There is a certain kind of Intimate relationship and unwritten mutual agreements for all the people who use public transport. Public transport would in this case entail public trains, trams Sbahn, public busses, cruise ships, planes and anything else that might fall under the category of sharing space with a vast majority of unknown people.

In the many years that I have used public transport I have observed many kinds of personalities when it comes to socially acceptable and very inacceptable behaviours. Below are the 5 major characteristics of people that negatively stand out the most.

1. The Egoist

The egoist is a character who confuses the word public with private. This character has never heard of the term “Sharing is caring”. The most common identifier of such a character is their preference of the aisle seat in the bus or train. Right after they have taken their seat, they would then place their small handbag or backpack on the window seat, lean back, and pretend to sleep. They generally use the pretend sleep strategy so no one would dare wake them or ask them to move over. If the egoist has a villainism characteristic in them, they will in addition place their wet umbrellas on the seat next to them. This way, no one would dare ask to sit on a wet seat. The best attitude to describe them would be the “What do you want to do about it” attitude

2. The Dirty weasel

The dirty weasel is a character who doesn’t know how to take care of what does not belong to them. This character has never heard of the slogan “Don’t litter. It makes the world bitter’’. Nevertheless, they are easily identified by a few characteristics. They largely prefer the four seaters where they would sit comfortably on one seat and place their feet including their dirty shoes on the opposite seat. These individuals are mostly young generation who also prefer to stick their chewed gum on the most ridiculous places or use their school devices to draw obscene drawings and write cheeky remarks on the seats, windows, and any unwritten space. The older generational dirty weasels would unwrap their sandwiches and leave the packages from the sandwiches and any other beverages that they had around for the next person to clear before taking a seat.

3. The obsessed

The obsessed is a public transport character that thinks very high of themselves and their gadgets. This character is the opposite of the egoistic individual but with a negative connotation. This character preferred sitting places are the middle of the bus or the middle aisles of the Tram as they want to be seen and to be heard. This individual will be highly fascinated by the music they are listening to and willingly want to share it with the rest of the passengers. The genre of the music would either be heavy metal or rap. It gets unbearable or sometimes hilarious when they try to sing or rap along.

The extreme versions of this character would make sure that their phone has the loudest ringing volume available, they would then smile while picking up the phone, laugh loudly and begin a conversation like someone who has bad connections and must speak very loudly. They would spread all the dirty secrets about their bosses, their neighbors, their colleagues, their date, their family. They will make sure to interrupt your peace in whichever way possible.

4. The snobs/Show-offs

The snob is a character who feels superior to the rest of the passengers of the public transport. The irony of this character is that they are using the public transport. This character would never run for the bus or tram. They literally walk slower to showcase their branded outfits and accessories. These are mostly Gucci or Louis Vuitton bags which they swap from one hand to the other to make sure that everyone has seen it. They keep on their cartier sunglasses on while in the bus and spread their legs to showcase their Balenciaga shoes.

The obsessed and the snobs favorable showcase area are the bus and tram aisle, but they are at peace with each other as both think very highly of themselves.

The extreme snobbish ones have the “I do not belong here “attitude and are the mostly the ones who never have a bus ticket as they feel too special to use the automatic vending machine. The snobbism ends ones the ticket controller walks in.

5. The Polluters

The polluters are a character that largely remain unknown. It is difficult to pinpoint one specific culprit as this would require Sherlock Holmes investigative skills. However unknown, this individual is hazardous to other passengers but not in the sense of the dirty weasel whose focus is on the interior of the mode of transport. The polluters area of specialization is the air. The  can be a little bearable when the mode of transport is the Tram that stops every two to four minutes. During longer journeys where the bus or train stops after every hour and the buses are equipped with centralized air conditioners rather than openable windows, the fellow passengers must suffer in silence. The polluter would periodically exhaust their internal gases making it very uncomfortable and unbearable to the fellow passengers.

The Good

Other than the mentioned extreme characteristics, the larger portion of commuters on public transport adhere to the socially acceptable but mostly unwritten mutual agreements. For example, they allow other passengers to alight before rushing in, they respect the special sitting arrangement for wheelchairs, pregnant, old and strollers, they maintain the cleanliness of the busses, they hold their bags and children so that other passengers can have a seat. They lower their conversation volumes either on phone or with fellow passengers. They assist others in need i.e., wheelchairs, and mothers with strollers, they ask to be excused instead of pushing and bumping into other passengers.

Please do share with me any of your character observations in public transport. Written by Nessa 16.03.2023