# Passenger taking up two seats on a crowded train - how would you have handled it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 12, 2017, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948 "2017-01-12T08:08:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948/41 "2017-01-13T15:32:19Z")

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> [@kayaker](#):
>
> This is why I carry a sharpie.

> [@Ulfreida](#):
>
> I’m dying to know what you would do with it in these circumstances. Draw on her?

😕

How would I draw on her with my \* Accipiter striatus\*?

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**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948/42 "2017-01-13T15:40:07Z")

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I voted for “Move the bag yourself” but FTR it would be in the form of “Knocking that shit to the floor”.

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**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948/43 "2017-01-13T16:19:50Z")

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> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#):
>
> …I would never move her bag without her permission though…

Agreed. I guess practices vary around the country, but around here we never touch other people’s stuff. That’s how you get the rest of the train and the conductors on the culprit’s side.

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**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948/44 "2017-01-13T16:57:29Z")

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> [@Saint\_Cad](#):
>
> I voted for “Move the bag yourself” but FTR it would be in the form of “Knocking that shit to the floor”.

Yeah. I could imagine how it’d go if my case.  
\<gnoitall picks bag up off seat\>  
“Sleeper”: HEY! Let go of mah bag!  
\<gnoitall drops bag on floor from height of 4 feet\>“Done.” \<gnoitall sits down, smiling at the sound of broken pieces of whatever was in the bag\>

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**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948/45 "2017-01-13T17:54:16Z")

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> [@Sailboat](#):
>
> What if the person baldly refuses to move the bag?

Well, then I guess you’ll have to step back and evaluate the new issue, based on this escalation. But why start out with that presumption?

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**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948/46 "2017-01-13T19:17:59Z")

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> [@Ulfreida](#):
>
> I’m dying to know what you would do with it in these circumstances. Draw on her?

I hate to be the one that reveals **kayaker** ’s deep secrets, but English is not his first language. In his mother tongue the plural indicator comes at the beginning of a word instead of the end. He actually carries harpies. The offender would be eaten.

ETA: and not in a good way.

EETA: Unless the offender is also vorarephillic.

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**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948/47 "2017-01-13T19:38:20Z")

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> [@gnoitall](#):
>
> Yeah. I could imagine how it’d go if my case.  
> \<gnoitall picks bag up off seat\>  
> “Sleeper”: HEY! Let go of mah bag!  
> \<gnoitall drops bag on floor from height of 4 feet\>“Done.” \<gnoitall sits down, smiling at the sound of broken pieces of whatever was in the bag\>

And then the passenger calls over the conductor and says “ **gnoitall** threw my bag on the floor and broke my property! Call the cops!” And then the police are waiting to escort you off the train at the next station.

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948/48 "2017-01-13T19:46:15Z")

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> [@TokyoBayer](#):
>
> No option to steal the bag? Geez.

Why would I want whatever shit this selfish jerkoff is carrying around the city with her?

Me, I’d go through her pockets and take her wallet.

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**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-taking-up-two-seats-on-a-crowded-train-how-would-you-have-handled-it/776948/49 "2017-01-13T21:00:36Z")

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> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#):
>
> And then the passenger calls over the conductor and says “ **gnoitall** threw my bag on the floor and broke my property! Call the cops!” And then the police are waiting to escort you off the train at the next station.

You’re wasting your obvious writing talents here. :rolleyes:

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