How to Behave on Public Transit

Public Transit is not your office or your bedroom

I take the train to work everyday. I se people that lack common etiquette and those that just don't know the difference. Today as I sat down on my normal train the you man across from me started calling people. My first thought was wow it has been a long time since I have seen someone that young actually talk on a cell phone instead of texting. I was perplexed and confused, but that was only the beginning. He proceeded to fill in the person whom he was conversing with on all the details of the previous night. Oh and the rest of the train ar was privy to the information too. Fun stuff.

I started shooting him my teacher stare - which I might add I have perfected to an art form, it can make little kids cry so I try not to use it unnecessarily. He decided to end his conversation shortly after that. I can not for the life of me figure out why he decided to finally hang up his phone. It made the rest of my train ride much more pleasant though. .

Please by all means feel free to use your devices on transit. I am typing on the train right now. But keep the following things in mind.

• No one wants to hear your conversations, feel free to text or keep it short.
• No one cares for your music as much as you think they do, ear phones or silent the sounds
• If you are playing a motion game, keep in your own personal bubble, youa re only paying for one seat.
• Your electronics don't get their own seat, unless of course you want to pay an additional fare for it.

I get it we are a busy society there are day that I leave the office and haven't had lunch yet. Grabbing a snack before I hit the train makes sense and even more importantly an adult beverage. On the train line I take it is legal to have an adult beverage but check the policies of your transit.

Do not get the smelly food, no one else wants to smell your taco bell or curry. I have actually seen a pregnant woman on the train try to keep from vomiting while someone a few seats away happily chomped on noxious smelling food.

Keep the food to yourself, clean up after yourself, be discreet, and I shouldn't be able to smell it.

Okay I get it some cultures have different standards of cleanliness but it should not come at the expense of other passengers. This goes the other way too. If I am going to pass out from the massive amounts of body spray, perfume, or cologne than you are wearing too much, enough said.

Public transit is not your new office. More than once I have heard lawyers have "private" conversations on the train. Anything overheard by a third party is no longer private and can be used against a lawyer in a court of law. How you know I am not the opposing lawyers secretary, intern, mail clerk, etc. Just saying.

Behave properly like adults with good manners and you will enjoy your ride to and from work. Let's just hope everyone else learns some self control and good manners as well.