Maybe he places the backpack in the seat next to him, for preventing someone to sit next to him in an otherwise empty bus. I have had it happen to me that I was sitting in a bus with only 3 people, someone came in and sat down beside me.
Now I have no problem with people sitting next to me, when necessary, but I like my personal space enough to place the bag on the seat next to me. If the bus fills up and somebody walks up to my seat and looks at me I immediately move my bag and scoot over to the windows-seat.
To make a long story short : I have no clue why people would be offended by somebody appreciating a little personal space. As long as there are seats available, stop whining.
Excellent OP, MacSpon. Personal space be damned. If you’re on a bus, you’ve paid for a seat. Not two, not three, not the right to sprawl across onto the opposite seats with your muddy boots as if you’re already in your lounge with a beer watching mindless reality TV.
Okay, you may be aware that I’m basically Public Transit Politeness Boy*, but I really don’t see anything wrong with putting your bag on the seat next to you in a bus that is not full, as long as you move it right away when someone wants to sit down.
I often put my bag next to me, if I have one, because I usually carry a backpack or a shoulder bag and that’s the place where it naturally ends up once I deshoulder it. But I never have to be asked to move it, as I always put it on my lap if the bus or train starts to fill up.
I would be right with you if you were pitting someone for not moving their bag under this circumstance, or if the bag were somehow noisome, but there’s nothing wrong with putting your bag on a seat that nobody is using, whether on a bus or on a park bench.
*(Today’s supplemental PTPB rant: The average station stop has a duration of approximately ten seconds. For that reason, 'Scusez-moi does not mean “consider moving,” it does not mean “move when it’s convenient,” it means FUCKING MOVE NOW. The rest of us have to get out the door you’re standing in front of, you jackass. For the record, désolé means “sorry I smashed into your shoulder as I tried to move around your inconsiderate ass and out the door, or maybe not.” Next week: why standing on the platform directly in front of opening train doors also doesn’t yield optimum results, you twatwrenches.)
my dinner (in a styrofoam container in a plastic bag)
a small rolled-up poster that I had bought
a hardcover book I was reading
my mittens
Now, these things were not big, just cumbersome and potentially spilly-breaky-crunchy, and I couldn’t put them all in my bag. so I was trying to be a bit careful about where/how things were stacked and since I had a two-seater to myself it wasn’t a big deal.
Then we got to a busy stop and I saw the crowd waiting to get on. So (remembering this thread) I dutifully put the dinner on my lap (hoping it didn’t tip and spill), bag on top of dinner, book on top of bag, poster balanced between knees, mittens in pockets (note: I have lost many mittens as they have fallen out of my pockets on the bus so this is a less-than-ideal solution).
And nobody took the seat !
So my poster got a bit crunched (despite my best effort) and dinner got a bit spilled, and for what?