Seating on Public Transportation

In this editorial in the NY Times, the author laments that on his Acela trips from NYC to Providence and back again, he often has an empty seat next to him and he sadly ascribes it to him being African-American. I think my favorite part of the editorial is where he writes: "But the very pleasing moment of anticipation casts a shadow, because I can’t accept the bounty of an extra seat without remembering why it’s empty, without wondering if its emptiness isn’t something quite sad."

I really don't want to wade too much into the whole point that the article raises about how white people don't want to sit next to black people on public transportation. I have thought about it somewhat seeing how I am typically the racial minority on Metrobus and I rarely end up having someone sit next to me if I have an open seat next to me. But, this happened when I commuted up to Salt Lake as well back in the late 1990s, so it must be something about me looking mean when I ride public transportation.

I really wanted to comment on the sadness of the empty seat next to you as you ride on public transportation. When I would commute to Salt Lake, I hoped the good looking young professional girls would sit next to me (because I'm sure I would have struck up an intelligent conversation at 5:19 in the morning), but that never transpired. So, the empty seat represented me being rejected by various good looking girls, and yes, that made me feel sad. Nowadays, I don't really want someone to sit next to me. But sometimes, when someone bypasses the seat next to me and goes over and sits next to the obese person who's filling a seat and a half, or the person who smells, I still feel a pang of sadness. Really, you'd rather be tottering on the edge of your seat ready to fall off the moment that the bus hangs a left because you chose to sit next to the obese person rather than sitting next to me, a seemingly nice non-obese non-smelly type person? Yes, it makes me doubt if I have any natural charisma whatsoever.

On the other hand, after reading the article above, I decided to review my past seat choices (assuming I had to sit next to someone). I realized that I was more likely to sit next to middle-aged Hispanic women than any other race/sex. Alas! A cause for repentance! Which I have done. Instead of doing a mental calculation to determine who I think is most likely to get off sooner so I get the empty seat next to me, I am now trying my hardest to sit next to black men so they won't think I'm being racist. (Somehow, I don't think that's the kind of change the article was hoping to bring about...)