Your guide to handling a**holes on public transport

Millicently · 11-02-2020 10:54AM

BlaktainPicard wrote: »

I remember being on a greyhound bus in the US from NYC to Cape Cod ' hungover, and some fecker sat beside me with a load of strong smelling sandwiches and was munching away the whole journey - awful.

I absolutely hate when they eat stinky food in a confined windowless space. You can be trapped for hours with it. The amount of people who buy crap from Supermacs and eat it on the train from Heuston is ridiculous, that crap should be banned, the stench of it is atrocious but I console myself that it's probably going to leave them raw arsed on the way out of them.

Strumms · 11-02-2020 11:05AM

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

Your mistake was sitting in a 4 seater...potential for three times as much hassle than if you'd gone for 2 seats with no table!

This, yep, to be avoided at all costs. There will always be at least one of the four who will think it’s their personal office space with laptop, food, paperwork, loud phone calls....and whatever else, I rarely have a comfortable journey if I’m stuck there, give me an aisle seat at a two seater before anywhere at a four...

On the most Eurostar trains they have in Standard Premier ‘solo’ seats with just one seat and a table, or one seat opposite one seat, worth it for a more comfy, relaxed and jackass free experience.

machaseh · 11-02-2020 11:23AM

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

Sorry, no. There's being honest and speaking your mind and then there's being a rude c*nt, and a lot of them fall into the latter category. There's a reason that tact and empathy are generally valued in societies around the world.

Another funny thing about the rude Dutch people I've known is that they could give it out but they could never, ever take it back. God forbid you spoke to them the way they spoke to you, they would be incredibly offended.
!

I made a thread on how Irish people are superficial on this forum a while ago and it exploded into a 100 page rac1st tirade telling me to get out of Ireland.

Don't dish out what you can't serve is the motto, and the Irish are certainly not better at following that motto than the Dutch.

machaseh · 11-02-2020 11:27AM

Incidentally, once I was having a phone call on a train to cork and I already had a few cans (as I find train rides super boring and drinking is the only thing to do) and perhaps my voice was a bit loud. I then realized after like 5 minutes that all the irish people were like very subtly gesturing to me and looking at me in a strange way.

Why didn't they just shout 'TURN DOWN THE VOLUME THERE BUDDY', then I would have stopped talking loudly instantly. That's what we would do in the Netherlands. Or even tap someone's shoulder and politely asked to turn the volume down.

This strange gesturing and winking really does not land with me no.

nigeldaniel · 11-02-2020 11:33AM

About 10% of the population are just aching for a confrontation of any kind. Tolerance is increasing a necessary tool to have.

looksee · 11-02-2020 11:48AM

machaseh wrote: »

Incidentally, once I was having a phone call on a train to cork and I already had a few cans (as I find train rides super boring and drinking is the only thing to do) and perhaps my voice was a bit loud. I then realized after like 5 minutes that all the irish people were like very subtly gesturing to me and looking at me in a strange way.

Why didn't they just shout 'TURN DOWN THE VOLUME THERE BUDDY', then I would have stopped talking loudly instantly. That's what we would do in the Netherlands. Or even tap someone's shoulder and politely asked to turn the volume down.

This strange gesturing and winking really does not land with me no.

They didn't shout 'TURN DOWN THE VOLUME THERE BUDDY' because this is not somewhere else, its Ireland, and that's not the way people interact here. It doesn't matter whether you think its right or wrong, that's how it is. If you want the interaction of the Netherlands then that is where you have to be. This is a different country, with different customs and its your responsibility to find out what those customs are, or accept being considered a foreign barbarian.

pjdarcy · 11-02-2020 12:06PM

bitofabind wrote: »

...

I’ve now re-seated myself in an empty seat across the way and am ignoring her glares in my direction...

Instead, just meet her glare with a expressionless steely stare and maintain it for the rest of the train journey.

punisher5112 · 11-02-2020 12:07PM

I've told many they invented a thing called ear phones...

machaseh · 11-02-2020 02:02PM

looksee wrote: »

They didn't shout 'TURN DOWN THE VOLUME THERE BUDDY' because this is not somewhere else, its Ireland, and that's not the way people interact here. It doesn't matter whether you think its right or wrong, that's how it is. If you want the interaction of the Netherlands then that is where you have to be. This is a different country, with different customs and its your responsibility to find out what those customs are, or accept being considered a foreign barbarian.

But why don't they? It is much quicker to just tell the culprit that he's being a bit too loud. Sometimes people get carried away in a conversation and don't realize, especially after a couple of cans.

bitofabind · 11-02-2020 02:39PM

I'm all about direct communication where things don't get lost in translation or the message doesn't get watered down in its delivery.

I can be fairly abrupt myself tbh, hard to get from A to B without hassle when you're living in London. The way this woman behaved wasn't abrupt or direct, it was RUDE. It someone spills a few iotas of coffee on you BY ACCIDENT and APOLOGISES and offers some tissues by way of further apology, and you're still acting like a giant cuunt, well then probability says you're likely just a giant cuunt.

Patrick2010 · 11-02-2020 02:49PM

machaseh wrote: »

But why don't they? It is much quicker to just tell the culprit that he's being a bit too loud. Sometimes people get carried away in a conversation and don't realize, especially after a couple of cans.

TBH If I was sitting near some loudmouth on the phone knocking back cans I'd be reluctant to say something. People are usually cautious about confrontations in areas like trains, buses etc.

Feisar · 11-02-2020 02:56PM

machaseh wrote: »

But why don't they? It is much quicker to just tell the culprit that he's being a bit too loud. Sometimes people get carried away in a conversation and don't realize, especially after a couple of cans.

Were you speaking Dutch? Probably thought you were an eastern European and might stab them:pac::pac::pac:

humberklog · 11-02-2020 03:16PM

I carry a battered up blue plaster (like for kitchen staff) and pop it on the seat beside me.

machaseh · 11-02-2020 03:19PM

bitofabind wrote: »

I'm all about direct communication where things don't get lost in translation or the message doesn't get watered down in its delivery.

I can be fairly abrupt myself tbh, hard to get from A to B without hassle when you're living in London. The way this woman behaved wasn't abrupt or direct, it was RUDE. It someone spills a few iotas of coffee on you BY ACCIDENT and APOLOGISES and offers some tissues by way of further apology, and you're still acting like a giant cuunt, well then probability says you're likely just a giant cuunt.

I would agree with that but I find the context of her just eating on the train (which is perfectly allowed) a bit superfluous.

machaseh · 11-02-2020 03:20PM

Feisar wrote: »

Were you speaking Dutch? Probably thought you were an eastern European and might stab them:pac::pac::pac:

I had no idea that Dutch sounded like Eastern European languages to the Irish ear? I usually hear that it sounds like German (which is logical as it is related to German). Especially the guttural sounds that we have are to my knowledge not present in any eastern european language. But who knows.

frash · 11-02-2020 03:23PM

buried wrote: »

Start coughing and sneezing and roar into your phone how you just came back from China.

You'll soon have the entire carriage to yourself.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51457610

https://twitter.com/vesti_news/status/1226863875242500096

Redneck Reject71 · 11-02-2020 05:52PM

I like the ones who are on their phones, having a conversation on speakerphone.I start joining in the conversation, laughing and asking questions. All the while the person is giving me dirty looks or telling me to STFU.It's not soon after they take it off speaker or hang up and spend the rest of the trip mumbling under their breathe and giving me the stink eye. Which is another source of entertainment for me,heh.

anewme · 11-02-2020 09:54PM

I flew to Greece with my sister in May. We booked 2 aisle seats opposite each other. I arrived to my seat and there was a very large couple there. ( non English speaking) She was in my seat, he was in the window and they both had crap on the middle seat. I stood beside my seat and was double checking the ticket. The woman in my seat pointed to the middle seat and I pointed to my aisle seat. She moved into it reluctantly was spilling over in top of me.

Once the flight started they opened a bag, which had a whole loaf of cold toast and then a jam jar which they had filled with some kind of smelly fish concoction. They ate it for most of the flight and the SMELL. My sister was laughing at me initially as I was like a lunatic, but then the smell infected the whole area and the laughing stopped.

Worst flight of my life.

The SMELL.

bitofabind · 11-02-2020 10:01PM

anewme wrote: »

I flew to Greece with my sister in May. We booked 2 aisle seats opposite each other. I arrived to my seat and there was a very large couple there. ( non English speaking) She was in my seat, he was in the window and they both had crap on the middle seat. I stood beside my seat and was double checking the ticket. The woman in my seat pointed to the middle seat and I pointed to my aisle seat. She moved into it reluctantly was spilling over in top of me.

Once the flight started they opened a bag, which had a loaf whole of cold toast and then a jam jar which they had filled with some kind of smelly fish concoction. They ate it for most of the flight and the SMELL. My sister was laughing at me initially as I was like a lunatic, but then the smell infected the whole area and the laughing stopped.

Worst flight of my life.

The SMELL.

How do people get away with this kind of carry-on? Surely a flight attendant should've intervened.

anewme · 11-02-2020 10:08PM

I laugh at it now. Sods law that I got landed right beside them.

punisher5112 · 11-02-2020 10:11PM

anewme wrote: »

I flew to Greece with my sister in May. We booked 2 aisle seats opposite each other. I arrived to my seat and there was a very large couple there. ( non English speaking) She was in my seat, he was in the window and they both had crap on the middle seat. I stood beside my seat and was double checking the ticket. The woman in my seat pointed to the middle seat and I pointed to my aisle seat. She moved into it reluctantly was spilling over in top of me.

Once the flight started they opened a bag, which had a whole loaf of cold toast and then a jam jar which they had filled with some kind of smelly fish concoction. They ate it for most of the flight and the SMELL. My sister was laughing at me initially as I was like a lunatic, but then the smell infected the whole area and the laughing stopped.

Worst flight of my life.

The SMELL.

As a bus driver in a company where it's against the companies own bye-laws to eat onboard....

I asked this woman one day to please put the lid back on her lunch box as the smell was shocking as she started to munch into it....

It ended up with other passengers calling me racist etc and why would I stop her...

I was getting to the point where I would have had to get out to get sick...

Why others took it upon themselves to use the race card too is beyond me.

She reluctantly stopped.

JustAThought · 11-02-2020 11:44PM

In fairness there are people who would lose the plot and whose day would be ruined if they had a few specks of dirt on them - you probably met ine.

Regarding her, in a way she was right. Why didn’t you hold the cup before you stood up- pretty simple and common decency? Shr might have been going somewhere special and not wanted to arrive flecked with coffee - not to mention that coffee often stains.

Im on angry dutchwoman munchers side. Her taxtic of getting you to move & dealing with you sounds pretty efficient - albeit ruthless.

Leg End Reject · 11-02-2020 11:46PM

anewme wrote: »

I flew to Greece with my sister in May. We booked 2 aisle seats opposite each other. I arrived to my seat and there was a very large couple there. ( non English speaking) She was in my seat, he was in the window and they both had crap on the middle seat. I stood beside my seat and was double checking the ticket. The woman in my seat pointed to the middle seat and I pointed to my aisle seat. She moved into it reluctantly was spilling over in top of me.

Once the flight started they opened a bag, which had a whole loaf of cold toast and then a jam jar which they had filled with some kind of smelly fish concoction. They ate it for most of the flight and the SMELL. My sister was laughing at me initially as I was like a lunatic, but then the smell infected the whole area and the laughing stopped.

Worst flight of my life.

The SMELL.

I'd have upended the whole lot over them.

Nollog · 12-02-2020 12:14AM

"What more could I do?"

Offer to pay for the dry cleaning bill?

bitofabind · 12-02-2020 12:30AM

JustAThought wrote: »

Regarding her, in a way she was right. Why didn’t you hold the cup before you stood up- pretty simple and common decency?

Yer havin a laugh right there. Why didn't I? Coz it was the other side of the table, empty, I got up fairly abruptly to let the other wan out and accidents happen?

Going somewhere with an arrival time of 11.30pm in Netherlands? She was a typical tourist en route home after a few days knocking about London eating Pret sandwiches.

Nothing to do with her being Dutch anyway, I met some wholly sound people today who were pleasant, kind and happy-out, so I'm putting it down to bad egg sour-puss encounter on public transport. Gas craic that you'd consider her behaviour normal, I guess it takes all sorts.

JustAThought · 12-02-2020 01:30AM

bitofabind wrote: »

Yer havin a laugh right there. Why didn't I? Coz it was the other side of the table, empty, I got up fairly abruptly to let the other wan out and accidents happen?

Going somewhere with an arrival time of 11.30pm in Netherlands? She was a typical tourist en route home after a few days knocking about London eating Pret sandwiches.

Nothing to do with her being Dutch anyway, I met some wholly sound people today who were pleasant, kind and happy-out, so I'm putting it down to bad egg sour-puss encounter on public transport. Gas craic that you'd consider her behaviour normal, I guess it takes all sorts.

Its basic courtesy to hold onto a cup or beverage when standing up -and people are passing by - particularly on a moving train - it’s an entirely predictable event. Your lack of consideration was possibly what irked her most and triggered her foot stomping evil eye rolling. Seriously.

Is Pret a still a thing? I’d totally forgotten them - I’d almost just go to London just to gorge on their sambos - yum. Big happy flashback. Wasn’t it in one of them that some idiot left her 3 million Stradivarious violin by accident a few years back!? Actually got it back too! Miracles never cease! Lesson learned.

bitofabind · 12-02-2020 01:55AM

JustAThought wrote: »

Its basic courtesy to hold onto a cup or beverage when standing up -and people are passing by - particularly on a moving train - it’s an entirely predictable event. Your lack of consideration was possibly what irked her most and triggered her foot stomping evil eye rolling. Seriously.

OK, I'll rise to the challenge of being totally petty here. No, it wasn't an entirely predictable event. The cup was on her side of the table. If what you're saying was true, I'd also have had to pick up my laptop, notepad, bottle of water and yer wan's bottle of fruit juice, all of which were on the table and in closer proximity to me than said coffee cup.

This was an accident. You know. Something that happened unintentionally and unexpectedly and oops, sorry about that, here let me find a way to help. Oh you're going to be a giant cuunt then? Right you are. Off I go. Such is life.

Pret is awesome. Particularly like their pesto chicken flatbreads.

sbsquarepants · 12-02-2020 09:57AM

After my car committed suicide recently i have been getting the train to work, there's a guy who gets on and off at my stops, who is the living embodiment of comic book guy from the simpsons.

On he gets and heads straight to the toilet, where he stays for the whole journey, i guess he sees his it as his own private carriage or something like that!

I wouldn't go so far as calling him an asshole for it, but it is definitely weird.:D

machaseh · 12-02-2020 12:47PM

sbsquarepants wrote: »

After my car committed suicide recently i have been getting the train to work, there's a guy who gets on and off at my stops, who is the living embodiment of comic book guy from the simpsons.

On he gets and heads straight to the toilet, where he stays for the whole journey, i guess he sees his it as his own private carriage or something like that!

I wouldn't go so far as calling him an asshole for it, but it is definitely weird.:D

sounds like your man isnt paying his fare and tries to avoid being checked for his ticket by sitting in the jax then when he arrives at conolly he'll just tailgate other passangers through the gates hah

sbsquarepants · 12-02-2020 02:10PM

No i do see him scan a leap card sometimes - i think his arse is just too big for the seats to be honest!

Your guide to handling a**holes on public transport

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