Feet on the Seats -- The Blog

kareno said:

marylago said:

davidwood said:

it's creepy to take pictures of strangers and post them on-line.

A little, but it's fun...

I'm with Mr. Wood on this. I am all for technology, and I am all for keeping feet off seats in public transportation, but I think posting pics of strangers, especially local people on our train line who may be recognized, behaving in a socially inappropriate way is icky. We all fall below the line of social etiquette once in a while. Can't wait to catch mums picking his/her nose.

Yes, a few years back I was in Europe travelling by train when I developed serious foot swelling. I had no choice but to keep the foot elevated because of the pain. People were very kind, some moved, most understood. I would have hated to see my picture end up on a website because of my injury. But as one of the posters above said, who cares, it's fun.

I guess posting video of that Rutgers student having sex was fun too until he killed himself. People need to respect the privacy of others.

The Rutgers student was in his room with the door closed.

Tom_Reingold said:

The Rutgers student was in his room with the door closed.

still, as humans we should at least expect that others aren't sneaking around taking pictures of us and posting them on the internet. It's creepy.

I recall a blog about bad behavior on the NYC subways. Just looked it up and, yup, it's still updating: http://www.subwaydouchery.com

(I feel better about pictures when you can't see the face. Feels more anonymous that way.)

davidwood said:

Tom_Reingold said:

The Rutgers student was in his room with the door closed.

still, as humans we should at least expect that others aren't sneaking around taking pictures of us and posting them on the internet. It's creepy.

You're right. It's better to hold your camera high up so everyone can see you're snapping.

You're in public, you should have no assumption of privacy.

crussell96 said:

You're in public, you should have no assumption of privacy.

This goes without saying, but, we ALL slip up, or, as Mr. Wood describes, have times where there is an exception to the rules of public etiquette, and that doesn't mean it should be captured and turned into digital diarrhea. I think we are causing ourselves unnecessary psychological stress with the pressures of our "image" so easily shared, but carry on wielding our camera like a weapon against social transgressions... And really, are we not hiding, taking pictures in stealth, and posting anonymously, rather that face-to-face acting in a socially responsible way in the moment of the transgression. Oh yeah, that just isn't as much "FUN" - or as safe!!!

Fine! I erased her face, not that she's a fellow commuter... This was on a totally different train line. I didn't take a picture of her sleeping across all three seats with her feet up.

And I don't think it's a slip... I think it's their normal behavior.

eta: kareno, are you suggesting we confront the transgressor? Seriously?

Speaking for myself and not kareno, I wouldn't say it's anyone's duty to confront, but it is, in some ways, a good idea. Rude people get away with their crap by relying on polite people having a habit of not speaking up. The trick is to know when speaking up won't bring bad consequences.

marylago said:

eta: kareno, are you suggesting we confront the transgressor? Seriously?

Well, if we are willing to blatantly take their picture...

You know, when I used to commute with my daughter, she was very outspoken about social behavior, perhaps because I was teaching her social etiquette so that she would behave well on trains, platforms, subways, etc. She would take my teachings, (don't litter, use your indoors voice, don't stand too close to the edge of the platform, don't put your feet up on the seats, etc.) and blurt them out to adults who were not following the "rules" I was teaching her. I did this commute with her for 2 years, from the ages of 3 to 5. It made for some interesting moments - we met lots of different kinds of people.

Did you also teach her that children shouldn't tell adults what to do?

kareno said:

marylago said:

eta: kareno, are you suggesting we confront the transgressor? Seriously?

Well, if we are willing to blatantly take their picture...

You know, when I used to commute with my daughter, she was very outspoken about social behavior, perhaps because I was teaching her social etiquette so that she would behave well on trains, platforms, subways, etc. She would take my teachings, (don't litter, use your indoors voice, don't stand to close to the edge of the platform, don't put your feet up on the seats, etc.) and blurt them out to adults who were not following the "rules" I was teaching her. I did this commute with her for 2 years, from the ages of 3 to 5. It made for some interesting moments - we met lots of different kinds of people.

That's a little different (a child can get away with a lot), but did you also teach her that doing so is considered rude?

Yes, I did, for the the sake of our safety, but it took her a while to control her impulse to call people out. To this day, she can't stand when people look over the edge of the subway platform. She also can't stand when her friends litter, but she doesn't say anything, and rather rants to me about it. I taught her well...

You're a good parent.

Tom_Reingold said:

Speaking for myself and not kareno, I wouldn't say it's anyone's duty to confront, but it is, in some ways, a good idea. Rude people get away with their crap by relying on polite people having a habit of not speaking up. The trick is to know when speaking up won't bring bad consequences.

Tom,

It's very hard nowadays to speak up about rude or obnoxious behavior. Just look at all the threads here alone about the quiet car, when people ask others to please lower their voices/not have loud cell phone conversations, etc. You're called every four-letter name in the book. And they just continue as they were.

The most ideal way of dealing with this, or any, rude behavior would be for the NJ Transit conductors to enforce their own rules -- but they don't. They don't want to be cursed at either or (in at least one case that I know of) physically attacked.

So, quite frankly, I started this blog to have a little fun and to post feet on the seats. If "whoever" out there doesn't like it, don't look at the blog!

Yes, being cursed at does make it hard to ask for courtesy. Very sad.

Tom_Reingold said:

Yes, being cursed at does make it hard to ask for courtesy. Very sad.

And it's more common than you think. People are so unbelievably rude. I was standing on the Newark Light Rail platform this morning right in front of where the door was going to open, and this guy slid right in front of me to get on first. Everyone was like, "what"?

marylago said:

Tom_Reingold said:

Yes, being cursed at does make it hard to ask for courtesy. Very sad.

And it's more common than you think. People are so unbelievably rude. I was standing on the Newark Light Rail platform this morning right in front of where the door was going to open, and this guy slid right in front of me to get on first. Everyone was like, "what"?

This is SOP on the Midtown Direct. And I usually am on trains that start at Maplewood, so they're totally empty when they arrive. Same at Penn-NY. (There's one guy that a bunch of us have said "he'd throw his mother on to the tracks to get onto the train first"!)

thanks to whoever posted this link. these are too funny http://www.subwaydouchery.com/page/3 , the girl with chopping board on the subway, hilarious.

Having your sexual relations (that are happening behind closed doors) broadcast is very different than having your fully clothed body photographed in a public place.

Ya think?

Just annoyed that someone would compare the two. Overreaching to say the least.

bella said:

Just annoyed that someone would compare the two. Overreaching to say the least.

Yeah, I was going to say something and then I was like, will it make a difference?

I saw at least a half-dozen people with feet on seats today but I was walking through cars and couldn't stop and take pictures.

marylago -- I'm seeing more too (some people I know -- so it was a tough decision on whether or not to out them). I'm wondering if people want to see if their feet get posted, like a badge of honor?

Let's just assume this is so.

Love the thread title.

This morning. Funny thing was that at the next stop she took her feet down for a guy that got on--she was obviously expecting him. He had to sit in the seat where she had her wet feet.

Gun carry advocates maintain that "an armed society is a polite society," on the assumption that people will be nicer to each other if they know they might be packing heat.

I'd say it's a much less serious assumption to make that if you behave badly in public, your photo might be posted on a message board that about 150 people frequent.

Why would we give allowances for anti social behavior, yet restrict the vast majority of us who respect the social contract?

.

I realize I am speaking of different circumstances, but that photo of the bare feet up on the window brought back a reminder of our plane ride from hell!

We were traveling cattle, I mean coach, from Newark to Copenhagen several years ago. We were sitting in that long center aisle, dead center! The couple to my immediate right came on board with two carry ons filled with fruit, pretzels, melon slices, etc! The wife, then stuffed, pulled out the snack tray in front of her husband (on my right) and placed her bare feet up on the tray and then slept until Copenhagen! Those feet were within inches of my face the entire trip. The husband had his face buried in his Kindle.

Why I hate air travel!

Foiled! I saw what looks to be the gal from 2 posts up as I got on the 9:40 Hoboken train out of SO... I was about to pull out my phone and snap a pic when someone woke her up to sit down!

I'll have to be quicker on the draw next time.