Subway Etiquette

After a shade more than two months living in NYC, I do not claim to be an expert on subway manners, morals and the like. I do, however, believe I have a fairly strong grasp on what people shouldn't do and the little things that leave me shaking my head and that I am not alone in those feelings.

For one, those people that crowd the doors before they open in an attempt to get onto a crowded train. You can't get on until people get off, it is quite simple and you blocking the exit only hampers that simple process. Double negative for those people that do this then get on and proceed to block the doors once on the inside. In an already cramped and stressful process, these people only add to the misery of riding the MTA.

These people pale in comparison to those people (typically male suits reading (important) documents. You might recognize them as the ones who turn sideways in front of the door in their brand of courtesy to help people get on and off, then turn their backs to their doors once they close. These people hold onto their territory in the exact opposite way of our American Indians, refusing to relinquish any control in the name ease of ridership.

These aren't the only types of people who make my daily subway commutes more difficult than they already are (riding the overcrowded Lexington line trains is a pain any way you slice it), but they are the strongest examples of the selfish acts occuring underground each and every day beneath the streets of Manhattan. Sure, there are the people who stand on the left side of the escalators in a defiant manner to keep me from getting some exercise/to the top or bottom in expediated fashion who I occasionaly come very close to putting the shoulder down and hammering through. There are hundreds of little nuances contribute to riding the MTA at rush hour a migraine, but these are the ones who we should all let know that their actions are not appreciate nor necessary.

Next time you see one of these perpetrators, I encourage you to act. Shake your head in a disapproving fashion, give them the sarcrastic thumbs up or clap or simply dethrone them from their perches with aggresive action of your own. Conflict may be the only way to take back the rails.