A quick note to anyone with short, brown hair, who wears a dark grey suit, and catches the 0738 trans-penine express service from Leeds to Manchester Picadilly. On a half empty train (or half full*, depending on how you want to look at it) there is no need to sit directly opposite someone on a four-seater table. The correct place to sit is diagonally opposite them (as illustrated in the picture below) allowing both passengers the full amount of leg-room, and table space. Thank you for listening, we hope you have a pleasant onward journey.
*Do optimists see train carriages as half full, or half empty?
Maybe he wanted a window seat too.
I guess you were there first though.
That’s up there with:
a) Groups (young and old) who take up half the seats on two rows, so that they can turn around to talk to each other (the Southport-Manchester line).
b) Larger people who feel that it’s appropriate to sit next to you, rather than opposite you, and proceed to read a broadsheet.
Good lord, yes… how annoying are people like this?!
Is it not obvious?!
Mind you, I find that patting the seat next to you with a cheeky little smile as they approach is the ideal way to make sure they just keep on walking.
This works even better if you’re peering at them over top of the Daily Mail!
Fools…
I take your point Ade. In a funny sort of way I was starting to regret writing the post. Sure it’s annoying, but does it really matter?
Then on the way home last night (empty ish train) the same thing happened. Lady comes along and sits down… dumps her four copies of Hello/OK/Closer/Heat on the table… kicks me in the shins… three times… AND THEN STARTS PAINTING HER NAILS. The stuff stinks…
It just made me realise how oblivious some people can be to other people. Might have to start adopting Oli’s seat patting suggestion, but knowing my luck they’ll sit down.
This reminds me of a flight from Bangkok to Jakarta where the chap sitting next to me stared ands stared at my laptop screen while I was writing a prez for a client. It was very annoying, and I didn’t want to give him a lecture in international air travel etiquette so I started a new slide and asked him nicely in a HUGE FONT to mind his own business. It worked a treat.