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Can you not sit somewhere else?
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borderpaul


Posts: 95
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #1
18-05-2011 08:43 AM

I got on a busy train this morning at Forest Hill and immediately went to a vacant seat to sit down but there was a handbag open with flash ladies black shoes and a busy well-dressed woman on her mobile sitting in the seat beside. She stayed on her mobile and pretended not to notice.

I intimated that I wanted to sit down and waited, she eventually said "Can you not sit somewhere else". I replied I am sitting here and she moved her handbag off and I sat down.

She will be appearing in The Apprentice next year no doubt

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Londondrz


Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
Post: #2
18-05-2011 09:25 AM

I would have sat on her bag.

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spud


Posts: 65
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #3
18-05-2011 09:49 AM

Incredible. I'd have asked her whether she'd bought a separate ticket for her handbag...

Where do people like that get their massively over-developed sense of entitlement from?

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Triangle


Posts: 133
Joined: May 2007
Post: #4
18-05-2011 10:27 AM

Good for you.

I had an interesting experience some time ago when I boarded a train at Elephant & Castle for Kent. There were quite a few passengers standing, but I thought I could see an empty seat at the end of the carriage. So I made my way down to the seat and then realized why everyone else had decided to remain standing.

Stretched out full length across one seat was a very shady looking hoody, chin on chest, supposedly dozing – while stretched out on the best part of the other seat was his pit bull type dog with no muzzle, his massive head and battered chops resting between his stretch out legs… As I stood for a moment contemplating the unoccupied part of the seat, it felt like the attention of the entire carriage was now focused on me.

Since I have never had a problem with dogs and I was going all the way to the end of the line, I decided to go for it and hence (carefully) perched my backside on the remainder of the seat – ensuring that I didn’t sit on the toes of the muscular hound.

There then followed a slightly heart stopping moment when both owner and hound raised their heads to eyeball me for a few seconds –followed by relief when they both evidently decided that I wasn’t worth the trouble.

What I did find disturbing was the unspoken relationship between the man and his dog, both behaving in a menacing unison. When it was time for them to get off, the man simply pushed his boot against the dogs backside and it jumped down and obediently followed its owner to the nearest door.

All very intimidating.

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #5
18-05-2011 10:48 AM

I wonder whether theyu hac a ticket. Why should dogs travel for nothing, they never used to on the railways.

I find another problem nowadays is not being to utilise a seat beacuse the other persons has eaten to many pies. I am sure Ryan Air would charge a surcharge ( or two seats ) , why not London Transport and British Rail..............

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Cellar Door


Posts: 356
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #6
18-05-2011 11:56 AM

Triangle’s pit bill with no muzzle sounds much more delightful than borderpaul’s pit bull with lipstick and a handbag.

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #7
18-05-2011 12:05 PM

Dogs I can understand, but ponies?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-13437279

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Londondrz


Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
Post: #8
18-05-2011 12:10 PM

I like the peole who sit with their feet on the opposite seat. I make a HUGE fuss about brushing down the seat when I make them move their feet and then look at them in an accusing way for quite some time. I will of course be stabbed one day but hey ho.

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Triangle


Posts: 133
Joined: May 2007
Post: #9
18-05-2011 01:17 PM

During his latter years my dad lost his sight due to diabetes and eventually had several guide dogs. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association usually match the size of the dog to the height of the blind owner and since my dad was quite tall, he was assigned large German Shepherd dogs.

Up to his retirement, he used to work off the Old Kent Road and would commute every day by bus. The size of the dog and where it should be placed on the bus was always a problem.

The dog was simply too big to sit between him and the seat in front and if it sat to one side of him then it either blocked the seat next to him or the main aisle down the middle of the bus. As a result, even though it was obviously a guide dog with a harness attached, some passengers would become quite irate and complain to the conductor. (I’m talking older type buses here)

Fortunately, the conductors got to know him and suggested he sit the dog under the stairwell where the pushchairs are put, which while separating dog and owner was probably the best solution since the dog could sit in peace and the passengers could sit and move about freely. But even then it was still a problem if someone boarded with a pushchair and essentially it was a no win situation.

However, I should think the sight of a big, black, long haired German Shepherd dog staring out at you as you boarded the platform of the bus must have been priceless!

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shzl400


Posts: 729
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #10
18-05-2011 06:51 PM

I was attempting to read a magazine whilst standing on the legendary P4. Given the way the bus was stopping and starting in the traffic, this occasionally meant that I inadvertantly brushed the hair of the lady in the seat next to me with the magazine. She objected to this in the rudest of terms, to which I suggested that, if she would give up her seat for me, the problem would be solved. Whilst she didn't give up the seat, no more was said on the matter.

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seeformiles


Posts: 269
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #11
18-05-2011 09:20 PM

I'm usually a calm person - but the bags on seats thing is one of the things that does enrage me!

That, and everyone sitting on the outside seats near the aisle even if they're staying on 'til London Bridge - because then you're forced to complete an awkward obstacle course trying to climb over various pairs of legs (usually stretched right out) and oversized bags while trying to get to that elusive empty seat by the window.

Some people are so incredibly selfish - and shameless it seems.

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hillsideresident


Posts: 148
Joined: Jul 2010
Post: #12
18-05-2011 10:29 PM

Why would someone not object to being repeatedly prodded by someone's magazine? Confused

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IWereAbsolutelyFuming


Posts: 531
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #13
19-05-2011 07:57 AM

Quote:
I would have sat on her bag.


Nah, it's not the bag's fault, I would have sat on her lap.

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jon14


Posts: 145
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #14
19-05-2011 08:57 AM

hillsideresident wrote:
Why would someone not object to being repeatedly prodded by someone's magazine?


Because you understand that the other person is standing (whilst you've got a comfortable seat), you appreciate that it's hard to stand up on a bus that's stopping and starting all the time, and realise that, at the end of the day, it's not that big a deal if your hair gets brushed once or twice.

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #15
19-05-2011 10:05 AM

If I am taking up two seats then people standing are entitled to use my head as a book rest. When I am sitting in a single seat I would appreciate it if people did not touch me. Standing on a bus or a train is not always easy, but if you cannot read the paper without hitting/brushing other people then put it away. If you continuously bash me with your paper and leave pages hanging an inch in front of my face, then don't be surprised when I react with annoyance and am less than polite when asking you to cease your anti-social behaviour.

Accidents will happen but it is the persistence of some people in their anti-social behaviour that annoys me. However, I usually find that headbutting their paper and stretching usually makes it difficult enough for them to read that they move their paper.

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #16
19-05-2011 03:36 PM

I agree with Michael.

I would think trying to read a magazine , paper , book , whilst standing on a Bus is more or less impossible without upsetting others.

The person sitting is quite allowed to sit without being molested by The National Geographic every time the bus stops and starts.

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jon14


Posts: 145
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #17
19-05-2011 04:16 PM

Bashing, hitting, molesting...talk about drama queens!

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Scootagal


Posts: 36
Joined: Aug 2010
Post: #18
19-05-2011 04:20 PM

I agree too! I could write an essay on my thoughts on reading on the tube at rush hour but I would be here all day. In fact train etiquette in general - people's spatial awareness just goes out the window! Being quite short, my shoulders are also quite useful for the tall to use as an elbow rest whilst reading their tomes. My face is also frequently inches away from newspapers and armpits. If everyone just accepted at rush hour it would be better to fold their papers away and let one or two more people on the train that everyone would be a lot happier. Also - people who insist on clinging onto whatever they are clinging to when the train is stationary thus meaning everyone else has to navigate around them to get off the train and tall people who can't seem to realise that they would be better holding the bar at the top rather than the side bars and that short people can squeeze beside the doors better than tall people who would be better swapping for the middle. And don't start me on people who read their papers in the middle of the carriage between the seats when the bits at either end are full to the rafters. Hmm - I wasn't going to start but I seem to have so had better stop before I get on the train for another jolly journey home!

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Scootagal


Posts: 36
Joined: Aug 2010
Post: #19
19-05-2011 04:23 PM

Oh and I said all that in reference to when I was also standing - not sitting (rarely happens!) - so I don't have the luxury of enjoying a seat whilst being brushed gently on the face with a page Smile

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Scootagal


Posts: 36
Joined: Aug 2010
Post: #20
19-05-2011 04:30 PM

Talking about dogs...I had a dog sit on my knee on the back seat of the bus recently as I was next to the window and it wanted to look out. I didnt mind as I love dogs and it was a little cute jack russell with a slightly strange owner who was asking my opinion on something. She had been to the hairdressers but had to leave the dog there as she had forgot her purse and left the dog as security. She had just been to pick it up and then was wondering whether it had been fate...when I asked what she meant she said that she had to go away the next week and didn't have anywhere to put the dog so maybe she was supposed to have left the dog with the hairdressers and that it was meant to be....hmmm....it was then she started asking me about god and stuff....then it got worse....turns out it was a racist dog!! Started growling at some kids who got on the bus - and everyone thought it was my dog as it was on my knee and the woman was sat there going - he doesn't like black people....so to be fair - that journey was 100 times worse than being gently brushed with a page Smile On top of all that she had missed her stop and I had the pleasure of her company til I got off. Buses - you gotta love them.

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