Train Etiquette

It was the first time I wished I had kept with the times and gotten myself a camera phone; the perfect scenario for a STOMP/ST citizen reporter to arrive at.

I was on the morning rush hour train heading for an 8am(!) dental appointment. Standing, I was facing this seated couple. Chinese, early 20s, bespectacled, heartlanderish. Almost immediately after they sat down, they pulled out a matching pair of [Leading Global Fast Food Chain] fish burgers and nonchalantly began to consume their food. It was probably not the first time they were committing this act of daredevilry, for they went about it in a matter-of-fact and methodical way. The girl ate first; she somehow split the burger into many bite-sized chunks and put them into her mouth piece by piece (less of a mess this way), while continuing to chat with her boyfriend, oblivious to the stares of the commuters around her. It was only when the fair-complexioned, shorts-wearing girl finished her burger that her man commenced chomping on his. He had been holding her burger box, you see. Like I said, they made a well-oiled machine.

If only I had a camera phone; STOMP/Straits Times netizens would have a field biting their heads off if they had seen pictures. Me? As a firm believer in efficacious snack consumption on buses (though I do draw the line at the MRT), who am I to judge?

Anyway, once both finished their burgers, they packed their trash into a plastic bag, and continued to chat happily. The rest of us went back to our music/naps/TODAYs and My Papers/admiration of the MRT floor and our footwear, probably bemused by their brazen behaviour, reserved usually for know-it-all, laws-don't-apply-to-me secondary school kids. It distinguished that day's train ride from the monotony of the usual commute.
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The story doesn't end there though. A few stops later, when the 'What's $5000 in fines to us' couple had already finished their breakfast, a pregnant woman, henceforth referred to as Maternity Lady, boarded our carriage. As there were no seats (Ours was one of the newer trains with seats slashed for more standing room; plus again, rush hour), she stood by the handgrab pole nearest to the one I was holding on to. Now, I'm not sure if the seated passengers facing Maternity Lady were displaying trademark Singaporean lack of civic-mindedness. Many were sleeping, and given the hour, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt that they weren't feigning it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw our gruesome twosome (GT) discussing something (Yes, I was still sneaking inconspicuous peeks at them, fascinated at how . . . blatant their disregard for laws/stares/norms was, something very unusual for Pavlovian locals). Then, male half of GT stood up, signaled to Maternity Lady, and generously offered his seat. Female GT looked up at him, eyes fawning with adoration at his gentlemanly ways (Ok, I might be editorialising just a tad). Maternity lady declined, however, saying she'd be alighting soon. Guy GT promptly sat back down, to the dismay of scavenger-like office aunties nearby. GT went on with their merry conversation, probably pondering whether to get more traditional hawker fare like chee cheong fun or ham chim pang for the next day's breakfast.

Moral of the story? [Overstatement] There are no good and evil people, only good and evil acts. [/Overstatement]. Or perhaps, [J.K Rowling]Every one is born with the capacity for good and evil. It's our choices which determine who we are. [/J.K Rowling]

Yeah, something like that.