As I shuffle my way on to Sydney’s metro, a woman stares at me as if I’ve grown a second head. I have earned this perplexed look by exhibiting basic courtesy – moving my backpack to my front in order to avoid jostling other commuters. Shortly after this eyeball exchange, she bangs into my hip with her ludicrously capacious handbag.
In almost all ways, the metro has changed my life for the better. It has slightly lengthened my walking commute, while significantly shortening my time on mass transit. And yet, every morning, I am faced with frustration. People crowd the entryways, making it difficult to shuffle deeper into the aisles. On packed carriages, we fail to file to the sides, forcing fellow riders to fight their way to the doors upon departure.
These breaches of etiquette would earn you filthy looks in London or Paris, and verbal chastisement in New York. In Singapore, frustrated passengers could simply point to a sign above their heads, telling commuters what not to do.
While no city has solved the problem of manspreading, in Sydney we contend with bag spreading too. Passengers dump their belongings on the seats beside them, even when others are standing. Worse still, I’ve seen bags sprawled across the floor. This trip hazard would be warned against any in OH&S handbook. Why should our ride to work be any different? I hear from colleagues in Melbourne that trams are plagued by this issue too.
This all gives me a major case of cultural cringe, because bag spreading isn’t a problem for our international visitors. I love to hear other languages spoken on the metro, but I love to see backpacks placed on laps and suitcases tucked between legs even more.
I appreciate that not every passenger is lucky enough to have experienced commutes in other countries. So patronising as it may be, I want our expanding public infrastructure to come with an education campaign. A few Singapore-style signs would not go astray.
But in the meantime, we’re embarrassing ourselves in front of the tourists.
