Desperation on Public Transport

[Brian]

@burstingguys That guy asking everyone where the toilets were at the station is pretty amazing. You'd expect it to be pretty obvious when you're out of the train and can look, so he must have been in such a state that he didn't have time to look for them!

I'd love to read more of your experiences during your commutes when you get time to write them up.

[Peecadilly]

I spend so much time on public transport that I feel I should be seeing more desperate guys than I am.

I saw a guy on a train once when we were already entering the station and it took ages because there were two trains in front of us. I'd already got up to stand by the door, not realising that it would be another five minutes when we were 50 metres from the platform. Although I should've, it's a large and busy station and happens all the time. He was standing by the door as well and at first I just thought he was annoyed because things weren't moving but I did notice that he leaning into his hip, looking weirdly cramped. He was probably in his early 30s, grey suit, smart, not really handsome but fashionable enough that you wouldn't notice he wasn't. Unless you were staring at him for 5 minutes because you're admiring his desperate state

Interestingly enough, we were standing about 2 metres away from a perfectly fine toilet. Not out of order or anything and while train toilets aren't fun I would prefer them over wetting myself. I will never know why he didn't use it. He was still looking pissed off and staring out of the window with a clenched jaw when he started with a most interesting holding technique.

He formed a V with his index and middle finger like he was going to flip me off but instead he shoved them in his crotch with what looked like quite a bit of force and aggressively curled and uncurled them a few times before giving things a wiggle and ripping them away again. It looked like he was framing things in between his fingers. All the while he didn't acknowledge me or what he was doing at all, he kept staring out of the window. He kept repeating this in irregular intervals and after the first time he started to look pale and clammy but didn't otherwise move. We were holding on to the same pole as it was the only one there, so I had a good view and I was looking rather openly, I was quite convinced he wouldn't call me out on it.

He didn't and apart from his little hand move he remained stoic. The only time I thought he might lose it was when the train began to move to crawl the rest of the way to the platform, which still took another two minutes. He really dug in his fingers then and curled them frantically, doing a curl-wiggle-curl-wiggle thing when before the wiggle had always been the last thing he did before taking his hand away again. He returned to the calmer rhythm for the last two minutes, maybe reaching down another 5 times.

When the train stopped I was the one to reach for the button to open the door and when it did that was the first time he looked at me as he stepped away from the pole and finally gave himself a proper squeeze in mid-step. It was all one fluid motion, happening much faster than it looks written down. He was giving me a very reproachful look indeed, also angry and embarrassed. He shook out his hand as he got off the train and was then swept up by the crowds and I could only see the back of his head anymore.

I did follow him but gave him quite a headstart and there were lots of people in between us. I just saw him ride down an escalator and walk briskly towards the toilets. If only I was a man and could've followed him inside! Then again, I don't think I would've had the nerve to do that and it would've been a bit mean.

[Brian]

@Peecadilly What an interesting, detailed description. The physical actions you describe sound quite unusual. I can relate to him not using the train toilet - I think they're difficult to use in a moving train if you're a guy and used to standing up to pee, so he had probably set his sights on the station toilets beforehand, and I bet he wasn't expecting the long wait before reaching the platform and kept expecting the train to move in. Thanks for a great account.

[Fred]

Or he may be pee-shy and wants to use his toilet at home. Certainly his actions sound like he was bursting for a pee.

[burstingguys]

If it was rush hour one can imagine there would be a substantial queue for the toilets. I've seen men like this well past the point of caring if anyone sees them clutching themselves nearly wet themselves waiting for their turn for the urinal at some of the busy transport terminals in the city here.

[Fred]

In my experience in Boston, Massachusetts, the subway trains do not have toilets; only the longer-run trains have them. And many of the subway stations do not have functioning rest rooms, or at least it's very hard to find them. It's been a number of years since I regularly used public transportation there, and back then I wasn't on the lookout for desperate guys, but I'm sure there are plenty, especially at night when they've been drinking before heading home. That's why the stations often smell of stale urine.

[danjacob]

I was returning home yesterday by bus and suddenly heard a young man says to his wife 5 minutes before departure "I go to porta potty". I'm imaging how full his bladder was and wondering if he couldn't hold piss for 2 hour trip.

[Brian]

I was returning home yesterday by bus and suddenly heard a young man says to his wife 5 minutes before departure "I go to porta potty". I'm imaging how full his bladder was and wondering if he couldn't hold piss for 2 hour trip.

I'd be imagining the same thing.

Did you see what he did? Did he get off the bus?

[danjacob]

Yes, he got off the bus and found the toilet at the station (unfortunately).

[Tytn]

Some people don't plan ahead, and others think their journeys will last longer than they think. Those are the people that don't understand timing points on bus runs. A colleague from when I was on the buses has told me recently that you now get sacked for passing a timing point early, so there is incentive to dawdle and not to rush off from some stops, which is understandable.

I do recall some of the times I had and they were often down to the passenger getting on the wrong bus but then asking the wrong question.

So when those two college students hopped on with open cans of drink and I refused to let them travel. I gave my reasons that it was a clean bus and i didnt want them leaving their rubbish upstairs, as I knew they would, and there wasn't a bin on the bus. So they had to drink the litre cans of energy drink each before they could board.

Now, what they should have asked was 'is this the quickest bus to town' then i would have replied 'no' but they wanted to go through town and to the football stadium, which was a 2 hour run. The quick bus to down would have taken 20 minutes, then another bus to the stadium, but also that would have needed a more than one trip ticket, which was more expensive.

So, they boarded mine, having just downed a litre can of energy drinks each and were in their upper teens...

Aaaanyway.... yeah, correct information and understanding of local physical factors are important things....