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DAY

Office Politics

9:15 a.m.

Trips and Trials

Practice Commuter Etiquette

WELCOME TO YOUR MORNING COMMUTE. It’s an early hour on a cold Canadian winter morning. The sun isn’t even up yet. But there you are, waiting at a bus shelter as the snow and wind screech past. When the bus finally arrives, 20 people appear out of nowhere to rush the doors, while two exiting passengers battle their way off. Inside, you’re affronted by blaring headphones, horrible personal odours – is that an onion bagel? – and a cell phone ringing unanswered somewhere in the bowels of the bus. Oh wait, it’s just a passenger testing new ring tones. Then you hear a “clip-clip-clip” and realize someone is cutting his nails and you pray the stray slivers of personal matter don’t land on you. The only available seat is claimed by a pair of wet UGG boots propped up by a sullen teenager. Getting off the bus has the feel of a prison break: pushing through textbook laden knapsacks and scrambling towards the exit before the bus lurches forward again. And this is a picture of a thoroughly big city commute. The spotty bus service in small town Canada – where a bus rumbles along the country road once every hour, if that – can make an urban transit user feel like he’s won the lottery.Canadians are a mild-mannered people, but occasionally poor commuter etiquette gets us biting our tongues and wishing for a saner world. Poster campaigns in Tokyo, New York and now Toronto condemn seat hoggers and litterers. Yet we all make exceptions for our own less-than-perfect behaviour when we’ve had a bad day or a rough sleep. So next time you feel your blood pressure rising on public transit because of hard-to-take hijinks or habits, ask yourself if the offense is serious enough to speak up. You can either chill – or challenge (gently). Someone genuinely might not know how loud her music is and informing her of that reality respectfully is not a criminal offence. You might even be doing a fellow comrade commuter a favour by speaking up. The best point of attack though is to pay someone a courtesy: make room unasked or help a mother with her stroller. These small acts can transform someone’s grumpy morning mood and encourage others to pay it forward.

ROADSIDE OFFENCESBlaring headphones plus blaring cell phone chat equals blaring headache.No seat in site? Chances are it’s worse for a pregnant, elderly or injured passenger.Paparazzi-style crowds that block the exits and entrances.I sit, therefore, I am. Your hockey bag doesn’t merit that free seat.Drivers fond of resting elbows on car horns.Colour-blind bikers who coast through red lights.Cutting off, tailing and lane-hogging.Massive boxes or bikes taking up precious space during peak hours.Applying make-up in public is fine, but cutting toe-nails and plucking eyebrows?The public transit is not one big trashcan – save your throwaways for the bin.

DAY

Office Politics

9:15 a.m.

TEMPERATURE RISING

What gets our blood boiling

on the commute

GO TO PAGE 158 FOR MORE TIPS AND INFORMATION

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