Subway Etiquette

Here's account on how one New Yorker plans and plots to get herself seated on the subway
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/nyregion/24nystory.html

Do you also have a pattern that you follow? I must confess I do, I try and get the 'aisle' seats so as to speak or the seats which are located closest to the doors so that its relatively easy for me to get out especially if I am on one of my TJ's runs.

I think I try to adhere to all the normal things - I let people off the train before I get on, I stick to the right side of the escalator if I don't feel like walking up. I do sometimes get a little anxious if my stop is coming up and there are a million people blocking the door. But I always hang on until the last moment to start making my way through the masses. I am sort of clumsy and don't really like pushing through crowds of people on a moving train.

I hate the smell of people eating in closed spaces, such as the underground or the Tube. I'm glad that one made the list of pet peeves!

The last time I road a subway, which was months ago, I just stood up and held onto the rail. When my stop came, I got out. If I am going a long way, I look for the first available seat and grab it, unless a woman, or a handicap person is nearby, then I'll give them first preference.

@ajadedidealist I hate when I am at the library and people whip out their packed lunches and eat right in front of me, so I can completely relate. Eating is a highly sensual experience, and people shouldn't force you to experience it with them in an enclosed space against your will.

@NeverSleeps didn't know you were allowed to bring food into the library.. I presume these are the NYPL that you are referring to

@uptowngirl Not sure about the rules, but they sure aren't enforced at the BPL in Grand Army Plaza if it's the case that you can't eat. There is a cafe downstairs, so maybe you are allowed to eat at the laptop work tables? But everyone seems to do it, no matter how smelly their lunch happens to be. It's awful when you're trying to write a brilliant blog entry and the person across from you whips out a tuna sandwich.

@NeverSleeps I empathize though I am quite surprised that they bring food into the library havent seen it at any of the NYPLs that I have frequented but then people brazenly tuck into smelly meals on the subway ispite of the fact that specific signs that say no food/drinks abound.

I hate it when people eat in the subway!! I also get really steamed when there are young guys sitting down and they don't get up for an older woman. I usually say something .. . . unless the guy looks stabby.

@Everyone yet another pet peeve of mine is that there are some folk -mostly men on the no.6 train who sit with their legs spread wide apart as if to mark territory i.e. seating space.Not only does it look gross its awfully selfish too as the no.6 train is a perennially busy line and seating opportunities are usually scarce on the line.

@uptowngirl @JenMac I really don't like smelling people's paper bag lunches in public places where you don't expect people to be stuffing their faces. It is so rude to start munching away when people have no choice but to be sitting close to you!

@uptowngirl I've had the experience of sitting next to such a guy on a packed subway car and the entire time the guy - held his legs wide apart - like the jerk he was. Hello? We were packed in like sardines because of him.

@Uraniumfish: I would say something at that point. The guy, who had his legs spread out so wide, was acting rudely and needed to be told that. If I have to sit down and I see someone do that, I'll tell him to move so I can sit. I find they do move, even if they do give you an angry look.

@hhusted some of those men are so huge and fierce to look at and though I am not a small girl by any chance I wouldn't want to pick a fight with any of them. Like I said they seem to be marking territory and probably are in no mood to relinquish the space.

@uptowngirl I agree, I may be fearless in other ways, but I do know my size in comparison to an animal like that an would be reluctant to pick a fight...

@Uptowngirl and @Uraniumfish: I was on the subway last year and remember this big dude getting on the train. He spread out his legs like you mentioned. Well, an old lady got on the train and saw a space next to him. She went to the space and noticed he had one of his legs hanging over the empty chair. Do you know she looked at the guy and asked him to move so she could sit. At first he didn't pay her any mind. She asked him again. This time a man sitting a couple of seats from him, yelled out and told him to be a gentleman and let the lady sit.

Do you want to know what happened next? When the guy didn't want to move his leg, several people started to yell at him. He started yelling back, making excuses that he had something wrong with his legs and they had to be wide like that. Nobody bought it.

A guy had his cell phone out, and took a picture of the guy. When the train stopped at the next station., that big dude got off and barely made his way through the door, but did it. The guy with the cell phone, went home, downloaded the dude's picture, emailed it to the MTA, asking for him to be banned from the train. When I went back to the train a week later, the dude's picture was taped in several places for all to see. I never saw that big guy again.

@hhusted that's incredible. I know people take snaps of pervs and what not and inform the MTA about them but I didnt know you could do that with these seat hoggers.

@Uptowngirl: I didn't either until I saw the picture. I guess when enough people complain, they do something. There could also have been something hidden behind this situation to, that caused the MTA to ban him from using the trains.

I hope he didn't actually have something wrong with his legs - because that would just be horrid!

What a funny strange story. New Yorkers can be so weird.

@Uraniumfish you can say that again!

Banned from MTA? You can get a ticket for putting your feet on the seat, but it doesn't seem like a legal reason to ban someone. It's not a private business, you can't just pick and chose who to let on the train... That's a strange story.

@Uraniumfish My guess is the guy with his legs spread out was just looking for a fight. You see such displays of machismo on occasion, and I'm with you - I wouldn't bother saying anything to the guy, either.

@NeverSleeps on the 6 , I think the men who sit like that don't seem to be looking for a fight rather they seem to like to sprawl and grab as much space as they can. Its really annoying.

@NeverSleeps and Uptowngirl: i have no idea why the MTA banned the guy I was talking about, but it did happen. I did not ask questions. I just got on the train and went on my way. I think men that take their legs and spread it out like this guy did, are doing it for selfish reasons. They want the attention. They hope you say something. They probably have a chip on their shoulders.

@uptowngirl @NeverSleeps Yes, you do run into those men pretty often, don't you? But it seems like most people give each other the space they need.

The more time I spend in the city, the more I realize how much I love Brooklyn. It's such a relief to get close to home and have virtually no one to share the train with - at least in comparison to the crowds in Midtown.

@Everyone I for one would like the Second Avenue subway line to be commissioned as soon as possible, it would at least take some pressure off the 4,5,6 lines which are perennially packed and thus insufferable. God alone knows when that will happen now.

@neversleeps: I think one of my favorite things about moving into the city from Brooklyn is that I'm rarely on those god awful trains now. That was the friggin pits!

@JenMac I rarely take the train, either. At night I always end up in a cab and by day I usually work in the neighborhood.... I had some friends in town for the holiday and it seemed like we were on the train all day. I feel sorry for commuters!