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Rucksacks and Wheelie-Cases
Is there any greater evil a person can inflict on their fellow commuters? I think not.
Now, I’ve always harboured a kind of seething resentment towards people who keep their rucksacks on their backs when travelling because they invariably pay no attention to the amount of space it’s taking up behind them. It’s almost as if they completely forget it’s there, slamming it into people as they turn round and so on.
But recently the trend has been towards having those pointlessly tiny mini-suitcases on wheels and I’m beginning to think they hack me off even more. There’s a veritable plague of them round Liverpool Street at the moment, weaving around half-heartedly behind their disinterested owners, tripping people over and even occasionally running over their feet.
(The great thing of course is that when they run over someone’s feet they tend to fall over, greatly annoying the drooling lackwit in charge of the damn thing. But then they do tend to tut and glare and make it look like it’s my fault they weren’t paying attention.)
The other day I also had the great pleasure of being stuck behind some stupid – and I apologise for my use of this word, ladies, but believe me it does apply here – bint who stopped dead at the foot of an escalator as she fought with the suitcase handle. This mainly served to create a huge bottleneck as further, increasingly frantic, passengers accumulated behind her. Then, apparently oblivious to the carnage, she then proceeded to swing the case round behind her, thus causing further mayhem as we scattered to avoid its path.
I’m sure I heard one person spit “stupid bitch” in her general direction and if so I must confess I think the tag was richly deserved.
Of course, my feelings on this are probably unfair since I’m sure there are people out there who have rucksacks and wheelie-cases who are careful, thoughtful, and considerate, and would probably be mortified to have caused even a fraction of such chaos.
But on the whole they do seem to be fairly reliable markers of rabid stupidity. Honestly, people, if you do harbour such a grudge against humanity couldn’t you just become a P.E. teacher and stay out of my way?
Posted on January 23, 2008 | Filed Under The World we Live In
Comments
Response left by Simon on January 23rd, 2008
I always think that travellers divide into two groups – those who give due care and consideration to others who might be behind them, and those that don’t. Rucksack and wheelie suitcase users generally fall into the latter category. And should be shot, obviously.
Response left by diamond geezer on January 23rd, 2008
Today a woman with a large wheelie case got off the 133 and stopped dead in front of the doors while she pulled up the handle and tried to figure out which direction to go in. I (and I’m sure everyone else prevented from exiting) cursed her very soul.
People who stand in the middle of the aisle in Boots oblivious to the people who are struggling to get past (and don’t notice you ask) should be shot too.
Response left by Rob on January 24th, 2008
Taking the opposite position for a moment (do I get the Russell T Davies prize for double entendres there….”that entrance is for tourists”, etc?), has anyone ever wondered if the people who stop for no apparent reason are, in fact, the sane ones, taking stock of the world around them, and we’re the insane ones, buzzing along at 200mph?
Response left by Simon on January 25th, 2008
Good question Russell, but no, I think they’re just unable to think and walk at the same time.
I’m all for taking things slowly and appreciating what’s round you, but when what’s around you is a busy commuter rush hour in a crowded station, that is clearly the wrong time to do it.
That said, my sanity is certainly questionable.
Response left by Rob on January 25th, 2008
I have carried both on occasion. I try to have them in front of me most of the time and I also generally wait for people to clear before sallying forth. However, I also have a problem with the ones who insist in being first off the tube, first upo the stairs and who will stand in the middle of paths. It’s the same thing with pushchair users who insist on being first on the bus who then block up the way on completely and look annoyed that some other people would like to go upstairs or to the back.
To be fair, people are scum all round on buses as I watch people sit at the front and sit on the outer seats to prevent anyone sitting next to them. My policy is, therefore, to sit next to them, even if I have only one stop to go and to treat wheelie suitcases that are poorly managed as something to walk up when held by someone with no sense of communal space.
Aaaarrrgh! I’m a bad person!
Response left by pandemonia on January 26th, 2008
Got something to say?
We generally assume a footprint of a certain size for people in public areas, and as soon as they start dragging wheelie suitcases around, that footprint increases massively – and it confuses us.
Also, yes, backpacks worn on crowded tube trains. No need. Ignorant and arrogant. St Pancras is a case in point. Commuters rushing through north to south, from the regional line platforms, through to King’s Cross. This route is bisected by the Eurostar thoroughfare, which seems to be permanently inhabited now by crap tourists, kids with oh-so-cute pink wheelie suitcases, and impossibly beautiful businesspeople, who, faced with an onslaught of 500 determined commuters, all knowing exactly where they’re going, panic slightly…