Civility on public transit, or, keeping me from killing you.
With the rising price of gas forcing more and more people to seek alternative modes of transportation, it seems like record numbers of people are seeking alternative modes of transportation. Which means, in practical terms, that record numbers of people are abruptly shoving their way onto the buses and BART trains that have been my salvation for
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This is why you have a cell phone - so you can call your boss and say "OK, I'm on the bus at 39th and whatever and it looks like we're running late".
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In fact when in this situation if someone else does not have a cell, it is very kind to allow them to borrow yours and call their own boss for the same reason. Not mandatory, and of course you have to make a snap decision as to whether they are going to leap up and abscond with it, but generally I've always found it worked out just fine.
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This is public transportation. People who can't keep their language to the level of a PG movie should shut up. Failing that, they should not ask other people, "What do you think of me?" unless the answer "I think you're a trash-talking loudmouth with no idea of how to behave in polite company" is acceptable.
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My favorite bus driver once stopped the bus and ejected two young "ladies" who could not seem to complete a sentence without repeated filthy language at the top of their lungs. He had, to be fair, asked them over the intercom 3 times to stop. He was applauded.
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You've clearly never ridden in busses in Birmingham (UK). My most terrifying bus journey ever was conducted on a bus that ran 3 red lights, sped most of the way into the city, skipped a good 1/3rd of the stops and appeared to have no suspension left...
I was early though, which was nice.
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When I was still taking the bus to school (back in the middle ages 80's) I once sat down and calculated the average speed a bus had to travel to make it in time.
Some of them had to have an average speed of about 80kph / 50mph while most of the route was through the villages with bus stops every 400 meters or so.
and every 3km outside the villages.
80 kph was the top speed allowed outside of the villages.
There was just no way bus drivers could keep the schedule without speeding.
Plenty of days I arrived at my school early though.
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If you're having any kind of argument and you would be embarrassed if your most prudish great-aunt heard either your argument or your choice of language, you should be at least that embarrassed when perfect strangers hear the same from you on the commute. And then you should put the argument on hold until you're off the public transit vehicleFace it, there are some conversations and arguments that aren't appropriate for public transit--whose turn it is to load the dishwasher, if spoken at an acceptable decibel, is fine. Arguing about late child support payments or missed visitation*? NOT acceptable. Treat your personal problems with the same care you'd treat your Social Security number and your PIN for your ATM card; namely, don't share them with the public ( ... )
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A guy was telling his wife he was staying late at the office to get his project done. And he would catch a later train, so could she pick him up at a particular time and not-typical station? (When he named it, we realized the station was on a different train line!)
And then they announced the next stop on the loudspeaker. Everyone in the car laughed, and several called out "Busted!"
We then were treated with part of his conversation with his wife, who'd just realized he was probably cheating on her...!!
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