Here's a short list of what are in my mind
common sense things that people should do (and granted, many people
do) to make life easier on everyone else around them during the morning
commute to work:
1. If you were third to arrive at the bus stop, be approximately third to get on the bus. Of course, if you're the closest to the door when the bus arrives, fine, jump on. But please don't cut in front of everyone else to get on first just so you can get a seat. We do not really live in a dog-eat-dog world where only the strongest survive. If we did, I’d push you in front of the bus when you cut in front of me.
2. Once you're on the bus, sit down or move to the back. Stopping halfway down the aisle just makes others have to go around you, and when two or more of you are doing it, there's a big open space in the back that isn't holding any people, and the other people who want to get on the bus won't be able to. Again, remember that someone bigger than you could just push you out of the way and you’d be humiliated. You’re not proving anything by taking the “I’ll stand where I damn well please” stance.
3. If you get a seat, and you take it, please sit on the inside seat if it's available, which will allow someone else to sit on the outside seat without having to ask you to move. I have seen dozens of people violate this apparent common courtesy, and I suspect that their thought is, "If I sit on the outside seat, anyone else who wants to sit here will first sit anywhere else before asking me to move, because nobody in the city likes to talk to each other if they can avoid it. Therefore, I'll have a two-seat bench all to myself!" Well, you won’t for long; you’ll just force someone else into the uncomfortable position of having to ask you to let them in. If cursing someone in this way pleases you, you can improve upon your situation by rolling your eyes when someone finally does ask if they can sit.
4. Don’t run past me on the way down in to the subway. Walk. Preferably behind me, if that’s where you started out. You will almost never improve your chances of getting a train by running in front of everyone, and it just makes you look like an idiot. Why do people even think this is okay to do? If we were at Burger King you wouldn’t run in front of me to get to the register, would you? Of course not, that’s just unacceptable. Again, if you think you’re being the cunning one by getting to the turnstile first, remember that you are counting on me not tripping you as you go by and consider the fact that someone else might not be so nice.
5. As with the bus, get on the train in roughly the same order that you are standing when it pulls in. I swear, there was one time when this woman stepped directly in front of me so she could get on first and get a seat. I mean, I was standing there waiting for the train to pull in, and she side-stepped so close in front of me that her hair was practically tickling my nose. I couldn’t believe it. My only thought was, “She is the luckiest person in the world that I’m not the type to get excited about “accidentally” bumping someone into the path of a train.”
6. When it’s raining outside and you have an umbrella; please don’t walk as close as you can to the buildings. This simply forces those of us who do not have umbrellas to walk away from the buildings, which eliminates the possibility that we will get any shelter from the overhang. You are holding a shelter from the rain over your head. Why do you seem to think that being close to the building is going to improve your situation?