No, No, Don’t Get Up: Cozy on BART
Snapped this one later in the 6-o’clock hour: toward the end of the evening rush. The train wasn’t sardines-crowded, but there were several people entering, exiting, and standing around.
In other words, maybe don’t sit like this on BART, in the interest of seat-having for fellow passengers.
So did you DO anything about this?
The reason that rude people get away with being rude is that NO ONE WILL TAKE THEM TO TASK FOR IT.
In other words – stop bitching about rude people if you don’t want to take civic responsibility for letting people know this type of behavior is UNACCEPTABLE.
You can do this diplomatically and oh-so politically correct by being extra namby-pamby and smarmy – or you can grow a pair and just tell the jerk to wise up, act right or face the consequences.
This goes for seat hogging, bags on a seat, legs propped up, strollers in the aisle, screeching brats, too much perfume, loud talking on a cell phone… You name it, rude-assed people abound. They need to be removed like a cancer, before they spread, and it’s up to ALL of us to be the ones to initiate the surgery for removal.
I didn’t say anything, and you’re right; we all have a responsibility to say something about public rudeness. Though I was (and am) feeling more amused than angry about the couch-sitter.
Currently weighing the benefits of growing a pair vs. being namby-pamby and smarmy. I do like both of these options a great deal.
sure, you say that… but one also has to weigh the chances of whether or not publicly chastising one of these d-bags will come with a verbal or physical altercation. i’ve asked people to move their bags/bodies in as polite a manner as one could expect, and have been met with everything from blatant refusal to physical threats of violence. i’m short, round, and soft-spoken… not all of us have the ability to be intimidating.
sure, a majority of the time people will just move. but sometimes it’s not worth it, and that doesn’t mean one can’t be frustrated about it.
I’ll take rude people to task. Let’s start here: Typing in all caps is rude. Telling a woman to “grow a pair” is sexist and rude. Addressing threats to some straw-man opponent who will “face the consequences” is false-macho and rude. Minimizing the impact of actual, real-life cancer by comparing a person who wears perfume (one of my most-hateds too) to cancer is rude. Please ratchet your online rage back a little. Thanks!
i dunno if i want to get that comfortable on a bart seat without full coverage of the cushions
He’s also in a very physically vulnerable position. If someone wanted to assault him and steal that snazzy Macbook Pro, they could do it pretty easily. He can’t really see what’s behind or above him (until it’s too late!).
He didn’t acknowledge the pic-taker in the mega-reflective window, so you’re certainly right about that.
i think you have some way deep serious thinkers in this blog session when you wrote this just to tickle even more ur amusement. i will grow a pair and tell ur commentators to EASE UP! IT’S NOT THAT SERIOUS!! lol. this was more funny to me too. 🙂
ugh, is he on hotmail?
All of this aside, I’m loving the commentary. This blog needs more Tara.
The whole world needs more tara!
But damn, this guy is the least insidious subway annoyance. Look at him all flopped down like he was in his living room, just watching Futurama in his underpants, completely unaware. You don’t have to “grow a pair” (ugh) to hover over him and say “excuse me,” and he’ll flinch like somebody walked in on him whacking it.
But while we’re fuming about stuff, the notion that everybody needs to take everybody else to task for what they do, that every person’s action is a referendum on their whole existence, is perhaps the thing that annoys me most about people in the Bay Area. Fuck me, dude, it’s 20 inches of smelly canvass. Relax.