Today's Morning Commute

So, I generally get on the train at 7:28 in Middletown, New Jersey. This train ends up being packed at all get out by the time we reach NYC, but us intrepid commuters can tough it out. This morning, as usual, was no different.

The setup on this train, and dang near all of them except the rare doubledeckers, is that there are two seats on one side of the aisle, and then a 3 seater opposite. Generally they fill up one person in the double, and then 2 people in the triples. Then, once it gets crowded, the double seats fill up, and lastly, a 3rd person joins the triple. (If that doesn't make sense enough for you, screw it, don't worry about it, not worth thinking about) Anyhooo....

It was crowded, just a few interspersed seats left, when 2 women joined the train. Of course they would not be able to sit next to each, so one sat in one row, and another joined the row of seats directly in front of her friend. It just so happens that our hero...me...was sitting in that row. I got up and let her into the middle seat, thinking this would be like every other day.

The woman didn't actually sit down. She stayed standing up, facing over the seat, so she could talk to her friend. It was obvious she was excited, and she talked about how she woke up at 4am this morning, was afraid to go back to sleep for her normal wake up time at 6am, how she was called repeatable by her daughter and her husband to vote, and how she voted. I got to hear about their conference they were going to this mroning, and of course how they would meet for lunch later. I even got to listen to possible plans for the return trip, whether by bus...train...or even, gasp...the ferry. I kind of figured this couldn't last long, so tried ignoring this, (remember she is standing right next to, facing backward), but after 5 minutes I was getting sick of it.

Ok...so a dilemna hits me here....I don't want to bother people unnecessarily, but sheesh, I don't want to listen to this for another 45 minutes either. There is actually a sign posted in front of me, which reminds people to be courteous to other passengers, and to limit loud talking and cell phone use if at all possible. (I'm thinking she can't read it, since she is freaking faced the wrong way) So, I decide to bite the bullet, and interrupt her.

"Excuse me, maam?"

"yes?"

"I hate to mention this, but if you turn around, you'll see a sign there that comments on behavior on the train. I mean, it is extremely distracting and bothersome to have you standing there over my should the entire ride talking about the day today and the ride homer and lunch and voting and who knows what else I'll hear on the way there. Do what you want, but remember, there are 100 people in this car alone, and we are having to listen to this."

Ok, so she makes the big sacrfice and turns around. I feel bad and all for her, but she was killing me. So we are 3 mins out from Penn Station, so I get up and walk to the area between cars. I mostly didn't want to have to have any kind of conversation with her as we debunked, so as to avoid any unpleasantries, I went to stand to wait til we arrived. A few seconds later another guy joins me, and a few seconds after that, a 3rd. Here is the conversation we had.

Guy1: "Good god, thank you for stopping her. I was 3 rows away and it was annoying, it must have been killing you."
Guy2: "This is the guy? Man, I was wondering if you'd say anything."
Me: "Well, I was wondering if it would make things worse, but I was getting nervous this was going to continue the entire way, and decided to just be a jerk and tell her basically to can it."
Guy1: "Oh, you were way within your rights. You couldn't see it, but everyone was eyerolling and dying until you said something."
Me: "Well, to her credit, once alerted, she turned around and was quiet, so am sure glad I said something, laugh"

So...where am I going with this....? How do people not notice that other people are sitting there, and that them talking or carrying on about the most inane crap might not exactly be the top of the list for everyone else? I like to think in my own world that the world revolves around me and all, but sheesh, I do acknowledge that there are actually other people in the universe.

So, in short, when riding the train, especially in the morning....shut the hell up...noone cares.