Gross Commuters

 

I am not the king of etiquette.  I know that.  However, some people... or in this case, at least one person is worse than I am.  That person was riding the subway with me on Friday.

I was trying to read my book (Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux--in case you were wondering).  I heard a sound that I instantly recognized--but dismissed as impossible on the subway.  It was a metal clacking sound.  I looked up, and sure enough, it was what I thought.  A woman was trimming her nails on the subway.

Am I crazy?  Is this normal behaviour?

I know I am not the only one who thought this was wrong.  I looked over at the person next to me, and he shook his head in disgust too.

This wasn't some self involved teen, or some homeless person, or some princess type.  This was an average woman, holding a conversation with her friend--who, I might add, had supplied her with the clippers in the first place.  Her friend didn't seem to mind that she was littering the subway (and most likely her friend's coat and purse) with her DNA.

Fair is fair.  The subway is not a bastion of cleanliness.  There is probably already a fair bit of gunge and scum and other stuff floating around.  I can't really think she is making it any dirtier, but I still think what she did was gross.

I can't have been the only one...could I?

Amazingly, while searching for images for this post, I typed "clipping your nails on the subway".  Perhaps that was a mistake as so many pictures came up.

Yuck!

People and Guns

 

 

I have been reading a lot about guns.  After the tragedy, this is unavoidable.  I have read many arguments for and against gun control, and I firmly side with control.  If you're against gun control, there is probably nothing I am going to do to change your mind, but I have to do something.

I really only want to tackle one argument that I keep hearing.  Guns don't kill people, people kill people.  I have read that in many forms throughout this debate.  Most recently someone said, guns aren't the problem, people are the problem.  Guns are no more to blame than car accidents.

HMMMMMM?

If we believe that argument (which I don't) we place all the blame at the feet of people.  So how do we solve that problem?  Do we put every person in jail?  Do we do a psychological profile on every person in the country?  Do we step on every liberty they have, to save one?  If people are the problem, maybe not allowing them access to guns, ammunition, and training is the answer.  By the above argument, we need to stop people from getting guns....... so wouldn't banning guns be the answer?

Smart Phone. Smart Owner?

I was on the bus the other day, minding my own business, overhearing some people talking.  (okay, I wanted to mind my own business, but they were sitting right next to me and talking very loudly)  What really caught my attention, other than tales of drunkenness, was that one of them claimed his cell phone bill was more than 200 dollars.

More than 200 dollars!  Is that really possible?  Was he calling the International Space Station?

Granted, we are talking about a smart phone, so this bill includes some sort of data..... but still.  Is everybody out there running up these whopping phone bills?  Are all of you paying hundreds of dollars for the convenience of sending text messages, and checking twitter messages?  (Couple this with the cost of some of these smart phones, at least I can understand why we call the phones smart......)

Honestly, I am not a big fan of cell phones.  I am not unaware of their advantages.  I am also not unaware of their coolness factor.  My problem is less with them and more with the owners.  Is the information being conveyed really worth hundreds of dollars?  Is what you have to say, and who you have to say it to, really worth so much money?  Just asking.

Where No Cell Phones Should Go

Once again, I am forced to admit technology is amazing, truly amazing.  People, however, are not.  They definitely amaze, but not in a good way.  They adapt well to technology, and make it part of their lives.  They bring it into every part of their lives, including the bathroom.

I find it pretty disconcerting when I enter a public bathroom and hear someone talking on a cell phone.  I really don't think that is the place to make a call.  It isn't the acoustics either, it just seems like a point of etiquette.

It might be an old joke, but men are not supposed to talk in the bathroom.  Stare straight ahead, take care of business, wash your hands (yes, I believe in that religiously and so should everyone) and get out.  It is supposed to be a time of sombre reflection, or at least quiet deliberation.  I don't think somebody yammering on about something should interfere with that.

Forget my peace and quiet for a moment.  What is the person on the other end of the call thinking?  They must be wondering why this person chose that specific moment to call them.  They can't feel too valued, can they?  Today, a person flushed in the middle of his call.  There is no way someone would miss that, is there?  Usually when I come across this scene I try to flush as often as possible, and use as many hand driers as I can.   This is environmentally unfriendly, but some sacrifices must be made if decorum is to be established.

There was a very good TV commercial on that dealt with this over attention to one's cell phone.  The tag line, after people ignored their children, ignored their lingerie clad partner, and dropped their cell phone in the urinal, was "Really?".  I could only nod my head in agreement.