Bus Etiquette - A very British problem

[sherbz]

Bus etiquette! When I go and sit on the bus in the morning, I always try and sit next to or just behind a window. I fully understand when the driver gets on in the morning they don’t want to sit there driving all day in their full winter gear. And as such they turn the heating on. The windows are also nearly always closed first thing in the morning – that’s also fine. But as the bus heats up, even when its cold outside, I think you need those windows to open – especially when none of the others are. So that’s what I did.


Five minutes later, some woman (and it nearly always is a woman) gets up and closes it. And gives me a dirty look. Is there some sort of science as to why women are genetically more dispossessed to get cold than men are? In any case, I open it again, then she remonstrates with me that its cold outside. At this particular juncture, I think of a few things. With all the windows closed, the temperature on board the bus is probably a very pleasant and warm 20 degrees. She and most of the bus for that matter are all sat there in their full winter garb. If she were cold now, then surely when she is at home she would be all wrapped up or dressed in her coat when she had the central heating on. But I bet she isn’t. I also think that if you are aware that you are someone who gets cold with drafts, then why on earth would you choose to sit on the back seat where all the draft goes? And surely the onus is on her to move to the front where she is unaffected by the draft, leaving me all happy with my fresh air and open window.


One final point. I suspect that these people who are obsessed with having sauna like temperatures in the office and on public transport were probably reptiles in a former life. But why do they think that their rights as a reptile trump mine as a warm blooded and fresh air needing mammal? If you are cold, put a hat on, gloves, jacket, jumper – whatever. If you get hot, my only option is to slowly strip my clothes off piece by piece. And I am fairly certain that’s not a sight anyone wants to be seeing on their morning commute.

Added a poll just for fun.

 

[amadeus]

Do I want to sit in a hot stinky box in coronavirus times when there is a free and easily accessible route for ventilation?

 

[Samson]

Is there some sort of science as to why women are genetically more dispossessed to get cold than men are?

Pretty much:

At higher temperatures, women perform better on a math and verbal task while the reverse effect is observed for men. The increase in female performance in response to higher temperature is significantly larger and more precisely estimated than the corresponding decrease in male performance.​

​

 

[Kyriakos]

It's England, do you really want the bus' window to be open in October?

 

[Zardnaar]

Women feel the cold more apparently or so a nurse told me.

Something about circulation due to differences in internal organs.

See also office arguements over thermostats and wife's cold feet in bed.

 

[sherbz]

Pretty much:

At higher temperatures, women perform better on a math and verbal task while the reverse effect is observed for men. The increase in female performance in response to higher temperature is significantly larger and more precisely estimated than the corresponding decrease in male performance.
​

Interesting. I clearly perform best in cold weather. Everything is better for me in the cold. Especially my parkrun times

 

[sherbz]

It's England, do you really want the bus' window to be open in October?

Yep - all year round. Only time it should be closed is if its raining IMO. Or if its like -10 outside. Otherwise at least one should be open.

 

[EnglishEdward]

I have noticed the same thing.

Many young women prefer to wear skimpy/clingy/thin clothes all year round.

When I was young, I'd go somewhere full of smoke and open a window
and it was always a woman (or boyfriend on her behalf) who'd complain.

It was less of a problem with older ladies who dressed warmly for the weather.

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

I enjoy fun polls.

 

[Snowygerry]

Can't you take one of those iconic open-topped sightseeing buses ?

 

[sherbz]

Can't you take one of those iconic open-topped sightseeing buses ?

Alas no. Don't live in London anymore. And no one wants to take an open topped bus from Barry to Cardiff :-(

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Bus etiquette! When I go and sit on the bus in the morning, I always try and sit next to or just behind a window. I fully understand when the driver gets on in the morning they don’t want to sit there driving all day in their full winter gear. And as such they turn the heating on. The windows are also nearly always closed first thing in the morning – that’s also fine. But as the bus heats up, even when its cold outside, I think you need those windows to open – especially when none of the others are. So that’s what I did.


Five minutes later, some woman (and it nearly always is a woman) gets up and closes it. And gives me a dirty look. Is there some sort of science as to why women are genetically more dispossessed to get cold than men are? In any case, I open it again, then she remonstrates with me that its cold outside. At this particular juncture, I think of a few things. With all the windows closed, the temperature on board the bus is probably a very pleasant and warm 20 degrees. She and most of the bus for that matter are all sat there in their full winter garb. If she were cold now, then surely when she is at home she would be all wrapped up or dressed in her coat when she had the central heating on. But I bet she isn’t. I also think that if you are aware that you are someone who gets cold with drafts, then why on earth would you choose to sit on the back seat where all the draft goes? And surely the onus is on her to move to the front where she is unaffected by the draft, leaving me all happy with my fresh air and open window.


One final point. I suspect that these people who are obsessed with having sauna like temperatures in the office and on public transport were probably reptiles in a former life. But why do they think that their rights as a reptile trump mine as a warm blooded and fresh air needing mammal? If you are cold, put a hat on, gloves, jacket, jumper – whatever. If you get hot, my only option is to slowly strip my clothes off piece by piece. And I am fairly certain that’s not a sight anyone wants to be seeing on their morning commute.

Added a poll just for fun.

If you're too hot, why don't you just remove your jacket?

One reason I don't go out much is because of temperature. It's too friggin' hot in the summer - I had a really hard time this past July-August due to the heat dome that parked itself over Western Canada and wouldn't move for weeks. This is the first July in years that my toes weren't freezing in July like they usually do, because of one of the effects of having hypothyroidism.

My internal thermostat doesn't work correctly. My feet get cold in the middle of July, yet I consider -20C (with no wind chill) "a nice day."

It doesn't matter where you sit on a bus; if there's a window open, there will be a draft, which means it will feel colder. You don't know what every woman is wearing under her coat, and you don't know if she's someone like me, who has a medical condition that means the part of her brain that regulates feeling hot, cold, warm, cool, etc. doesn't work normally. You also don't know if someone is recovering from a cold or flu or covid.

My advice for this time of year in the northern hemisphere: Dress in layers as needed, and add/subtract to be comfortable. Don't expect everyone else to feel the same way that you do, and realize that there may be medical reasons at play.

 

[Samson]

If you're too hot, why don't you just remove your jacket?

One reason I don't go out much is because of temperature. It's too friggin' hot in the summer - I had a really hard time this past July-August due to the heat dome that parked itself over Western Canada and wouldn't move for weeks. This is the first July in years that my toes weren't freezing in July like they usually do, because of one of the effects of having hypothyroidism.

My internal thermostat doesn't work correctly. My feet get cold in the middle of July, yet I consider -20C (with no wind chill) "a nice day."

It doesn't matter where you sit on a bus; if there's a window open, there will be a draft, which means it will feel colder. You don't know what every woman is wearing under her coat, and you don't know if she's someone like me, who has a medical condition that means the part of her brain that regulates feeling hot, cold, warm, cool, etc. doesn't work normally. You also don't know if someone is recovering from a cold or flu or covid.

My advice for this time of year in the northern hemisphere: Dress in layers as needed, and add/subtract to be comfortable. Don't expect everyone else to feel the same way that you do, and realize that there may be medical reasons at play.

I totally agree about dressing in layers, but there is a limit to how many you can take off, at least in public, in a way there is not about how many you can wear. This is a particular issue in the office, when I and other men in the office are coming in wearing shorts and tshirt, about the minimum it is acceptable to wear, and the women come in wearing no more but insist on the office being warmer. We need to find a happy medium to take into account everyone, but seriously, it would be so much easier if people wore appropriate clothing for their own comfort level.

 

[Kyriakos]

Alas no. Don't live in London anymore. And no one wants to take an open topped bus from Barry to Cardiff :-(

Aren't those only for tories? (bad pun :/ )

 

[red_elk]

I was a mammal in past life and usually ok with either variant.

 

[Ferocitus]

I totally agree about dressing in layers, but there is a limit to how many you can take off, at least in public, in a way there is not about how many you can wear. This is a particular issue in the office, when I and other men in the office are coming in wearing shorts and tshirt, about the minimum it is acceptable to wear, and the women come in wearing no more but insist on the office being warmer. We need to find a happy medium to take into account everyone, but seriously, it would be so much easier if people wore appropriate clothing for their own comfort level.

IOW, onesies with company logos and inspirational quotes for everyone!

 

[warpus]

IMO if the bus is at room temperature (and 20 degrees definitely qualifies) the windows should stay closed. What other temperature is ideal for an indoor space if not room temperature?

The only time the windows are ever open on the buses here are during those transition periods between winter and spring, and fall and winter. So basically the times when it's too cold to run the AC, but potentially too warm to keep the windows closed. So when you get on the bus during these times, sometimes a window will be open, sometimes not.

If it's 20 degrees on the bus and you are sweating, clearly you are wearing too many layers or something. Take off your coat?

IMO pointing out that women are always closing windows is silly. You see the patterns you want to see

 

[Catharsis]

Not sure about buses but I am familiar with this problem on trains. The feeling of getting onto a train in late autumn or winter and realising that the train company has actually bothered to heat this one is joyous. As such it's dismaying when the cold air starts being let in anyway.

That said, if you are going to have a window open on a train then you should probably have two open. I don't have any science for this but it always seems like having just the one open window causes the air to flow a little weirdly in the carriage. Also the window itself will start making a racket, it'll shake as the train hurtles along; two open windows calms this down a bit.

 

[warpus]

Wouldn't two open windows lead to a big draft, if the bus or train is moving fast? I seem to remember only one window usually being open on buses, but I could be misremembering..

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I totally agree about dressing in layers, but there is a limit to how many you can take off, at least in public, in a way there is not about how many you can wear. This is a particular issue in the office, when I and other men in the office are coming in wearing shorts and tshirt, about the minimum it is acceptable to wear, and the women come in wearing no more but insist on the office being warmer. We need to find a happy medium to take into account everyone, but seriously, it would be so much easier if people wore appropriate clothing for their own comfort level.

You're seriously telling us that women wear shorts and t-shirts in the offices over there, and nothing over top of them?