A Lesson In Common Decency On Public Transit

By John Dodge

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Most decent, honorable folk are taught at an early age a basic rule: Be kind to others.

At least one rider on the South Shore Line missed that lecture, apparently.

As you can see from the above photo, a man with grey hair is taking up three spaces in an area reserved for the elderly and disabled.

Another person in a motorized chair is left to remain in the aisle. The seats in this area are equipped with safety harnesses to secure disabled riders while the train is moving.

The area is clearly marked as priority seating. The solution in this case would have been simple: The man in the grey hair could have stood up and moved less than two feet to that single seat in front of him. The double seat folds up, which would have allowed a person in a wheelchair access.

According to regular riders of Train 112, a rush hour train from Northwest Indiana to Chicago, the grey-haired man does have a cane, but is ambulatory. In fact, according to these passengers, he is able to walk past other commuters after disembarking the train in Chicago.

The passengers also say that the grey-haired rider rarely allows anybody to sit in those seats. He stretches his legs and cane across to the single seat in front, while placing his bags on the seat next to him.

The South Shore requires passengers to keep bags off seats and put them on their lap, on the floor or in the racks overhead.

One passenger described the man's behavior this way (this would be the edited version to make it acceptable for all audiences): "He doesn't move for anyone! He sits on the two seats and puts his cane against the wall, then stretches his leg all the way to the third seat to block that!"

An email was sent to the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, seeking a response.