Posted on 03/23/2023 4:28:55 PM PDT by SamAdams76
It has happened more times than I can count. The doors slide open on a train car full of half-occupied pairs of seats. As the newcomer enters, we all set our features to maximum stoniness, flick the dimmer switch behind our eyes. New Guy picks his way awkwardly down the aisle. He is praying for an empty row to suddenly materialize, a resentment-free zone rich in the traveler’s most treasured resource: space. No luck. He comes closer, closer. Here he is. Here is his stupid bag being stowed against my feet. Here is his stupid arm on the armrest. Here is his stupid aftershave in my nostrils and his stupid music leaking out of his barely-muffling headphones two centimeters from my ear.
New Guy, why do you always sit next to me?
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
My wife was seat mates with Dan Rather on a flight from Oklahoma City to Chicago.
Keep their jobs? The penalty for dissin’ a ghettopotumus can be instant deff!
Assuming she's not lying...
I can't speak for all guys, but starting from my early days of commuting to NYC along the NE Corridor to today, I retain my early preference for my "commute neighbor."
Absolutely nobody.
When I commute, I will walk great distances to either get a window seat (which almost guarantees nobody sitting next to me, especially nowadays).
I either work or read the news or pray or doze. I'm almost always listening to music, almost always at a loud volume (on the subways...fuggetaboudit, it's at 11).
I don't want anyone next to me, man, woman or vegetable. Usually, the public abides (the music is a great deterrent, and I'm no GQ model).
When some person DOES sit next to me, I assiduously ignore them. Often, they're yacking on the phone (in which case I will crank Zappa or The Who or Hendrix to 11) or wearing a mask and petrified (and I may lower my volume because they need all the help they can get).
As a side note, if the person next to me is a nosy Karen or Brandon, I'll pull up FR and read the most over the top Red Meat article possible.
Here is her stupid purse slapping me in the face and a huge obnoxiously colored shopping bag being stowed against my feet. Here is her stupid fat ass spilling over into my space. Here is her stupid perfume applied by the bucket-load in my nostrils and his stupid disco music leaking out of her barely-muffling headphones two centimeters from my ear.
This has changed recently on the Metro North out of Connecticut. Trains are much more full and they haven't really made the trains much longer.
Prior to COVID, most rush hour trains were 9-10 cars long. They continue to be mostly 6-8 cars these days which means that if you take a three seater early on, you will almost always get a seatmate. In fact, the middle seat sometimes gets filled during the Tuesday-Thursday period as well as most of the two-seaters.
Many commuters work from home Mondays and Fridays so you are likely to get your own row on those days, especially if you take a two-seater.
Call me a chauvinist but I always prefer sitting next to a woman on a train as opposed to another male. The women are much better behaved, less likely to eat food (disgusting) or yap on the phone. They also keep to their own space, crossing their legs and not sprawling into the seat next to them.
On three seaters, women often place their purses or bags in the middle seat, reducing the chances of somebody taking that middle seat.
So yes, much better to sit next to a woman on a train.
It probably has more to do with size than being female.
If given the choice to sit next to a small thin man, or a large wide woman, I would sit next to the man every time.
I wanna know where you got that video of m...uh, my friend, and who the hell took it.
I’m a guy and will sit next to a woman every time, instead of some dude. Notice the chick in this pic is sitting on the aisle when the window is open…an attempt to block a male from sitting next to her. If all the open seats are next to a guy sitting by a window, I will scoot into her window seat anyway. I do keep to myself and will not put my bag against her feet or abuse the armrest.
Good observation. I do same. I take window seat and then behave myself. Sometimes she’ll scoot to window and let me take aisle seat. That’s fine too.
It's just like men's bathroom etiquette. Keep your distance from other dudes.
Every time I see some 400 lb behemoth come down the aisle my greatest fear is that it’s going to sit down next to me. I have no issues with a good looking normal sized woman sitting down next to me. Occasionally it even happens.
Do women just whine all the time?
Haha
Yep
Not all of them.
Some scream...
I like your attitude!
I’m thankful I’ve never had to commute on a train.
I don't have to worry about NYC traffic. I just find a seat, strap on my headphones and open a good book. Sometimes on the way home, I'll crack a cold beer as well.
"WHEEEEEEEEE!"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.