Yesterday we had some errands in Peel so caught the bus there. It was a horribly wet and miserable day with localised flooding and standing water. We got soaked just walking to the bus stop.
On the bus back home there were not many passengers, just us, a young woman with three toddlers and an elderly lady sitting behind the driver.
A young teenage lad boarded the bus about halfway into the journey and sat across the aisle from us, one row in front. That row has seats facing each other rather than all facing the front of the bus. I noticed, from my window seat position, that he immediately put his feet up on the seat in front of him (his shoes would have been very wet and mucky I would think, given the weather conditions).
I inwardly sighed and rolled my eyes but as soon as P noticed what he had done he lunged across, tapped the lad firmly on the shoulder, which startled him (the boy was wearing earphones and looking at his smartphone) and demanded he take his feet off the seat.
The boy glowered but did as he was asked. I felt very uncomfortable about the incident and was concerned that P may have overreacted. What if he was reported for assault or worse?
In my day, a telling off from an adult was to be expected if we did something wrong. I really don't know what is acceptable these days.
I would hesitate to do what Lord Peregrine did on the bus but I applaud him for his courage and community spirit. The lad might have had dog shit on his trainers and nobody should have to sit on that. I bet if the lad's father had been on the bus with him the feet would not have been on the seat in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if his father would have cared at all.
DeleteAt one time I would have done the same, but now, I'd be reluctant. There are some very unpredictable people around these days, even to the point of my husband, a Londoner born and bred, saying he would think twice about offering assistance to anyone on the tube.
ReplyDeleteExactly my thoughts too.
DeleteI see it a lot on London commuter trains and bite my lip every time as I am so angry that they should do that. Shoes carry all sorts of nasty things on them and it's not fair to expect people to sit on filthy seats. However these days you never know if someone is going to produce a knife so I keep on biting my lip really hard and don't say anything. I feel like a coward though.
ReplyDeleteAlthough he didn't look the type to be carrying a knife you just can't tell.
DeleteWell done P but I would hesitate these days I must admit. In the past I'd have been the first to speak up but things have changed.
ReplyDeleteP can be quite impulsive when her perceives something he considers to be wrong, but one day that may land him in trouble.
DeleteGood on P.
ReplyDeleteYes.. but... it could have ended badly...
DeleteThat's the sort of thing my husband would do why I pretended not to know him.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he did as he was told and didnt start a row.
We were lucky the boy was not an aggressive type.
DeleteWll done P,
ReplyDeleteWell done P. Sorry about the mistake above.
ReplyDeletePlucky P !
DeleteI don't think I would have said anything. I might have wiped the seat after he got off, tho...
ReplyDeleteThe responsible ones... always cleaning up after the irresponsible people
DeleteI probably wouldn't have said anything. I would have thought grumpy and uncharitably thoughts. I tend to get outspoken when people are involved. I cannot stand by and watch people be cruel or rude to others. This gets me in a pickle sometimes, but it is my nature. I can no more stop it than I can stop my eyes from blinking.
ReplyDeleteI am a coward through and through. Probably stems from being bullied at school. You learn to keep your head down.
DeleteP was absolutely right to 'advise' the young man. Maybe no-one in his entourage knows that such behaviour is anti-social.
ReplyDeleteI had to give an elderly man (my age) a ticking-off yesterday. He had left the gate open into the park where everyone walks their dogs. With a busy road just outside the gate, leaving it open could prove fatal. He apologised and said he hadn't realised. Fair enough!
A positive outcome then Cro. Good for you.
DeleteSome people have a way of passing on the request for more socially observant behaviour that doesn't seem to attract the kind of response lots of commentators fear. I've no idea what the secret is but we need more of those people. What's that saying about it takes a village to raise a child? That's the input of a community to making the next generation worthy and socially well adapted / socially responsible.
ReplyDeleteYes that positive community influence seems to be lost now.
DeleteIt's good to know that there are still people with courage (or foolhardy idiots if things go awry) to confront such lack of consideration for others. If I had done it it would have been with the softly softly approach. Generally the harder you hit the harder the reaction (in my experience).
ReplyDeleteYes that was my concern, Graham. I am afraid that P doesn't do "softly softly" very well.
DeleteI would have asked him to move his feet, too, but not sure about the touching...it can be too easily misinterpreted.
ReplyDeletexxx
P says he tapped him as the boy was plugged into his music and couldn't hear what was going on. Still not advisable I would have thought.
DeleteAh ha, so I've found your blog (it was hidden in amongst the 100s of blogs I had saved to read later). So consider me a new reader. As a woman on my own I doubt I would have asked that young man to move his feet but who knows. I did stare down a young man on the bus in Geneva not so long ago and when he stuffed his McDo papers down the side of his seat I chased after him to the exit and asked him to put his rubbish in the bin - and he did! Yay me!
ReplyDeleteOh, welcome to my blog and well done you for chasing that young man and getting him to do the right thing. Wish we were all as confident to do that sort of thing... I am most certainly not!
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