# Subways, personal space and culture **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 4, 2002, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323 "2002-12-04T01:21:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bjorn240](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bjorn240](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bjorn240)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/21 "2002-12-05T17:43:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Maeglin \* > \*\*I had a similar experience about two weeks ago. I was heading home on the A train. The A typically has two flavors: either a pair of bench seats run through the entire train parallel to each other, or there are seats that fit two and three at right angles to each other. I was on the latter. \*\* The trains that have forward/rearward facing split seats are R62s and R62A’s. These have the great yellow/orange seats. The newer trains, that have only purple inward-facing seats (and automated station announcements and electronic maps) are R142s and R142A’s. Both cars are made by Bombardier and Kawasaki. The other day, I saw a R40 “Slant-cab” (!) on the 1,9. That was cool. - Bjorn240, who LOVES the subway. It’s very democratic. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/22 "2002-12-05T19:24:39Z")
I like the new subway cars with the automated station announcements and electronic maps. They’re using them on the 4/5/6 line, which I usually take to work, transferring from the N/W train at 59th and Lex. Going home I usually take the N/R from City Hall, because I’m in less of a rush to get home than I am to get to work and I have a better chance of getting a seat (albeit one next to a crazy person) if I catch the train there. [Here](http://www.geocities.com/hybridbus/R46_interior_1.JPG) is what the 2-and-3 seater cars look like. A really bad seating arrangement, in my opinion. [Here](http://www.geocities.com/hybridbus/R62_interior.JPG) is what the cars with the “indentation-benches” (or whatever you call them) look like. This was the type of car I was in when I was harassed by the wide-sitter, either a 4 or 5 train on my way to work. [Here](http://www.geocities.com/hybridbus/R40_slant_interior_1.JPG) is what the cars with the regular benches look like. This was the type of car I was in when I was a pervert. Lastly, [Here](http://www.geocities.com/hybridbus/R142_6841_interior.JPG) is the newest car, which I took this morning after transferring at 59th and Lex. The subways are great, as I use them to go everywhere, be it to work, a Mets game, the Bronx Zoo, or to St. Mark’s Place. NYC is great not only because of all the cool things to do and see here, but because one can get to all these places with just a Metrocard or a token. ---
**Author:** ![EchoKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/23 "2002-12-05T22:25:00Z")
Guys are always the wide-sitters. It’s a scrotal thing, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![epolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@epolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epolo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/24 "2002-12-05T23:29:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bjorn240 \* > \*\*The other day, I saw a R40 “Slant-cab” (!) on the 1,9. That was cool. > > - Bjorn240, who LOVES the subway. It’s very democratic. \*\* :eek: Are you certain? I don’t think R40s are supposed to be running on IRT tracks. At least not according to [this site](http://www.nycsubway.org/cars/r40.html). And on the 1/9 no less…how would it have gotten around the loop? I also love the subway. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/25 "2002-12-06T00:25:18Z")
i find it a bit amazing that some people will try to take up 2 or more seats when the vehicle starts to fill up. you pay for a seat, you should get a seat. as the bus fills, put you bag on your lap or by your feet. sit so someone can get to an empty seat near you. it really isn’t that difficult. my mum got on a bus where a woman had a bag on the seat next to her. mum asked to sit in the seat. the woman took 2 blocks to sigh, tsk, and generally let her know that she did not want to move her bag. my mum told her to either move her bag or pay another fare for the seat! the bus driver got on the pa and stated that there should be one person in each seat, any bags or other obstructions should be removed so people could sit. it was amazing how many seats suddenly opened up! ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/26 "2002-12-06T00:30:50Z")
**Banger** , that was you??? 😃 Seriously, it sounds to me like he was having a bad day and took it out on you when you accidently sat on him. Or maybe he really was nuts. If someone sat on me (during rush hour or other times) I would simply have said “Excuse me, can you please move. You’re sitting on me.” Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/27 "2002-12-06T03:12:03Z")
He was probably going home from a long day in the diamond district, thats all. I’ve noticed that Chasidic Jews can be crazy (and rude sometimes) even to fellow Jews. I find that some tend to not like other Jews because they aren’t Jewish enough (like me). Just ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/28 "2002-12-06T06:05:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \* > \*\ ***Banger** , that was you??? 😃 > > Seriously, it sounds to me like he was having a bad day and took it out on you when you accidently sat on him. Or maybe he really was nuts. > > If someone sat on me (during rush hour or other times) I would simply have said “Excuse me, can you please move. You’re sitting on me.” > > Zev Steinhardt \*\* But I didn’t even sit on him! I sat on the edge of his overcoat that was draped over the seat, and even that I am just assuming due to his grabbing at his coat after I sat. His words were not the result of me sitting _on_ him, they were due to me either sitting on the edge of his overcoat or sitting too close. **Splanky** , isn’t the diamond district further uptown? I was on a Queens bound train, meaning that the man hopped on the train either at the southern tip of Manhattan or in Brooklyn. His words were hard to ignore just because I have never been called a “pervert” before. “Asshole”, yes, but never “pervert”. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/29 "2002-12-06T06:48:23Z")
Pick up [_The Hidden Dimension_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385084765/o/qid%3D917306550/sr%3D2-1/002-8002804-3848822) by Edward T. Hall. It’s a detailed but readable study on personal space and how it varies among cultures and species. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/30 "2002-12-06T17:43:25Z")
You asked them to move? I would have just said “excuse me” and plonked my ass on the seat. The guy’s a jerk. He may have been having a bad day, but he’s still a jerk for yelling at you. If you want the illusion of more space, go get in a car-- and fight traffic. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323/31 "2002-12-06T18:06:39Z")
Pick up “Far Below” by Robert Barbour Johnson (first published in Weird Tales, 1939). It’s a detailed but readable study on scary monsters that live way down deep in the NY subway tunnels. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subways-personal-space-and-culture/140323.md?page=1)