Luggage from flickr user nhanusek / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Generally blocking the path for others to exit or enter the train is an unpopular idea, so try to not use your luggage for crowd control. When you're ready to get on the train, aim for one of the two end doors of any car since there is usually more room for maneuvering there. The middle doors can be a hotbed for crowds and discomfort. If the car isn't completely packed, try to grab a spot along a wall, helping keep you and your bag out of the commuter escape route. If you find yourself in the aisle, be ready to shuffle around when someone needs to get up from a seat.
If you're lucky enough to actually snag an aisle seat, you can keep your bag next to you without it taking up the entire aisle. Some bags can even fit under seats, though the least awkward place for this would be the more open seats near the door. You may even find yourself and your luggage on a pretty empty train (yes, there is a short period of the day not deemed rush hour) with your choice of seats. If that happens head to one of the seats near the door where you can keep your bag in front of you, making sure it doesn't fall down and simultaneously keeping it out of the way.
Through all this try not to run over anyone's toes, get your bag caught in the train doors, forget your bag on the train, get caught in a turnstile, or let the bag knock over a small child.
Or share your own luggage suggestions below.
As a frequent Metro rider my best suggestion is to carry your bag (gasp!) while getting in and out of a train. There are a lot of people getting in and out and people run over my toes all the time with their bags because they aren't paying attention to where their bag is rolling. If they would just pick it up and carry it for 15 seconds the problem would be solved (exceptions for people who physically can't carry their bags of course).
ReplyDeleteAnd honestly, if you have large bags during rush hour, expect that you might not get on the first train that comes. Other people have priority over your baggage and if there isn't space you just have to wait.
Entitlement in a Crowded Setting does not Exist
ReplyDeletePet peeve - aisle sitters
This morning I boarded a Metro train to MacPherson Square from East Falls Church, as I have been doing for more than 20 years, but for some reason, perhaps it being Monday, I was simply not in the mood for politesse. I refer to aisle-sitters in crowded trains. Why is it that I am the one responsible for politely asking the person to move in to the window, or to allow me to move in to the window? In other words, why am I the one who is therefore responsible for requesting a seat, and in fact requesting it OVER a senior citizen, a handicapped person, etc., who may be just unwilling to bother? Are we all supposed to be Robin Hoods wresting seats for the needy? Unless the aisle sitter is in some way diminished (and "I'm getting off at the next stop is just weakly passing"), he is exercising individual preference where none is supposed to be expected.
This really does come down to individual versus social. No, you will not "sit where you damn well please," just as you will not "stand where you damn well please" (as on the escalators), because we're trying to move a mass of people, and your cooperation is required, and requested, and you are in the way of others sitting down next to the window, and you know the reason you're doing that is because people are less likely to ask you to move.
There are repeat offenders I notice every day, and I will request their window seats when the train is nearly empty! If that is the intent of aisle sitters, to get my cheeks beside them, I'm fine with that. If they are claustrophobic, I'll try to put them at ease because I understand, the verticle standing close together can be a drag. But don't expect me to constantly ask nicely if I can sit down, OK? You don't have to have the social consciousness of a Marxist to ride the Metro, but it sure as heck helps to be thinking about the other people you're sharing your commute with.
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Here's what I do when I have to go to National, and I regularly do.
ReplyDeleteUpon entering any Metro train, go immediately to the center of that train. It's the best rule in the entire Metro System. Don't worry, people will let you out - you'll have plenty of time - and people may even look on you as a veteran rider because you occupied ... the center of the train.
That's where luggage belongs, especially big luggage. Think about it, blocking up the center forces other riders to exit at the closer door. You would NEVER pass the center of a Metro Train to exit (unless you were from, perhaps, Bad Axe, Minnesota.)