The new commuting etiquette: 5 ways the pandemic has changed our behaviour
Britain is returning to the office, but commuting isn’t what it used to be, pre-2020. The rules have changed, some formally and some not. What is fine for one strap-hanger is completely unacceptable for the next. So how should you navigate this new world?
1. Windows of opportunity
As most of us have heard, on repeat, for the past year, Covid spreads via respiratory droplets – so it makes sense that, on public transport, ventilation is paramount. But it also means bus and train windows are a new battleground. No matter that there’s a gale-force wind blowing outside. Open up! It’s OK! You’re saving lives! Just maybe ask before you reach over your fellow passenger to pull the window down...
2. Personal space is sacred
In truth, no one ever actively welcomed a mouth-breathing stranger beside them on a cramped bus. Today, they’re about as welcome as a salivating Rottweiler. Hence why many operators have taped off seats. Passengers have also taken matters into their own hands, and many now find it perfectly acceptable to – horrors! – place a bag on the empty seat adjacent (“Sorry, just following social distancing guidelines!”) But when things get particularly busy, aren’t you forcing other people to stand and bunch up along the aisles? Didn’t think of that, did you?
3. Masking up
Just as every bus, tram and train carriage always had someone playing music from their phone, now there is always someone not troubling themselves with a face mask. Or, perhaps even worse, someone who’s wearing it wrong, their nose hanging out. There are actual rules about this. At least if you’re not wearing a mask at all, we might accept you have a health-related exemption. Though the people giving you dirty looks right now probably won’t.
4. Eating and drinking
We never exactly celebrated when someone boarded with a Big Mac and fries. A takeaway coffee was fine – but not any more. Because it cannot be consumed through a mask. Expect 100-yard stares as you pull yours aside to gulp down your morning flat white. One person’s caffeine fix could be another person’s 10-day quarantine.
5. Getting touchy
You read that recent article about surfaces not actually being a major source of virus transmission after all, but that person swinging around to avoid touching the handrail didn’t. Until we all get second jabs, the bumping-into-someone-to-avoid-touching-anything dance is the next big commuter rage flashpoint. You have been warned.
