The Renewal of Good Manners on Public Transportation

During the summer months, traveling and public transportation seem to go hand in hand, whether you are flying, taking a coach bus, the subway, city bus, transit subways or taxis. They all offer a tourist's view of colorful people and sights.

The horror stories that go along we have all heard. What I have found during the past couple of weeks, whether my travels took me to New Jersey, Harlem, Long Island, New York City or downtown Cleveland, the drivers/pilots of my destination have made my trips much more enjoyable and kept us safe. Each showed professionalism and were wonderful ambassadors of their city. Ask a question, they answered it with ease and knowledge.

I do remember a time when this wasn’t the case and asking for directions sent a vibe that you were putting the driver out. And as a passenger, I witnessed fellow riders showing kindness to fellow riders. I was pleased to experience such kindness.

On the airplane, a flight attendant shared and showed how to place cargo in the overheads so hats and gift paper bags don’t get ruined by the hard suitcase carry on. I have never seen that before.

Other examples of these actions were watching people ask for directions, it was given to them with ease, kindness and a smile plus “have a nice day” as a tag.

On a city bus, young men and women were getting up to offer their seats to individuals who were older or adults with small children.

On one transit, the tourist didn’t realize that he and his family needed coins not dollars. Standing by the driver trying to understand the fare system and not having enough quarters to make the fare, a local women stood up and walk to the front and gave the family an extra bus pass card, she carries just “in case” she said. How many of us carry extra fare cards just in case?

Taxi drivers offering assistance and tourist information on top of the ride, wow! Even at the spectacular fireworks program in downtown Cleveland, the rapid ambassadors were to there to make sure you went on the correct green, red or blue line train.

Have you experienced the renewal of fellow passengers on your bus, train or plane? I know this isn’t an everyday experience but I was pleasantly surprised to see people treating individuals with respect and being helpful. As all experiences in life, these are lessons to learn from, and for me, these were positive lessons for each of us to model. We should take note!