Andrea Bernstein's bag drew the ire of her fellow passengers.
Andrea Bernstein from Transportation Nation passes along an interesting subway etiquette conundrum in the form of a personal story. She’s curious to hear other folks’ takes on it. Here’s the set-up:
Two months ago, I injured my back, making it hard for me to sit. So I stand on the subway train — but if it’s not too crowded, I put my bag on the seat to ease the strain of carrying a large purse, as well as to avoid bending up and down to put it on the floor. If I put in on the floor, I have to move it almost every stop, because it’s kind of long (good for carrying radio recording equipment.) And that also stresses my back, so if it’s not too crowded, I will put my bag on the seat, and stand beside it.
Today, when I boarded the train, it was pretty empty. So I put my bag on the seat, stood beside it, and proceeded to read the coverage of Japan on the NY Times op-ed page. About three stops later, a passenger got on — a young, seemingly able-bodied man, and pointed to my bag, saying “your bag.” I thought he was pointing out that the zipper was about 3 inches open, so I closed it.
Then, he said, “Move your bag!” rather brusquely. I explained it was there because I can’t sit, and it was taking up the seat instead of me. He started to scream: “You’re really being an asshole!”
Eventually, another woman on the train surrendered her seat to the young man and told Bernstein to take heart. Don’t worry,” she said. “There’s room for me and your bag.”
So here’s the question Bernstein poses: “Is it okay for me to put my bag on the seat instead of, um, my posterior?”
This question hinges on that unseen injuries and closely tracks the pregnancy issue. If someone is pregnant but not showing, they don’t expect anyone else to give up a seat for them without asking. If Bernstein is injured but not visibly so, how will people know that she can’t sit or can’t place her bag on the floor? Absent an explanation, they won’t.
The few writers to comment on Transportation Nation do not seem very sympathetic toward Bernstein. One notes that the subway is “not a luggage rack” while the other says, “The young man and others getting on the train can’t see any good reason for your bag to be on the seat.” He recommends a bag on wheels in the interim.
I always think New Yorkers on the subway should strive to be more polite than they are. If Bernstein is on a train suitably empty and needs to place her bag down for the sake of her back, other straphangers should be understanding. Furthermore, she’s not in violation of Rule 1050.7 as long as she’s not interfering with the comfort of others. Maybe I’m assuming too much though. What do you think?
17 comments
I’d say they’re both wrong. She definitely should have a wheeled bag if her back hurts that much. Besides that (and I know there’s not much expectation that the seats are clean) if she’s putting her bag on the floor, then putting it on the seat, it’s pretty discourteous to other riders who will later take that seat.
As for the guy, getting to that point of using the word “asshole” at all, it’s obvious he’s a jerk-off. But I hesitate when someone presents an anecdote when someone gets that pissed off that quickly. The whole presentation seems like there are other bits missing from the story. But again, like the signs say, not all disabilities are visible, so he’s still in the wrong.
what she should have done is remove the bag and sat down instead (assuming it wouldn’t be too painful) just to prove her point.
But overall, I would say that she is in the wrong, and he was rude but right. She should just get a wheeled bag
Unanswered questions:
1. Train was empty when she got on. Was it still empty 3 stops later? If someone else had to surrender a seat so the man could sit, it sounds like it wasn’t.
2. Was the man in question disabled? How can we ever know? Bernstein notes he was “seemingly able bodied.” Yet — as in her case — not all disabilities are visible.
Regardless, the people who said the subway is not a luggage rack are correct. Seats are for people, not for bags.
Hey folks, thanks for your comments! I think I should just carry a smaller bag for the duration of my injury, and figure out on an ad-hoc basis how to handle the radio recording issue.
As for wheels, yeah, I’ve thought about that. But do you have any idea how hard it is to carry a wheeled back up and down subway steps? (none of mine have elevators).
It seems as if she was using the seat for her bag instead of her body. One seat per rider, why does it matter how the rider uses it?
If the train doesn’t get crowded, I agree.
But if the train fills up, then she’s taking up both a seat and a standee space, and somebody’s going to be left behind on the platform because she was occupying the space of two people.
(Different Andrew.)
I think her behavior is justifiable, but it is certainly going to look bad to anyone who hasn’t heard the explanation. And giving the explanation over and over and over is going to get tiresome. So her solution of pursuing another bag is probably the best one.
One answer to somebody who calls you an asshole is “You’re what comes out of it!”
no way.
Transit police will ticket you for having your bag on the seat, regardless of your position, relation to it or state of bodily injury/disability.
Of course if your entire household has been bagged up into a shopping wagon, and you and said belongings stink of excrement, you can have half the car and nobody will bother you at all.
Andrea: go big!
Get the bag off the seat. It’s an invitation for conflict. And she could put it on the floor.
Andrea, sorry to hear of your back injury! Get well soon, ’cause New York depends on a healthy Transportation Nation. For the meantime, I suggest the small-size granny cart, which can be stuffed with a bag the size of a single grocery bag. The advantage is that when you get ready to climb the stairs, you can remove the bag from the cart, fold up the cart, and carry the bag in one hand and the cart in the other. (This is the same advice the TA gives to mothers with strollers, as you are surely aware).
Ben correctly notes that by the letter of the law, placing a bag on a seat is not against Transit Rules. However, placing a bag on a seat adjacent to one you are sitting in IS against Transit Rules and we have received many complaints from straphangers who are given tickets for putting bags on seats despite the fact that they were not sitting themselves. Bag-placers beware…
Basically, I’m with you, Ben, with a nod in the direction of Glenn’s second point. Logically, and by the letter of the law, she’s in the right (so long as the car isn’t jammed to capacity), but it’s nearly impossible to avoid every single person misapprehending the situation; and not even especially easy to explain.
Maybe you’re right, Ben, that we should all be a little more patient and empathetic (okay, of course you’re right), but in this instance I can’t blame people for being pissy, just as I can’t blame Ms. Bernstein for taking the spot. It might be unfair to her, but I think it makes life easier for everyone if she just finds another solution (as she says she’ll do in the comment above). Feel better, Andrea!
The bag isn’t the story. The A word is the story.
Tell me I’m too thin skinned–I was biking along Vanderbilt Ave in Bkln a few months back, but riding on the left in order to make a left on Bergen, and _another cyclist_ screamed that by not being in the bike lane I was making everyone else hate all cyclists, and screamed the A word as well, in the middle of the day, in front of everyone on the street. The other day I saw a cyclist use the word again against a pedestrian, in a similar primal shriek of inchoate rage.
This is unacceptable public behavior by anyone except junior high school boys with other junior high school boys. If it really continues, I will begin to support laws that allow concealed carry and put a bumper sticker on my bike that says, An Armed Society Is a Polite Society.
You may think I’m trying to be funny. I’m not.
I wish you were trying to be funny. It’s just a word. Not that big a deal.
This guy sounds like an asshole, but there is a communication problem here. Having explained she was injured, the lady could have offered the seat and asked him to hand the bag back when either of them alighted. The subway is certainly not a luggage rack, and I don’t see why a bag deserves a seat more than a person (one who might have had a bad day or injury himself).
The “asshole” guy sounds like he was a narcissistic cretin, the kind that sadly have become all too common thanks to suburban transplants. But I think people have got to communicate and accommodate a little better in public spaces, if we’re going to get along without me killing everyone!