A video posted online shows one woman’s quest to provide an etiquette lesson when she sat on a man’s legs as his feet rested on a subway seat, something that’s not allowed under TTC bylaws.
Jay Shylo was riding the Bloor-Danforth subway on Sunday afternoon when she said came across two passengers already involved in an argument.
She posted a two-minute video online showing part of the expletive-filled exchange that starts off showing the woman sitting on the man’s legs as he had his feet on the seat.
“I don’t understand why you’re sitting on me,” the man said.
“Because I’m trying to explain to you that your feet shouldn’t be on the seat,” she responded.
“OK, but why does it matter to you? I can do whatever the f— I want to.”
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The man later appears to gently push the woman aside and she pushes the emergency alarm.
“I shouldn’t be having to touch a lady. Like get off me. You put yourself on me …You pushing that (alarm) is just disrupting everybody else,” the man said.
“We’re a society. We all have to live together,” she said later on.
At the end of the video, the two can be seen leaving the subway car.
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Shylo told Global News that she thought the woman “should have just walked away” and went elsewhere.
“I think she just instigated the entire incident by continuously like antagonizing him and harassing him,” Shylo said, adding he could have “simply took his feet off the seat.”
“Everyone came from an anger mindset, so nothing was going to be resolved that way.”
Shylo said the train held at the subway station for only a couple of minutes. She said the woman spoke with TTC staff.
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TTC spokesman Stuart Green told Global News there isn’t an active investigation because the parties went their separate ways. He said passengers could potentially be issued a fine if caught by transit enforcement staff.
“In terms of feet on seats, that’s actually a violation of Bylaw 1 of the TTC and it can result in a fine of about $245,” Green said.
Green said the use of the passenger alarm was proper in this instance, but cautioned against getting riders about getting into these types of arguments.
“It’s always a concern to us when our customers are getting into disputes like this. We’d rather they didn’t take it into their own hands.”
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Meanwhile, Shylo said she regularly sees passengers putting feet on seats, but she doesn’t think the behaviour is going to change anytime soon.
“Even though that they say that there is a bylaw that if you put your feet up you’re going to get a fine of $250 … it’s something I would not bother arguing for. I would not waste my time because I don’t think it’s going to change … I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
Niki Anastasakis contributed to this report.
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