Ignorant train passengers

pinkteapot

I commute and I deliberately choose seats that have bags on (even if others are available at the time). The trains always fill up anyway so it doesn't make a difference (I don't do it if travelling outside rush hour when it's quiet).

Commuter game:

1 point if you make them move a bag
2 points if their coat was on the seat as well as their bag
5 points if they've got their laptop out and have to move their bag while trying to hang onto the laptop
10 points if they are asleep (or pretending to be)

£4,376 for my annual season ticket - I'm certainly not going to stand while someone's bag gets a seat.

darkpool

Baggieboy wrote: »

What a ridiculous comparison. When did you last have to pay for a space on the beach?

We've all done it? yea - its when the bag stays on the seat as the train fills up that winds us all up. How can I make this clearer for you? Occupying 2 seats means you've paid for 2 seats. Unless you want to pay for your bag to sit in one, shift it.

I 100% agree that when there are no free seats it is ignorant to keep a bag on the seat beside you. But you said you ignored all the free double seats and sat beside people because they had a bag on the seat.

It just seems a bit strange you'd get into an almost empty carriage and sit beside someone because they had a bag on the seat.

barbiedoll

pinkteapot wrote: »

I commute and I deliberately choose seats that have bags on (even if others are available at the time). The trains always fill up anyway so it doesn't make a difference (I don't do it if travelling outside rush hour when it's quiet).

Commuter game:

1 point if you make them move a bag
2 points if their coat was on the seat as well as their bag
5 points if they've got their laptop out and have to move their bag while trying to hang onto the laptop
10 points if they are asleep (or pretending to be)

£4,376 for my annual season ticket - I'm certainly not going to stand while someone's bag gets a seat.

Ooooo, 2 points for me today, I made a bloke move his rucksack AND his coat.:D
I always get funny looks when I choose the seat that's nearest to the doors even if other double seats are empty (although not for long). I get off at the stop before the main London terminal so it's easier to disembark if I'm nearer the doors, rather than pushing and shoving along the aisle when the train is packed.
Of course, I then run the gauntlet of passengers trying to get on before I've got off.....there's a big gap between the platform at my station so I have to do a very undignified sort of jump, only to land on someone's feet because they won't get out of the way.
Do I get extra points for swearing loudly?

AsknAnswer2

I had a long journey to make a while ago so I'd reserved a seat, which I had to pay extra for. Got on the train and someone was in my seat. I politely said that I'd reserved the seat and showed him my ticket. The guy just totally lost it. He refused to move on the basis that he got there first, he was not phased in the least that I had reserved it and had paid for it. He was very aggressive toward me. He stood up but didn't move out of the area, he was shouting (with spit, yuk!)and jabbing his finger at me. He was red with rage - at one point I really thought he was going to hit me. He was at least 6 foot, and a big brute of a man. I'm a tiny woman and 5ft tall. The ticket inspector got the same treatment when he told him to move. I got my seat at the next station after the transport police came on the train at the next station to arrest him for breach of the peace. I assume the ticket inspector had contacted them.

I'd never been afraid of asking someone to move out of a seat I'd paid for, or indeed to shift a bag on an unreserved seat before this incident. Since then, I've got more wits about me and hate having to ask because I don't know what reaction I'm going to get. That man's aggression really frightened me and I'm not a person that is easily intimidated. It's probably similar experiences that lead to people 'smiling politely' rather than asking.

If I get on a packed train, and haven't reserved a seat, I'll look at the reserved tickets to see where they are reserved from and to. If they are not reserved for that stop, I'll sit there but I will move when the train is coming toward the stop that the seat is reserved for. I won't wait for the person to have to ask for it.

If I am placing my bag on a seat, and I often do on a long journey for convenience sake, I always lift it onto my knee at each stop - again so that a person doesn't have to ask me to move it. They shouldn't have to, the seats are for bums, not bags.

Sharon87

I sometimes put bags on seats, especially when carrying lots of stuff, or big bags. But always move it if someone asks. When I was a teenager I did get annoyed if someone wanted me to move my bag though, I hated other people sitting next to me then lol, but this was mostly on buses.

Getting the tube to work now I rarely put my bag on the seat. Not many seats on the tube.

The other day a woman got a bit annoyed for someone not moving their bag quick enough off of the seat. A few stops after the woman sat down, the person who had their bag on the seat left, and then the woman proceeded to put her chair on the seat. Double standards or what? lol

sunflower_2

lalaland11 wrote: »

...proceeded to shout swear words at her friend 3 rows down how f**ing annoying it was when people sit next to her, when she got up she swang her bag round which hit me straight in the face...

i fear my tail-comb may have poked its way out of my bag onto her leg in this instance....

geoffky

And now for the worst one ever......

People putting their seats back on a plane,,
A guaranteed way to get me going off like a lunatic..i detest it..

Esoog

geoffky wrote: »

And now for the worst one ever......

People putting their seats back on a plane,,
A guaranteed way to get me going off like a lunatic..i detest it..

Yeah but they are designed to do that in all fairness, the theory being everyone in a row does it and it's not a problem? Obviously doesn't work like that though.

davidlizard

Esoog wrote: »

Yeah but they are designed to do that in all fairness, the theory being everyone in a row does it and it's not a problem? Obviously doesn't work like that though.

... until it gets to the person sat in a seat that does not recline - often those immediately in front of the emergency exit row or backing on to a bulkhead.

Whilst I am generally OK with seats that recline, what annoys me is when someone slams their seat back without any warning - usually on to my kneecaps, or even worse when I am eating.

Back to trains - what really annoys me is those who get into the "quiet zone" carriages and proceed to yak into their mobile, without giving a stuff that the "no mobiles" sign does not apply to them. A friend had a mobile phone jammer he picked up somewhere in Asia - a godsend but sadly illegal.

melanzana

Loving this thread. I can just FEEEEL the frustration of seeing some gimp with a bag on the seat. It is just so selfish and unthoughtful. But then again, a lot of people think "they are worth it" and to hell with everyone else!

Over here in Ireland, you can reserve your seat on the train online with no extra charge (I presume the same applies in UK), and there are electronic signs over the seats indicating the name of the person who booked and the seat number. No chance of anyone removing the paper tickets! But maybe you have that system aswell.

Anyhow, I would NEVER leave bags etc. on the seats unless the train was empty, and always remove it as the train approaches the next station. If I find the only seat remaining is one with a bag on it, I ask the person beside the bag "Is this seat being used by anyone? and a big smile. Always works.

Once in Spain going from Malaga to Seville on the bus, despite having reserved seating, my seat was taken up by a bag. I must ask what the bag's name was! I stood in the aisle and said to the girl beside said bag "es el asiento libre?" No reply. I stood in the aisle and stood, and stood, while all the passengers behind me were waiting.

Then they got tetchy and were muttering (in Spanish of course), so I stood my ground. In the end a man behind me figured out what was happening, and had a bloody good rant (as only the Spanish language allows...), and the girl moved her bag. I sat down, and said nothing. And the bus moved off. I was bessie mates with this lassie by the time we reached Seville.

I am Irish, and we love a laugh, so in pidgin Spanish I told her all about Riverdance, U2, Westlife and the rest. Great journey. We still email each other to this day.

I doubt she will leave a bag on a seat again.