Etiquette Friday – Travelling by Public Transport

It’s Friday and the day I request you join me in my campaign for 2012 to change “Casual Friday” to “Etiquette Friday”, to get people and companies involved. If we consciously make an effort every Friday then hopefully it will become a habit every day. I challenge you to make one small change a week and by the end of the year let’s hope we have a more pleasant and positive society.

Travelling by Public Transport

I used to commute to London every day, now I only occasionally travel at the peak times. Working from home and for myself I try to avoid it. Not only to avoid the crowds, but also people seem to be less considerate and thoughtful to their fellow passengers.  I am sure you have experienced very noisy music, loud voices on mobile phones, people speaking or rather shouting to others in a very loud voice. You may even be one of them.

Regular commuters may find it annoying, but rarely say anything and put up with it. I have, on occasions, politely pointed out to a person how loud they are on their mobile or how their music is deafening me. Generally, people are surprised I have commented, but at least they do something about it.

Shoes on Seats

When seats on trains or buses are free some people will put their shoes on the seat. Their shoes will have been walking in all sorts of places and other people will afterwards need to sit in their clothes on that seat . Not a very nice thought and may well dirty the seat and people’s clothes.

When travelling on public transport it is important that we all are courteous and consider what we are doing and how it may well affect others around us.

What to consider:

1. Where possible avoid long conversations on your mobile when you have someone sitting in ear shot.
2. Ensure you avoid speaking loudly or shouting on your mobile.
3. Offer your seat to the elderly, pregnant women or disabled people if they are standing and there are no other seats. Allow them to get on or off first.
4. As a man you may like to be courteous to women, younger people to older ones and allow them off first. When someone stands back for you, offers you a sit always thank and smile.
5. Avoid eating smelly food or eating loudly.
6. Please do not put your shoes on seats.
7. If you listen to music or movies, use earphones or headphones and tune the sound to low volume. Avoid irritating your fellow passengers.
8. Respect a person’s personal space and avoid occupying it, where possible.
9. Use handkerchiefs while sneezing or coughing.
10. Make sure that you have a positive attitude, good behaviour and habits that respect others comforts as well as your own.

Finally, be respectful, helpful and treat our fellow commuters in a friendly manner then travelling will be more civilised. Always treat others as you wish to be treated and if necessary politely advise the person how the noise affects your concentration and journey. Sometimes people haven’t thought about it or they are not aware how much they are irritating a fellow passenger.

Friday is as good a day as any for us all to start being more thoughtful and considerate and to help and treat others as we would like to be treated!

Picture credits: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/4092134.stm