Subway Etiquette - Do You Confront Strangers on the Train Breaking the Rules?

You have every right to speak up. However, common sense should prevail. Don't confront someone who looks or acts dangerous or drunk or stoned - pull the emergency cord and ask the conductor to send a security guard to your car. The woman who "told off" the younger woman for eating should have approached it in a more diplomatic way. There's no need to "tell off" someone when you're first confronting them. Ask them politely if they realize that there's a no food policy on the subway. IF that person responds rudely to you, then you have the right to get more pointed with your comments. I ran into this situation on the bus that I take to and from work five days a week. Two young men - probably 18-20 - were sitting across from each other on either side of the aisle because they couldn't get seats together. The bus was packed - all seats were taken and about a dozen people were standing. These two started spouting off about women, how they treat women that they date, what women are good for, using every profanity in the book, including the "c" word. I was very uncomfortable as were most of the passengers on the bus. I could see people looking back to see who was talking. Finally a man in his 30's spoke up, politely, asking them to clean up their language please, there's woman and children on this bus. The one guy got very pissed off and started using even more profane language saying that this was a "public place" and he could say what he wanted. I spoke up then and said "Yes, it's a public place - that's exactly why you cannot use that language here. If you want to talk like that, do it at home, not on a crowded bus". He immediately called me a "fat ugly "c" and told me to mind my own business. Then the first man came to my defense and was more aggressive this time, saying "Hey, I told you two to cut out the language". Then the 18 year old stood up and challenged the 30 year old to a fight - he was ready to do it right there on a moving bus. By this time the driver had become aware of what was going on and he yelled at the guys to sit down and be quiet. Mr. Show-Off 18 year old kept threatening the 30 year old and the bus driver kept yelling at him to sit down. The two teenagers kept up their filthy talk for the rest of the ride, but this time they were making comments about the passengers that were absolutely filthy. When we got downtown 25 minutes later, I went up to the front of the bus to get off at my stop and I just unloaded on the bus driver. I was irate with him that he didn't stop the bus and kick those two off and make them walk. He said he had called the police and the transit security officers and they were going to meet him at one of his stops as soon as one of them was in the area. I called the transit authority after I got home and reported this incident. I don't regret telling them to clean up their act - I just regret that the other 60 people on the bus kept their mouths shut and just tolerated this garbage. If nobody speaks up then these losers think that what they are doing is OK. I suspect the two that I met are going to be more careful in the future now that they've been taken to the police station and ticketed for their behavior.