La Rentrée

What does la rentrée mean for Seattleite? A crowded commute both ways and at least one crying/screaming child on the bus every single morning…

Public Nose Picking

Digging in your nose in public like you’ve got diamonds in your head is DISGUSTING!!! Use a tissue! Or here’s an idea – keep your finger out of your nose until you are alone! An old woman on the bus was digging (not picking, but digging) in her nose continuously. She took out a tissue to blow her nose and then continued her digging WITHOUT THE TISSUE! To top it off, she then pushed the “descendre” button with her booger-digging hand. I was already a germaphobe about public transportation, now I’m a booger-phobe too.

Headphones ≠ Rude

On the way home a fellow exited the bus and from the reaction of the woman standing in the aisle next to me, he bumped into her on his way out. She grumbled (for several minutes) to her friend about how the guy didn’t say “pardon” or even “dans le cul” and just because the guy was listening to a walkman doesn’t mean he should be rude. She went on griping about how people with a walkman, phone or stroller were in their own world. This lady was so into her tirade that she didn’t notice 1) I had on headphones and 2) I looked at her rather pointedly a couple of times during her diatribe.

To Ms Grumble, first of all I believe the man was listening to an mp3 player, not a walkman and second, there are some of us who still say pardon or excuse me even with headphones on. Maybe the guy was just a jerk, maybe he was mute or extremely shy. Politeness doesn’t automatically go out the window when the headphones go on, so don’t assume that he would have said anything had he not had on headphones. If I have to squeeze past you in the future, I’ll be sure say pardon. Although perhaps you’d prefer a polite “dans le cul”…

Peace For A Piece?

On the bus this morning, a man was talking on his mobile phone (as often happens). I didn’t pay any attention to him until another man began speaking to him in a rather aggressive manner. The two men continued their back and forth for a few minutes with phone-man asking what the other guy’s problem was. Argue-guy replied that phone-man should speak more quietly while using his mobile phone because everyone else could hear him. When he said this, my internal reaction was – “Huh? Are you kidding??! I didn’t hear the man on the phone (granted I was listening to music) but I certainly hear you yelling at him across the aisle. If you have a problem with his volume, shut-up and lead by example.”

A few stops later I noticed phone-man go up to argue-guy. This second exchange was much tamer than the first one. I don't know what the men were saying to each other, but it appeared that phone-man was offering a piece of candy. Perhaps his Parisian commute equivalent of a white flag?

Stroller vs. Stubborn

This morning’s bus ride was a study in stubbornness against common courtesy. Halfway to the office, a woman got on the bus with a stroller. There was a woman (we’ll call her sit-woman) sitting in the fold-down chair in the spot “reserved” for strollers and she refused to get up. She and another woman (civil-lady) got into an argument with civil-lady reading the sign next to sit-woman’s seat out loud and saying that giving up the seat to make room for the stroller was a question of “politesse” and civility. When sit-woman claimed that she couldn’t read, civil-lady pointed out the image on the sign declaring that images speak to everyone. The heated exchange lasted several minutes and even when a second stroller entered the crowded bus, sit-woman still wouldn’t stand up, causing several passengers to give her less-than-friendly looks. I thought she’d give in and stand up when the third stroller entered (especially since civil-lady had exited a few stops earlier). Mais non, sit-woman held her ground.

commute conversations

During the commute home, a woman of a certain age spent the entire bus ride on her mobile phone. I didn’t think anything of it until another passenger asked phone-woman if she was going to continue to annoy us by talking on the phone. Then she said something about the lack of “politesse”. Phone-woman didn’t respond, she either didn’t hear the comments or chose to ignore them and continue with her conversation. A minute after the comment-woman made her feelings known, another passenger’s mobile rang and she started a phone conversation which I thought probably annoyed comment-woman even more (I thought it was amusing). The first phone-women didn’t bother me since they kept their voices to a reasonable volume. Would comment-woman have been disturbed if phone-woman had a conversation with another passenger? What irritates me much more than a discreet phone conversation is someone speaking loudly or being able to hear the music someone is listening to on an mp3 player. Are our different reactions due to cultural difference? Generational? Personality? I don’t know, but I hope I don’t get a call while on the bus with comment-woman…