Ten Things I Hate About Commuting

Ten Things I Hate About Commuting

I actually don’t mind my commute that much, I get on at the first station and get off at the last one, so it is rare I do not not get a seat, unless really late coming home and it is time for me to read and listen to music.  For the most part, I am in my own world.  Coworkers have mentioned saying hello to me only to be completely ignored.  That being said, there are some things that annoy me about commuting – so here is my rant!

Non-Commuters

1. I know, I know, everyone has somewhere to be. But if you are going to get on a Toronto bound rush hour train with luggage, shopping carts or that bike that is banned at that time anyway, don’t whine at me that the train is standing room only – welcome to the daily hell of commuting, we don’t feel sorry for you on the way to shop or even worse, the airport!  I will happily give my seat up for a pregnant woman, elderly people or someone who needs it because of a disability but doesn’t want to use the accessible car.  Your luggage however does not rate a seat, you are already taking standing space from someone with your bags.

commuting taking two seats2. While I am on the subject of bags, please remove them from the seats and let people sit down!  Did you pay for that extra seat for your purse (or even worse, the feet you have up on the seat opposite you)?  That person who wants to sit down paid for a ticket, so move it and let them sit.  It is an hour long train ride for most of us, no one wants to stand.   Oh and you just don’t need your legs to be open that much either, you don’t deserve a seat and a half while the person next to you squeezes into half a seat just because you are a guy!

3. Talking about personal space reminds me, if you stand in my personal space at the Timmies line or at the ticket line, I will “accidentally” step backwards, stepping on your foot and elbowing you in the stomach.  It is a huge station, we may be crammed in next to each other on the train but in the station, lots of room around me.

Some hygiene please!

commuting smelly4. Ok, coming home or on a hot summer day, you may be sweaty and gross but when you are in a nice suit in the morning, there is no excuse.  Take a shower, use some deodorant and wash your clothes!  I know you have limited time, we are out the door before 7am and home after 7pm, such is commuting, but that smell cannot be helping your career as well as our senses. Oh and please cover your mouth/nose when coughing and sneezing.  The rest of us want to stay healthy enough to work and are locked in this tin can with your germs flying around.

commuting work sleep

It isn’t all about you

commuting walking against crowd5. From the annoying people who feel the need to walk down the middle of the stairs (instead of beside someone so we all get down quicker) or walk towards oncoming people – people seem to think it is all about them.  I am really sorry that we are walking in the opposite direction to you, but we all have somewhere to get to, maybe you can walk like all of the other busy commuters and we all get to where we are going faster.  Oh and why can you not open the door in front of you instead of cutting in front of me because this door is being held open.  Will opening a door kill you?

6. That emergency strip? It is for emergencies, not because you missed your stop!  Those doors you broke because you were late for the train and running as it was closing the doors are now stuck open and we are all leaving late while the poor Go Transit worker stands in the cold trying to fix them.  There are trains at least every 20 minutes at rush hour, either leave earlier or wait for the next one (yes, I am looking at you Mr. Oakville train rider who runs for the train EVERY MORNING).

The Quiet Zone

7. While I don’t sit in the quiet zone, mostly because I like the few seconds of fresh air at stops from sitting near the door, I get it, you want some peace and quiet to sleep or work or whatever.  Do you really need to start an argument we can hear downstairs because someone’s phone beeped though?  I swear it is quieter outside of the quiet zone because we are not all complaining that the quiet zone isn’t quiet enough.

8. That being said, I do not want to hear your whole phone call, I don’t need to hear that xyz had an affair, your drug deal, or your banking details (thanks for your credit card info and date of birth by the way, you likely just had your identity stolen, although given you have $33k in credit card debt, they may not bother).

commuting delays9. The delays.  Seriously GO, you do this every single day.  Your weather related delays on the train mean nothing to me when I am standing in the cold waiting to pay you a ridiculous amount to get me to work.  So, maybe the first train is delayed because of a track or switch issue, but we can all see the other 3 tracks, maybe use one of them?  Or when it leaves the first station late due to unforeseen circumstances, like the driver being late getting on the train with his Timmies.

10. The overly cheerful “Thank you for choosing Go Transit, we hope you had a pleasant trip” when we get in 40 minutes late!  In all fairness, working on a Go Train must suck, the deal with a lot of complaints (some of them about the stuff above that they can do nothing about, just like the CSR can do nothing about the switch delay), but don’t expect us to be happy about it either.

So there it is, the ten (kinda) things I hate about commuting.

One Reply to “Ten Things I Hate About Commuting”

  1. kristen visser says: Reply

    i hate commuting and so happy i dont have to anymore. so rude when people are taking up the seats with their bags and such and do not move them for you and especially for the older people!

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