A moany chat for those who commute daily in busy cities.

[NCsoS]

This is lighthearted, hence not an AIBU as I am fully aware nobody is doing anything wrong and we all have a different pace in life. But this is a moany thread for those who do the same journey day in day out and to vent all those little things that in your rush hour stressed morning / afternoon really piss in your cornflakes.

I have a list 😂

I do the same journey twice a day - it’s autopilot at this point, everything is calculated on my route, even to the ticket barrier I use and the exact spot I stand in on the tube platform.

So here it goes:

• the obvious not keeping left
• getting off the escalator and immediately stopping just by the steps to tie your shoe laces / adjust your bag
• people walking in pairs or groups through stations joined at the hip - just let other people pass
• People with massive luggage on the escalators
• people stopping in the middle of a busy walkway as you’re walking at full pace behind them

I’m sure I have many more I’ll remember as we go along. Share yours!

Backpacks left on
Watching videos with sound on full
stopping in walkways or need the barrier/escalator
Dawdlers
Doing hair and makeup on the train

Yes!!! Sometimes I get to the platform and see 10mins for the next tube and can’t believe the audacity 😂

Hmmm make up I don’t know if I can get mad about. As long as they’re not taking up unnecessary space crack on

My commute is now a pleasant 20 minute stroll thru parks.
However, when my commute was via train, I had a few pet peeves:

People who crowd around the nearest train door ready to embark, possibly actually blocking people who want to disembark, rather than walk up the platform (a mighty extra 15 m stroll) to use a less busy door to get on. I mean... why? How can you be so oblivious?

Also, people using seats inthe cyclist area and ignoring the cyclists who are like "Oi! We aren't allowed to put our bikes anywhere else & there are lots of seats elsewhere."

@lljkk you’ve just reminded me!
why does queuing etiquette go out the window when transport is involved? When you’re clearly at the platform or bus stop first but people who turn up with seconds to spare push in front of you to get on.

Wandering slowly down a station corridor, full of 1000s (not exaggerating, major interchange) of other people hurrying in various directions, weaving gently and unpredictably while watching a film on your phone, has to be the worst.

I always imagine that the person is thinking that their film is more important than several thousand other peoples commute. But I suppose in reality they’re just oblivious and selfish.

Yes. Also fully deserving ro have their phone either stolen or knocked out of their hand and trampled.

London commuter since 2001 here...Top peeves:

Standing on the left on the escalator. I do actually sometimes shout to whoever is three people ahead, blocking the left, in a breezy, upbeat yet authoritative way "stand on the right please!".

Not moving down the tube or train carriage when it's crowded. Looking really baffled when I say (from under someone's armpit in the vestibule, in a breezy, upbeat yet authoritative way) "please can you move down! It's really crowded here by the doors and there's room for at least two or three more people next to you!" Me having to say: "there's definitely room! You might just have to hold the overhead handrail not the pole, you 6ft bloke!"

Not having your pass /ticket/ contactless payment ready as soon as you get to the barriers and faffing.

Slow walkers. Slow walkers blocking me.

Not bothered by make-up-appliers. So that's one mercy.

To balance all this rage I do fairly often stop to help completely baffled tourists underground looking at tube maps and sign boards, where there are hardly any staff, and they are ever so grateful usually.

Having to go in more than twice a week, when it happens. Wfh avoids all the things mentioned.

Assertive people poised in the exact spot ready to leap onto the train but then once inside the carriage dither around slowly taking their backpack/coat off and blocking the aisle so I can’t get to the seats beyond them before someone else sits there. Just get on and sit the f**k down.

People not moving down the f carriage.
I have no shame and just yell now.

My (not) favourite is when the train is inexplicably half the length. I get on at the beginning of the line so I always get a seat but when the train is only 4 carriages instead of 8 I know it will be carnage by the time we get halfway and everyone will be upset and stressy and trying to crush on.

People travelling at rush hour with bikes/enormous amounts of luggage/going somewhere for fun and being super noisy and unware that it's rush hour, and then getting arsey with regular commuters who really cannot be dealing with all this on the 07.47.

And finally people who step off the train and stop in front of the doors, or get to the top of the escalator and stop dead to look at their phone, or get through the ticket barriers and stop, or stop right in the station entrance. Big pileup behind them ensues. Have some spatial awareness and get out of the way!!!

People that travel on the train during rushhour who have not been at work such as coming back from shopping or where obviously had day out with young children. I know IABU but it still annoys me!

When you’re an early commuter and are the first to get a coffee from the cafe/kiosk… but they haven’t flushed the machine out thoroughly so your pricey brew tastes like bicarbonate of soda/weird descaling chemicals, but you’re already on the move and can’t do anything about it!

Yes, this happened to me this week…

My biggest hate is when people try to push on to the train when people are trying to get off. If they used an ounce of common sense they’d realise that they’d have more space to get on if they gave us a second to get off.

Standing on the left on the escalator. I do actually sometimes shout to whoever is three people ahead, blocking the left, in a breezy, upbeat yet authoritative way "stand on the right please!".

Oh yes, always. But that’s why it’s sometimes more annoying when someone’s walking down very very slowly, because they might as well be standing still but you can’t object to them.

So you're the one who actually buys coffee from the platform / station kiosk.

I had laptop wars on a double table on my train home last night. Man across from me slowly edging mine off the table.

And there is some bloke sat next to me on the train right now having a loud conversation with his wife on speaker.

<sigh>

Gah!! Agree...

Does anyone else amuse themselves by playing Patriarchy Chicken? 😁

www.newstatesman.com/politics/2019/02/how-play-patriarchy-chicken-why-i-refuse-move-out-way-men

there is some bloke sat next to me on the train right now having a loud conversation with his wife on speaker

Join in!

Bags on seats, or taking over an 4-seat table with coats, laptop, coffee etc. And then the faux-flustered “oh, is this train busy? I hadn’t noticed!” as people keep boarding. It’s the 8.22 train into Edinburgh, Geoff, of course it’s fucking busy.

People on one of my recent trains who insisted on trying to get on when there was clearly no space - everyone was packed liked sardines. So no one went anywhere because they wouldn’t move as the doors could not shut.

it’s an overground line and can be a nightmare if part of the line goes down - luckily I go the whole route so always have a seat both ways.

I commute into Liverpool three times per week then back out again to Wirral, two trains to work and two home. My biggest peeves are people not being ready with their ticket to go through the barrier and taking ages to find it holding up everyone behind them. My second is the selfish people who use the chair next to them as bag storage and don’t put it on their lap because the train is always heaving and I hate having to ask them to move the bag because they look at me as if I have two heads!