defense! He could have cared less what she said because he was feeling no pain. We still laugh about that train ride.

 

[aprincessmom]

so you've seen it too?

and I was hoping this story was unique.

Nah...saw it throughout my pregnancy. It was like I was invisible to men and women. I have to say, the only time I was offered a seat was by young men and women -- teens and college students mostly, on the subway. On the commuter train it was never offered.

And let me tell you, it was darn hard to make me invisible with a tabloid sized paper!

 

[Mish19]

There really should be a book about subway adventures, especially the NYC subway. I love it when people come flying from nowhere and swoop in just as I'm about to sit down! I don't mind standing too much, I'm pretty young, but when you get almost shoved for those last few seats it gets very frustrating. The best move I've seen is when I am standing in front of a person who I think is getting off their friend who sat next to them will slide over to block me so they can give it to
the other standing friend.

It's sad to read about the people who ignore the pregnant women or any other person who appears to be in need of a seat.

 

[snoopy]

crazyme5kids, you indeed must have been crazy to get on a D.C. Metro train with 5 kids on the 4th of July! Its the one day of the year I will avoid the Metro at ALL costs!

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

I need to come to the defense of some of my fellow Metro riders.

Back when I was pregnant I commuted daily by Metro, about a 50 minute trip each way (Vienna-Friendship Heights). I can honestly say that I didn't *have* to stand once...someone always offered me a seat, though I didn't always accept it. It all depended on how I felt that day. I always expressed my gratitude for the offer though.

 

[suzannen]

Like Addicted to WDW, I was very lucky when I was pregnant riding the NYC subway that I was always offered a seat (it helps being 8-9 months pregnant in the summer where you show up better!). But, I noticed that it was almost always women who offered first - and usually with comments like "I remember when I was pregnant and commuting, please take my seat!" Men offered much less often.
It also reminded me of an incident with a co-worker who offered up her seat to a pregnant woman in a coat. As soon as the woman took the seat, she opened her coat to reveal her purse was creating her stomach, she wasn't pregnant at all!!

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

talk about chutzpah!



when I was pregnant and riding th subways, it was always the women and the foreign-born men who gave me a seat.

 

[Kallison]

Train riding in New York - ugh! I remember being on crutches and everyone pretended they didn't see me, Finally a man got up -- he said he couldn't take it anymore, like he was doing me a huge favor - lol! One man on the whole train. I even had people grab a taxi away from me in the pouring rain. This was back in the early 80's, I think NYers in general have become kinder and gentler.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

1995. I was wearing a walking cast on my right foot, having sprained it in a fall. no crutches, so you'd have to look down at my foot to be aware of my injury.

the subway has a group of seats marked "priority" for pregnant, elderly, disabled, etc. I got onto the subway one afternoon and practically dove into one of the "priority" seats. I sat down a millisecond before another lady -- one without any apparent physical disability. she was fuming that I beat her out for the seat, and raised her high heeled foot as if the "accidentally on purpose" step on one of my feet. fortunately she looked down before she stepped, and saw my cast. her face turned bright red and she made a hasty retreat.