Tragedy of the Commons
I find the way people treat common space here disgusting. Specifically, I’m talking about buses. I’m over the teenagers playing music at an ear-splitting volume from the back seats, I can usually crank my own headphones louder. It’s the disregard for cleanliness that’s getting to me right now. People, usually young men, casually toss wrappers, chewing gum, food and other things on the floor of the bus. Out of sight, out of mind. That is, until people want to sit in a seat where all the legroom is taken by crumpled-up paper, spilled drinks and assorted other gunk. That’s when you get people, usually women, put their noses up and smack their lips, possibly muttering something about “can’t they ever get these buses cleaned.”
But that’s the whole issue, isn’t it? A bus in London is probably in constant use throughout most of the day. It can’t be constantly being cleaned. I have a feeling they don’t go through every bus every night – and even if they did, cleaning stuck-in gum off the seats and curry sauce off the floors probably isn’t on the cards. Yesterday I saw a guy across the aisle casually throw his unfinished jerk chicken with rice and peas under the seat in front of him. When someone steps in the mess, they suffer. But it isn’t the guy’s problem – he doesn’t care.
I suspect that if public transport cleaning services were cut, it would lead to massive complaints. People would complain to TfL about the filthy vehicles, and not realize they themselves are the cause.
A little civility, people. Please.