Pet Peeve #1: Riding on Buses with People

I have one major pet-peeve in the libertarian mindset. It revolves around travel and transportation and the way people interact with each other in that arena. In almost all other areas of life you can insulate yourself from most people and most types of people (poor, rich, grunge, kids, etc.) however when you travel by bus, train, plane, or car you have to interact and cooperate. It is like a competitive game. In my world view this whole area is the one place where government should enforce some laws (think traffic laws, no cell phones while driving laws, enraged driver laws, etc.). And that is saying something since I hate government intervention for most part. I think it is ridiculous that people can close themselves off from the rest of the world and only interact with their little bubble they create for themselves, and then in the ONE place where they have to step out of that bubble that act so ugly to other people.

So today I was getting on the bus a little earlier than I normally do, ok a lot earlier. Which means that I get on the bus with the rif-raf high-roller business people from downtown. Anyway there is one thing that annoys me more than anything on buses and it is this: People who put their bags in the seat next to them so no one sits there.

It is one of the rudest things you can do. I specifically do not do it (unless of course the bus is almost empty and there are lots of empty seats). Unfortunately in America it seems all forms of travel allow people to be as rude as possible to each other and brush it off as 'just another day'. Think of driving, how many nice people do you know who are the biggest dicks when they drive? I know a lot of people who fit that bill. Riding on the bus is no exception.

So this lady today, dressed up and obviously thinking of herself as too important, had her purse in the seat next to her. Now when I get onto the bus especially a really crowded one I just find the nearest seat. Well if someone has a bag in the seat next to them without an obvious need (like 4 big bags, or a kid in their lap or something) then that is the seat I pick. Well I asked this lady to move her bag. About 5 seconds later she finally decided that my request was more important that twittering or whatever the heck she was doing on her phone. She gave me a very mean looking stare. Unfortunately I am actually nicer than most people give me credit for because I wanted to say, "You aren't as fucking important as you think you are and your overpriced purse doesn't need a seat of its own. If you have a problem with that then stop riding the bus and drive your ass with all your tiaras and diamond shoes downtown yourself." Sometimes I wish there was less of a filter on my mouth because I think some people who have shit a brick had I said that.

To make matters worst there was another lady in a nearby seat who had her purse next to her and that forced this guy to have to stand up for the 15 minute ride when I saw him (he was obviously too passive to ask her to move her purse which he was WELL within his right to do). I mean it is just ridiculous for people to sit such that they are uninviting to sit next to. Additionally I think it is decidedly un-friendly to place your bags and such next to you so, since most people won't ask you to move it, no one will sit next to you. I mean come on people, be nice to your neighbors and stop expecting you are entitled to sit by yourself on the bus. As a final anecdote I once saw a girl sitting on the bus at 7:30 in the morning (the most full bus) and she was pretending she was sleeping so she could lounge on the seats. So rude, so mean.

What does it say about people that we are that anti-social, that we act like that on the bus? Why should we act that way? Why can't we act like better people around other people, especially people we do not know. Absolutely ridiculous that people act like kids, they should be ashamed of themselves. I mean, I am not saying you have to be best friends with this person, just fairly use this commodity resource that you all paid to use. So depressing the actions of some people.