Was looking over some photos on Flickr when I came across this one of people eating in an AC Transit bus. So what? Well, the comment under it reads:

Help keep buses clean by saving food and drinks for when you get off.

This reminded me of one of my posts a while back about commuting on BART, and the fact that BART bans food and drink on its trains; a move that means they miss out on the opportunity to have food and drink sold on the platforms. In the UK, where I grew up, most stations have vending machines. Larger ones have cafes and bars. Some trains even have restaurant cars or a service trolley that is wheeled through the train selling food and drinks.

Why is it that so many Americans seem to think that if people are allowed to eat and drink on public transit that it will make it dirty? Do Americans believe that their fellow citizens are that inconsiderate? Are they that inconsiderate?

Perhaps they are… on Friday night, while sitting on one of the benches waiting for my ferry home at the ferry terminal in San Francisco, a couple standing next to the bench lit up cigarettes. In addition to the smoke blowing over me, I also had to contend with the ash that they kept flicking into the wind. To cap it all though, they walk up almost to the gate, then drop their half finished cigarettes on the ground and walk onto the boat. Who did they think would clean up after them? Why do they think that what they did, in plain sight of everybody standing at the gate area, is acceptable behaviour?

Perhaps there should be a hall of shame where people can submit photos of people being inconsiderate.

PS For more of the unusual smoking etiquette posters, visit the Japan Tabacco Manners Graphic Gallery.