If you take up more than one seat on public transportation...

Do you basically take up the whole two-person bench or do you give up your seat for two people to sit comfortably?

I take the train to work every day and I see this more and more.  I'm assuming the seats on our trains are similar to seats elsewhere.  We have a bench that provides two square cushioned pads to distinguish the two seats.  There are a lot of large riders and some stand, but there are quite a few that sit and take up most if not all of the seat.  These seats are not very big to begin with, so half a seat would only really accommodate a child, otherwise an adult would be literally be forced to hang out in the very narrow aisle.

With rising gas prices and an over population of monster SUVs and trucks, trains and public transportation are on the rise.  It's doubtful to end any time soon, it will probably get much worse before we see some sort of relief.

Now, I am no way saying that obese people have no right to sit, they most certainly do.  I am also not trying to bash overweight people.  I have just been noticing this trend of "one person to a bench" and thought I would throw it out there.

 

What really irritates me are the inconsiderate people who stack their personal belongings on the seat next to them so that no one else can sit there.

i ride public transportation every single day, when people think their purse needs it's very own seat during rush hour, i stand right in front of it and stare at them. usually, they move it. if they don't i ask them to.

I used to ride the Metro (subway train) in DC regularly and I don't see anything wrong with a very large person taking up two seats.  I prefer that they sit down out of the way rather than block the aisle :-) However our subway gets so crowded that the two seats for one person situation almost never happens.  There is almost always a child or small adult who is willing to squeeze themselves into that available space. 

What really makes me upset is when people block the extra seat with luggage or shopping bag.  That's just rude and I always ask them nicely to remove it which they usually do.  EDIT:  I see other folks agree with me on this point :-)

i always have a bit of a dilemma while riding the train, and i don't want this to come off the wrong way but i really would like to get some opinions on this.

when i'm on the train, and i see a large person sitting and they are taking up a little more than one seat there have been times where i'll sit in the remaining space. the LAST thing i want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable or embarassed, and i certainly don't squish myself into a spot that is too small and make an issue out of it. but i guess my question is this, what is worse, taking that spot, or leaving it open?

i don't want to offend or make someone uncomfortable by NOT sitting next to them because they are taking up more than a seat, but i also don't want to offend them by sitting there!

Original Post by jules817:

i ride public transportation every single day, when people think their purse needs it's very own seat during rush hour, i stand right in front of it and stare at them. usually, they move it. if they don't i ask them to.

 Oh, I hate that too!  Then when you say "Excuse me" they look at you like, what?  Very irritating and a good point!!!

Original Post by jules817:

when i'm on the train, and i see a large person sitting and they are taking up a little more than one seat there have been times where i'll sit in the remaining space. the LAST thing i want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable or embarassed, and i certainly don't squish myself into a spot that is too small and make an issue out of it. but i guess my question is this, what is worse, taking that spot, or leaving it open?

I think this is what I was really trying to say but didn't come across that way.  Thanks for re-wording it for me Jules.   

 

I just LOVE the people who put their dirty FEET up on the seat. Ugh ugh ugh so gross.

And the purse/bag/whatever also pisses me off.

Another one is people who bring their huge bikes on during rush hour, sit down in one of the seats designated for handicapped and elderly, then park their bike in front of them so it blocks not one seat, not two seats, but two seats and two standing positions. Thanks that jerk, that's very considerate of you!

I, on the other hand, like to stand as often as possible. I don't want to have to constantly be looking up from my book to see if someone elderly or with a ton of heavy groceries needs my spot.

If I am sitting, I tuck myself into my seat as much as possible, and put my purse in my lap, or on the floor in between my feet. I refuse to make someone else move or be uncomfortable because of me.

I can't stand rude people!!!

It floors me when no one offers to give up their seat for the little old lady or the obviously pregnant woman.  It's like people just put their heads down or put their nose in their book and "pretend" not to see them. 

It also seems to me that a lot of women just expect the men to give up their seats and since they are women, they shouldn't have to sacrifice theirs.  Sure, I'd like to sit, but I gladly give up my seat to someone who needs it more than I do.

People suck.

 

jules: take the seat, there is nothing that annoys me more than when you see an empty seat on a full bus with no extra room at all. One more person might get home 10 minutes earlier if you take that seat.

Strangely people who are big enough to take up two seats don't bother me at all, I figure that their legs have so much extra work to do already, they are entitled to sit down.

Things that do annoy me on buses:

• people who don't take off their backpack.
• people who huff and sigh at me when I have my (enormous and heavy) backpack on the seat next to me when there are plenty of other seats available on the bus. I'm not that interesting, go sit next to someone else until the bus fills up a little. Then I'll move it.
  
• people who carry on very loud conversations on their cell phones.
• people who don't move when I'm trying to get off the bus.
• people who don't stand up for people older than them.
• people who don't collapse their push chairs at rush hour then yell at the bus driver when he won't let them on.

That'll do for now, I'm sure there are others, but those are a start. :)

coming from 34 week pregnant woman who has been riding the subway in the heat wave-  give up your seat!  I won't take it if you're sitting down still and ask me if I want to sit down; b/c I'll feel bad and say no.  But if someone physically gets up in front of me and says take my seat-  well-  YES!  I will take it. 

Purses are not people and therefore do not need a seat of their own.  Feet belong on the floor.  Stop falling alsleep on me; or I will give you a  concussion with my bony shoulder in your cheek bone and not think twice about it.  Don't make me listen to your iPod-  and in return; I won't try to read the paper you're holding. 

Overweight, underweight, short, tall-  everyone deserves the chance to sit down.  the seats are so small that even when I was down to a size 4 I was over the seat partition.

I have another gripe about public transportation ... I hate people who want to tell the whole bus or train loudly about the book they just read or the movie they just saw without giving any thought to the fact that someone else might want to enjoy that book or movie without having the ending spoiled for them.

hahaha This makes me grateful for public transport here. The subways and buses, for the most part, are almost completely silent. If an old person/pregnant woman gets on, people immediately get up. I shocked the hell out of an old lady when I gave her my seat on a packed bus... she kept trying to make me sit down. I guess most westerners here are pretty rude when it comes to things like that... haha

i REALLY hate when i see someone get on a crowded train here with a small child and no one offers up their seat.

it's hard enough for a little kid to hold on while standing up on the train normally, but it's downright dangerous for them to be doing it during rush hour. i've seen people go flying when the trains stop suddenly, what if that little kid happened to be standing in their path?

i always give up my seat for people who need it more than i do.

Original Post by jules817:

when people think their purse needs it's very own seat during rush hour

Yeah I hate when people block a seat with their stuff, I also don't like someone sitting next to me, but I'm not going to be rude about it either (ie I move my stuff).

This girl who started working at my last job has a tiny chihuahua that she carries in a tiny purse looking dog carrier. We took the subway home together once and she put her dog on the seat next to her, but when someone wanted to sit down during rush hour, she just pulled the bag closer to her, while the woman was barely sitting on the seat. I don't know why she didn't just put him on her lap. I understand dogs are children to some people, but I doubt it cares if it has it's own seat, or is on your lap -_-

When I rode the city bus, it was on a bus that began its route at my school.  So, when I got on the bus it was always empty -- except for the other high schoolers that rode it.  It bugged the heck out of me because kids would get on and put their backpacks on the seat next to them, I always held mine in my lap.  They weren't even saving the seat for anyone!  Then they would all constantly 'seat hop' during every stop to sit by someone new but leave their bags where they had set them first.  After picking us up the bus did go by a few stores where people were often waiting with groceries, and a lot of those kids wouldn't move a thing!  Drove me insane =P

Just a comment about the seat thing -- I hope it wouldn't offend someone to take the empty space next to them, even if it wasn't a whole seat available.  I'm SCARED TO DEATH to stand on a bus because my mom did and then once the bus came to a sudden stop and it snapped her knee backwards.  She had to have surgery and was off her leg and miserable for 6 months...that's how she gained all her weight =\

I'll stand if someone needs the seat more than I do, but if there's an empty spot, whether a full one or not, I'd take it!

Original Post by jules817:

i always have a bit of a dilemma while riding the train, and i don't want this to come off the wrong way but i really would like to get some opinions on this.

when i'm on the train, and i see a large person sitting and they are taking up a little more than one seat there have been times where i'll sit in the remaining space. the LAST thing i want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable or embarassed, and i certainly don't squish myself into a spot that is too small and make an issue out of it. but i guess my question is this, what is worse, taking that spot, or leaving it open?

i don't want to offend or make someone uncomfortable by NOT sitting next to them because they are taking up more than a seat, but i also don't want to offend them by sitting there!

 As a larger person who takes the bus occasionally, i have to say this is something that makes me HATE public transit and I dread it for this very reason. It's really embarassing when the (partial) seat next to me remains empty while the bus gets fuller and fuller, and sometimes people standing in the aisle rather than sit next to me. It is a huge glaring reminder that I am different. I try to squash myself against the wall, hold my legs and arms tightly against me, diminish, but still the empty seat. So I can't speak for everyone but I know that I would prefer that you just sit down and don't make a big deal of it.

However if there are lots of other spare seats give me a break and sit somewhere else! I remember once taking a greyhound bus on a long trip, and some really large woman sat next to me. Man we were crammed in there like sardines for the entire 6 hours or however long it was. Out of all the people to choose from, she had to sit next to the only other fat person. Gah.

When I am smaller I will always sit beside the larger people that I see cringing against the wall like I used to. For now, I am biking to work instead, problem solved :)

Okay I know this thread is kinda over, and I was the last poster and all....but I just have to add something.

I took the bus today cuz I got a flat tire on my bike. I haven't been on a bus in quite a while because of the biking, and sat down wondering if anyone would sit next to me. I gathered my jacket around me to make more room and noticed that my hand brushed the edge of my seat when I did that (i.e. I was not actually covering the edge of the seat with my butt spilling over the seat beside me)....amazing....even more amazing, at the next stop a TEENAGE BOY sat next to me. Wow. It was such a rush....teenage boys scare me to death as historically they can be very mean to me, and certainly would avoid me like the plague. Is it possible that i am no longer the pariah I feel like?

It's funny how our perception of ourselves takes a while to catch up with physical changes!

I would just sit right in the middle and take up the whole seat anyway, just so no one else could sit by me =)

You all are definitely right about the people who think their purses or bags need a seat.. Especially the ones that act like they want to put their feet up in the seat... that gets on my nerves....

I don't mind people sitting next to me at all. I try to be accomodating... cause I know how it is when the bus is packed and you really want to sit down and that's not an option.

I do take up a little bit of the other persons seat but .... i try to be respectful of the space... =)