USA Today:
Don’t sit by me! Why travelers are antisocial
I thought this list of methods people use to keep a seat open were pretty amusing. I know if a train appears empty, I'll put my bag next to me, but, when it's busy, I place it at my feet or overhead.
Do we really try this hard NOT to engage with others around us? I know sometimes I just want to read, watch a video, listen to music, or take a nap...other times I'm perfectly fine chatting. I
Certainly an interesting thing to consider!
If you've traveled on almost any type of public transport, you likely can relate to these tactics aimed at keeping a stranger from occupying that empty seat beside you.
There's the bag-on-the-seat approach. The blank stare tactic. The "back off, I'm crazy" gambit. The legs stretched into adjoining seat maneuver. And, my personal favorite, the crumpled Kleenexes strewn on the adjoining seat ploy.
Kim hasn't actually witnessed that last tactic, but she saw plenty of others while riding the bus in a series of trips over the course of 2 ½ years. The Yale University graduate sociology student dubs these don't-invade-my-space tactics "nonsocial transient behaviors," a topic she explores in a paper published in the journal, Symbolic Interaction.