Throw Momma from the train.
And now I have a confession to make. I recently threw a man off the Bogor to Kota train.
It had already arrived at Kota station so was my action OK? You judge, and feel free to write with your comments, supportive, derogatory or anecdotal. I may even reply.
I was with my 7 year old going to Mangga Dua because the train saves both time and taxi fares, although you have to be careful of pickpockets and hawkers of trinkets and phlegm. As with nearly all mass transport conveyances in Indonesia, the operative word is mass. Standing is the norm for pregnant women, physically handicapped folk and anyone who isn't able-bodied. Able, that is, to grab a seat.
So, we arrived at Kota station and with relief joined the exiting throng only to find ourselves being pushed back in by a throng wishing to bugger off to Bogor and points in-between. So, in order to create space for my nipper, I pushed a respectably dressed man in his late 20's back on to the platform and loudly suggested that he should have bought a brain when he bought his ticket. He wasn't happy but others were, maybe because now he would not be able to grab a seat.
It's not just trains. Lifts are another bottleneck and who thanks you if you hold a door open to let others pass through? Is this endemic?
Unfortunately the answer seems to be yes. Apparently,
queues 'are no longer sacred in British culture'. At Kota, I was not a victim of 'queue rage' ~ a term coined by a Newcastle academic who spent
four years queuing in order to produce his report. A bit excessive I would have thought. Even I'm not that patient.
There has to be a reason for what I believe is a lack of common courtesy. I'm not going to launch into a long socio-economic thesis here, but would merely like to draw your attention to one particular laundry gunge ad. A single man spends an inordinate amount of time seeking one item in a supermarket. He finds it and is happy until he sees the length of the checkout queue. No problem for this mighty man; he pushes in front of the line of
ibus who then smile and coo as he displays his purchase of ..... Wings.
Now, that's what I need. Give me wings and I too could avoid queues.
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