4 days ago
Passenger Takes 'Gross' Photo of What They See on Bus, It Horrifies Viewers
Nick Leighton, etiquette expert and co-host of the podcast Were You Raised By Wolves?, told Newsweek: "It goes without saying that putting your bare feet on someone else's armrest is not polite."
Liza Mirza Grotts, an etiquette expert and author of A Traveler's Passport to Etiquette, said that bare feet have no place in shared-transit seating areas. "Feet belong on the floor, not where people sit. If you wouldn't put them on your own dining table, don't put them on public transit," Grotts told Newsweek. "Public transportation is a shared space; bare feet have no place on bus seats, armrests, or anywhere others will sit."
Jules Hirst, co-author of Power of Civility, told Newsweek the passenger's conduct in the Reddit post was an example of forgetting the shared nature of public transport.
"How you conduct yourself in the privacy of your own home is your business. When you go out into public, you enter into a shared space," Hirst said. "While riding barefoot and talking on your speakerphone may be comfortable for you … you are in a shared space and you need to be cognizant of and respectful of your fellow passengers … treat public transportation like a shared living room—comfortable, but always courteous."
Grotts also offered advice on handling such incidents. She said: "If you encounter this kind of behavior, address it with tact. Make direct eye contact, smile politely and say something like, 'Would you mind putting your feet down? People will be sitting there.' If confrontation feels unsafe, speak with the driver or a transit official."
Leighton advised against escalating such situations. "When confronted with such rudeness, it can be tempting to return in kind. But that just adds more rudeness to the world, so best to take the high road and keep things polite. The goal is to restore harmony in this shared space, not try to score points to see who can be the rudest—because then everybody loses."
Reddit users responding to the post expressed their disapproval, with u/N9s8mping asking: "Do people not have basic etiquette anymore?"
Another commenter, u/pmpork, wrote: "I've seen people walk barefoot into an airplane bathroom. This is sanitary by comparison."
Some replies were tongue-in-cheek suggestions for dealing with the situation.
U/5axiscncfishguitar posted, "Sneeze on her foot," while u/crispychicken65 added: "get some water and pretend to choke over her foot."
Others imagined a more-direct confrontation.
U/BugWitty2044 wrote: "Get into the conversation and keep doing that and there will be a point this being will tell you 'Excuse me what are you doing? I'm on my phone.' Now you have her attention take a deep breath and tell her to. TURN OFF THE GOD DAMN SPEAKER!!"
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via the Reddit messaging system.
Stock image: A man looks down at his phone on a bus.
Stock image: A man looks down at his phone on a bus.
Getty
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