A s a probable extension of the inexplicable phenomenon of people congregating in doorways, there are also people who block doors of trains and other conveyances — no matter what, in some cases.
“I board the train at concourse D for a ride over to B and move toward the rear of the train. At the C stop, two women get on and stand right in front of the door with their two roll on cases placed lengthwise between them directly in front of me. When we stop at B, they just stand there blocking the length of the door. I asked them to please move so I could get out and one told me they had to get off at A and I had to use the door at the other end of the train car. I just got a good roll on my bag and shoved it between their two bags and went out while they were trying to keep their bags from rolling out the door.”
That example was imparted by FlyerTalk member makeUturn, whose experience occurred aboard the train which transport people to different concourses at the international airport which serves the greater Atlanta metropolitan area — and other FlyerTalk members not only relate their experiences; but also express their frustrations.
“And of course people standing at the door not allowing people to exit before they try to enter the train”, posted FlyerTalk member mridley2. “Often times they’ll just rush on and push people over who are trying to exit. I have more than once given someone a body check when they pull this crap.”
Would you consider the experience of FlyerTalk member OnTheSlopes rude or justified — or perhaps a bit of both? “Had a good one myself the other day in ATL as well – very crowded and went from D to B. When I got off my plane we have 12 minutes until boarding, so I could make it, but had no time to waste. This guy stands in front of the door and stares at me as I shove past several people – doesn’t move. His bag was in my way and got kicked into the hallway with him saying something like ‘excuse you!’. I responded with a ‘don’t block the door! Some us have flights to catch’. The ladies behind me (they followed my path) said ‘thank you’ as we hit the escalators. No consideration at all. I don’t feel bad to run those people over.”
Blocking the doors is especially thoughtless when the middle of the train car is empty and can accommodate passengers waiting on the platform who initially believe that the train car is too full for them to fit inside. This blatant lack of consideration potentially causes a domino effect of sorts for subsequent trains if left unchecked. The same can be said for those people who have a penchant for standing near the front of the bus when there is plenty of room to step to the back to allow other people to board.
Summary
As a person who has traveled on the subway system in New York for approximately nine consecutive years and has been on other conveyances of public transportation throughout the world, I have been in countless situations where the train was so crowded that I had no choice but to stand in one of the doorways of the car — and what I do is that at each stop, I will step outside of the train and stand off to the side out of courtesy for fellow passengers in order to allow traffic to enter and exit the car of the train before returning to my position in the doorway inside of the car…
…which leads me to state that if a person must for whatever reason stand in the doorway of the car, either at least step outside of the car or off to the side inside of the car — both to clear the doorway for others to pass through before stepping back and returning to the spot. Blocking an exit for no reason is inconsiderate at best and a potential safety hazard at worst — especially when luggage and other belongings are in the way.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
