Bus etiquette is nothing new, folks

The city I live in just got out of a drawn-out public transportation strike after a whopping 51 days.

Don't worry, I won't get into the details about it. For those who care, you already know; for those who don't care...well, you don't care.

On that note, if you're like me and rely on public transportation (aka the bus, or, "loser cruiser" as some have been calling it) to get around, a review of the common sense rules is apparently in order.

So gather round, class! The following is an exerpt from an article I wrote a couple weeks before the strike - tips many of you need to be reminded of.

1) Priority seating. Let’s start with the obvious: it is common sense by now that unless you are pregnant, have small children with you, are elderly, or disabled, you need to move on back. One passenger recalls:
“I saw these two young girls taking up three of the priority seats – two for them, one for their bags – while an elderly woman with a cane stood patiently right next to them,” says Matthew, a user of public transit. “I eventually told them to move.”

2) Be patient when getting on. Sometimes it takes people a few seconds to get to the door, so wait for passengers to get off the bus before blocking the doorway while you board. (Note: Just the other day I was trying to get off at a busy stop and no less than five people swarmed the doors the second they opened - I almost missed my stop. But I gotta say, it wasn't as bad as this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7cYoGOdvTc)

3) Turn down your music. The little old lady next to you might not be in the mood for AC/DC.
“There was this one guy whose music was so loud, the driver had to yell at him to turn it down,” says Stephanie, another transit user. “It was driving everyone crazy.”

4) Keep your voice down. This means when you’re speaking to another passenger or when on your cell phone. The rest of the passengers on the bus don’t need to hear about your day, and they probably don’t care.

5) Hold onto your bag(s). No matter how expensive your purse was or how important that laptop bag is, it does not deserve priority seating over a human being. If there’s no one on the bus, by all means – go ahead and place it next to you. But when the bus compares to the likes of a sardine can, you better move it.

6) Don’t clog the doorway. On busier and more crowded routes, people are constantly getting off and on the bus. If you know you’re not getting off for a while, don’t stand near the doors.

7) Don’t shove. Some people will disregard the previous rule. Don’t panic: you will get off the bus in time.
“I was nearly trampled over when two people pushed their way through to get off at their stop,” says another transit user. “The driver knows to wait for people [to get off] but they shove and yell anyway.”

These are just the first set of rules on a seemingly never-ending list of unofficial rules of conduct. Put them to good use and we can all make the ride a little bit more tolerable for everyone

Taking Notes

Uh oh, she's at it again.

This will be my third attempt at maintaining a blog for the world to view at their leisure. It hasn't quite worked for me in the past as the only things I seemed to be writing about at the time were my boy troubles and how my mom grounded me AGAIN!

Notwithstanding my growing up, boy troubles still arise and mom issues are all but gone... I like to think I have a bit more to write about now that I'm about to get a nice taste of the real world as a public relations student who is almost not a student anymore.

I'll take advantage of this space to write about whatever I want... professional, rants, raves... so read on, or don't.

I have to practice my writing skills anyway.

<3