Working in the Study Abroad field, I am constantly reminded that many other cultures/countries find Americans rude. As I sit on an Amtrak train waiting to pull out of Chicago's Union Station, I might have to agree. Since rude implies intent, I could go with oblivious, but the end result is the same...annoying others with selfish behavior.
The annoyance began on the trip to Chicago as we were waiting to board the train in Ottumwa, Iowa. The train was very delayed due to wether which left the waiting room full of noisy patrons for longer than normal. One pair of older gentleman talked so loud, despite sitting right next to each other, that I could hear them over the loud music pulsing through my headphones.
On the train, a man sitting across from us had a loud ring tone, which obviously wasn't silenced, and he proceeded to repeated phone conversations in a normal tone. Add in the music and movie that was playing out loud somewhere nearby behind us, and we were faced with at least 3 sources of rude/oblivious behavior.
Back in the the more recent past, we cued up in a cattle-style waiting area in the Amtrak terminal about two hours ago. Despite being nearly packed with more than an hour until departure, a single traveller sat taking up 3 seats, his briefcase and some other items taking up the two chairs on either side of him. Eventually he moved his stuff from one of the seats so a family of 5 could have 2 seats together. But he didn't bother to move over to allow them 3 seats which lead to the remaining children just standing or sitting in the already overcrowded aisle.
So we boarded the train and proceeded to get comfortable for the 5 hour trip home. As a parent, I'm fairly tolerant of traveling children, but that courtesy does not extend to rude/oblivious parents. A cute little boy one seat ahead of us started his DVD player. Mom sat next to him with a pair of $200 Beats headphones plugged into her smartphone while the boys watched his movie out loud. A woman behind us started a loud, argumentative conversation.
I make a conscious effort to put my mobile on vibrate, I text instead of talking, and I use headphones if I'm listening to a movie or music. I've learned not to travel without the means to block out the rude/oblivious, but why should the burden be on me to compensate for their selfish actions? It shouldn't, and this weekend's travels just serve to remind me to pay attention to how my actions affect others around me, especially while traveling!
