Selfish people on trains

[Usernamqwerty]

The bloke in the seat opposite me is playing Gimme Gimme Gimme for the 4th time in a row on his phone, really loudly 😱🙄.

What bugs you on trains?

@Larryyourwaiter

People who sit next to you when the train is virtually empty. And then seem pissed when you move away from them. I don’t miss commuting.

I’m in London so I know exactly lol

The funny thing is that years ago I used to be really easy going and anything for a quiet life but travelling on London Underground changes you so now I’m a nasty Cow and not to be messed with on the underground.Hahaha

All of these things are annoying but the most annoying part of train travel is trying -and failing - to find a ticket that costs less than three days' fecking wages.

People sitting on the outside in airline style 2 seaters in the hope no one will sit next to them. I don’t want to have to ask for your permission to sit down when I get on or deal with your amateur theatrics and tutting when you have to move (usually by one inch at most and requiring me to contort my body/ungracefully climb over you to get to that awful window seat).

Any unnecessary conversations. You don’t need to speak to your partner/mum who you will see in approx 20 mins about your day/personal life/plans for 2050. Wait until you see them.

Feet on seats. So grim and disrespectful.

Music or videos with no headphones. So rude. And no one says anything as you think it will be aggro even though everyone is thinking the same thing.

Make up application. Elbows digging into me whilst you rummage for your items. Get up earlier. Why is it ok for other commuters to see your unmade up face and not work colleagues? Disclaimer: I don’t wear makeup and could not give a monkeys what someone else looks like as long as they are clean.

That’s better. I’m not miserable really!

The quiet carriage rarely is these days. I often book it when I’m travelling alone but will probably not bother in future.

Not trains but what annoys me about mumsnet is people talking about songs and them getting stuck in my head

Trains...

Too much talking
Trying to get me to move from my reserved seat as its somehow preferable to you
Music you can hear

People who glare, tut or comment on young people sitting in the priority seats. I had one couple talk loudly about how disgraceful it was that I was sitting in one once when I was 22.

I've been disabled since birth and needed the seat. I enjoyed telling them so too.

These days I have the TFL 'please offer me a seat' badge for people with invisible disabilities and the card so I just flash that at anyone who comments.

On the plus side, I'm very grateful to everyone who has clocked my badge on a busy train and kindly offered me their seat. I live somewhere I get a seat 99.9% of the time but occasionally an earlier cancelled train forces me on to a train with no seats free.

@elelel

What dont you understand? It is pretty clear.

I didn't understand any of it. So it wasn't 'pretty clear' to me.

Thanks for explaining. I guess 'for it' and 'getting it' mean beat up?

Oh no not beaten up. Just in deep trouble with the guy who was talking too quietly.

It was a commuter train and the quiet talker was trying to manage this guy's behaviour from the train. Presumably his line report who was messing up. It sounded like the quiet talker had had an inkling the line report would do something wrong hence checking up on him with multiple people over multiple phone calls. Well it was more interesting than my inbox anyway!

Very loud sniffling.. just blow your nose

@Herestoyoucolinrobinson

People tutting over priority seats while having no clue if the people in them need them.

+1

I once had a woman (one half of a couple who I assume wanted to sit together) ask me loudly and in a disbelieving tone 'are YOU disabled?' I'm ashamed to say I was so taken aback I showed her my disabled railcard instead of more correctly telling her to fuck right off.

Hot day. Rather large man sweating profusely sat opposite me.
Proceeded to mop his wet forehead with his hand then scrape the sweat onto the table between us. Repeatedly.
I was wedged in by the passenger next to me and so sat for the next 20 minutes eyeing the pool of sweat advancing towards me.
Utterly grim

@paulthebear

People cutting their toenails

Eeewwww

Trains where the promised wi-fi doesn't work.

Trains where the air conditioning seems to be turned up to maximum even though it's not actually a hot day.

When the train company somehow fails to notice that a certain route is always busy and continue to send a measly two-carriage train that is jammed all the way.

But most of all I hate the idiotic "See it. Say it. Sorted" slogan that seems to be printed on every bloody poster.

I've actually handed tissues to snifflers on trains - much to the amusement of fellow passengers!

Oh god that slogan! Every time the guard starts giving security instructions over the tannoy I'm thinking "Please don't say it out loud. I've pissed out a tonne of money for a shitty, late service with nowhere to put my suitcase. Things are already bad enough anyway. Don't make it any worse than it needs to be."

Text the British Transport Police on 61016
See it. Say it. Sort it.

TRIGGERED

Men blatantly picking their noses.
People tutting when you want to sit on a seat occupied by their bag.
Not wearing masks
Spreading onto your seat

Dogs sitting up on the seats 🤢

@Momicrone

Bighuff, I think that about any public space from self service cafes to trains to parks, why can't people clear up after themselves

Sometimes because my 10yo with ADHD is making it impossible to do anything except prevent him from destroying the carriage or hitting his brother. I used to clear up after ourselves when I could strap him in a buggy.

@elelel

Who decides which pregnant woman does and does not need the seat? They should always be offered.

My point re pregnant women was why did that poster think a pregnant woman should be offered the priority seat, rather than any other seat.

Shouldn't I have sat in the priority seat when I was pregnant then? There's a picture of a pregnant woman on the sign.

Like other posters, I wondered why train make up application was so offensive (no, I don’t do it. I’m curious).

This, upthread:

Make up application. Elbows digging into me whilst you rummage for your items. Get up earlier. Why is it ok for other commuters to see your unmade up face and not work colleagues?

Bizarre. So the offensive elements of it are:

• rummaging, which always includes elbowing. Really? Every time?

• not getting up early enough. Low womanly standards. Slovenly.

• caring less about the opinions of randomers on a train, rather than the work colleagues with whom you spend 40 hours a week. Disrespectful.

Complaints about women applying make up on public transport usually come from men and are usually motivated by misogyny. The reasons above are less unpleasant, but weirder.

Yes, I was going to ask @DillDanding why make-up application is selfish.

Those reasons quoted above are bizarre!

It's selfish for someone to show you their unmadeup face? Who are you?

It reminds me of the guy who started a twitter account 'women eating on trains'. Horribly misogynistic and when this was pointed out he was forced to take it down.

Women do their make-up on the train because they're already doing more of the housework, childcare and emotional labour before they leave the house. Because they are expected to look a certain way that men aren't. (ask yourself why you've never been bothered by men doing make-up on trains). Because we're paid 70p in the £1 a man earns so probably have to commute further.

Noone wants to be poked by elbows- if that's the issue then be bothered by that rather than the make-up.

People sitting on the outside in airline style 2 seaters in the hope no one will sit next to them. I don’t want to have to ask for your permission to sit down when I get on or deal with your amateur theatrics and tutting when you have to move (usually by one inch at most and requiring me to contort my body/ungracefully climb over you to get to that awful window seat).

I always sit on the aisle. I'll move to let someone in but I'm not going to sit by the window when I don't want to. I remember an awful man insisting I move up rather than let him in to the window seat (I was standing, waiting for him to take the seat). The window seats on this particular train had set tables, they were horribly uncomfortable. Bloody audacity.

Women putting make up on is the only 'offence' here that I don't agree with. Why is it such a problem? Every other annoying thing people mention is loud or smelly or physically intrusive. Someone putting on their make up is none of these things. Just don't look if it bothers you! I don't wear make up myself so it's not even like I'm being defensive.

I once witnessed a woman squat down and do a wee between two rows of seats on an early morning train.

Aggressive behaviour from drugged up people. People that talk all the fucking time. Leaving rubbish behind - people used to take theirs with them at one time.

The advent of mobile phones has lead to a whole new category of annoying behaviours that did not happen previously.

There’s been a massive decline in public behaviour over the last 50 years, although football crowd behaviour was worse in the 70s.