And, just for something different, it's NOT about stupid Metro Trains and their ridiculously bad service, and the fact that they run nowhere near enough trains to get home between 5 and 7 pm, and you can't even get on the damn things let alone sit down and then they go ahead and bluddy cancel the fugging things at 5:30 right when everyone wants to get home so you just stand there on a platform for an hour wanting to cry because you feel like you may never get home again and why oh why is it so difficult to just get home at the end of a horrible day and you end up getting home after 7pm when you just work a stupid 9-to-5 job and that just SUCKS and then you send them complaints and get some indifferent revolting mail-merged standard letter telling you basically to get stuffed because they don't care that you pay over one hundred bucks a month NOT to be able to get home.
No, for once, it's not about that at all.
This time, it's about PEOPLE on Public Transport.
Quite often, I listen to my iPod on the train. As a considerate human being - with, y'know, EMPATHY - I always check that my music isn't turned up so loud that other people can hear it leaking out the side of my earphones. You know, just being human and not really wanting to piss other people off when I can avoid it.
BUT, without fail, there's always some complete knob-jockey who has their music on SO loud that I can hear it OVER THE TOP of my own music (which, let's face it, is about as close to my ear-drums as it can possibly get without having the speakers surgically implanted inside my head).
Sometimes I even just end up taking my earphones out and turning off my iPod, because it's just not worth trying to enjoy my own music with someone else's second-hand shit playing through it.
But, despite this massive unforgivable assault on the senses of everyone around them, nobody asks them to turn it down, probably because they don't really feel they can, just like me.
Only a couple of times, when the culprit actually looks NICE and seems unaware of the noise, have I tapped my ears and then pointed at theirs as if to say "oh golly gee, you know what? silly me, but i'd quite like to be able to hear my OWN music and enjoy it, just like you are listening to and clearly enjoying YOUR cacophonous shit, ta."
My question is: Why is it so hard for us to ask people to stop being dicks on public transport?
Is it because we don't believe it can actually be so necessarily to point out to grown adults that they're being so repulsively obnoxious?
Is it because we think that they MUST be aware of the impact of their behaviour, but they must be doing it on purpose, in which case...
Is it because we're scared they'll get shitty and knife us?
Whatever it is, I'm goddamn sick of it.
And that's my profound rant for today. Thanks for listening, fellow blogga-liciouses!
L x
I remember the days of public transport but sadly, those loud music listeners are not just on public transport, but driving around town with the windows rolled down!! >=-[ I think the reasons you give for not speaking up are all valid, sad but true, especially when considering if we might be knifed for speaking up =-(
ReplyDeleteThanks for the rant!!
You're right - people who are dicks will be dicks whether they're driving a car, walking down the street, riding a bike, or pushing a pram in a shopping centre. They don't just reserve their special behaviour for my personal space! ;-)
DeleteThanks heaps for stopping by! :-)
L x
When it comes to ipod noise, the reason I don't say anything is because I can't identify who is making it. I nearly had a go a dude (long hair, beard, black tee) for his loud heavy metal one day. He got off the train and the heavy metal continued!
ReplyDeleteI do give people dirty looks for putting their feet on the seat. Sometimes it even stops them.