Most Startlingly Thing You Ever Saw on Public Transportation

Duke

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Admittedly this will be tough to top, but what's the most startlingly (or most disturbing) thing you ever saw on an airplane, bus, train, cab, etc. Please be discreet, this is a family forum. :blush:
 
Witnessed a number of dirty diaper changes on aircraft fold down tray tables. As a result I always carried individual sanity wipes in the little foil packets when I flew.

I saw a guy watching serious porn on a redeye flight from LA to Chicago. I saw it walking forward in the cabin going back to my seat from the lavatory.

In London I found a blood drenched men's handkerchief stuffed into the backseat of a cab. We're not talking shaving cut or nosebleed here. I called it to the driver's attention and recommended he call the police. He didn't seem too concerned.
 
Not sure if call it "startling" but I did witness an exchange once on a bus they was very unexpected.

When I was commuting to downtown Denver for work I took the bus. My usual routine was to get on, sit down and pull out a book to read while waiting for the rest of the passengers to board. One day there were two Asian men in suits who decided to stand in the aisle rather than sit down in any of the open seats. This was not too unusual as the buses were usually full enough at that time of day that people ended up standing as the seats were all taken. Some people just opted to stand as they would likely end up giving their seat to someone else anyway.

However, on this day these two men weren't simply standing while waiting for other passengers to board, they were standing in the way of passengers trying to get to the empty seats in the back of the bus. I saw this and thought it was quite rude to simply stand there and block others.

A woman politely said "excuse me" as she approached them but they didn't move or even appear to notice. In a slightly louder voice with firmer tone she repeated "Excuse Me" and added "Can I get past you?" This time the men did seem to hear her as they turned, gave her a look then went back to their conversation which I couldn't understand as it was in an Asian language that I don't speak. From where I was sitting they looked more annoyed by her request than anything.

At this point I put my book away and stood up to go confront these two. My intent was to go into Army Sergeant mode and ask them to move in a tone that they would understand that I wasn't really asking.

I quickly saw that I wasn't alone as two other gentleman had stood up at the same time I did and were looking right at these two also. One was a white guy, a bit bigger than me and dressed in a manner that looked like he worked a blue collar job. The other looked like a college student, he was a black kid dressed a bit like Will Smith in the Fresh Prince tv show and had been listening to music through these overly large headphones that looked like what a DJ at a club would wear. The kid was the smallest of us three but also the closest. Me and Blue Collar stood where we were and let the kid go first. I'm not sure what the other guy was thinking but I was expecting these two to blow off the kid the same way they did the woman so I was still ready to move in if needed.

What I was definitely not expecting was this kid to start speaking to these guys in the same foreign language they were speaking. They turned and said something back to him to which he replied by motioning to the rest of the bus then pointing at them and said something in a tone that sounded like he was scolding children. The two men lowered their heads and hurried to the very back of the bus. The kid then turned to the woman, apologized to her then sat back down and put his headphones back on.

Of all the people on the bus that day that kid was not the one I was expecting to hear speak in fluent, I'm guessing Cantonese.
 
While it wasn't a means of public transportation, I remember getting looks from someone I just found creepy on a church trip to NC no less. He was an older chaperone and the bus was beyond FRIGID but it was in the middle of July '00 and I was only 19 at the time. I was freezing and when he offered me a blanket, I took it. But the creepy smile afterwards was the stuff of nightmares.
 
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I just remembered an unpleasant thing I saw on a Greyhound bus once, while traveling from PA to Florida. The bus had stopped at a rest area, and people were lining up in the aisle to get off the bus and visit rest rooms or find something to eat.

There was a young boy seated across from me, traveling alone. As he stood up and left his seat, I saw a large wad of bills drop from his pocket and land on the seat. I tried to get his attention, but the people in the line were moving very slowly. To my dismay, he joined the line to leave the bus, unaware that he had dropped his money. Then I saw an older man deftly scoop the money off the seat and stick it in his pocket. If I had been a man, I would probably have confronted him about it. But he knew I had seen him take the money, and from the way he looked at me I figured I had better keep well out of it. :(
 
Catching the train home from school someone bumped my mate who was standing in the open doorway when the train was speeding through a station it didn't stop at. In those days the train doors were closed manually over here. We thought he had been killed for sure but just suffered extreme gravel rash when he rolled onto the platform.
 
Last night I remembered that I have flown commercially twice in the last 40 years, but both flights were completely uneventful, smooth and I think I slept through most of one, lol.
 
I have been on 3 flights in my lifetime. I hate flying...actually, I fear planes. So! With that said, coming home from a visit with my son in Florida, I boarded my last plane flight in my usual petrified mode. It was an evening flight and after take off the two young men seated behind me took note of how hard I was still gripping the seat and the fact the flight attendant stopped by three times to reassure me.

I was seated by a window in a row all to myself. I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned in my seat to see these two guys grinning at me. "Ma'am," said the blonde, "we noticed you're a little concerned. It's OK. We're here for ya." They introduced themselves from a town not far from me. Both had quite the southern drawl which led to the fact they grew up in Alabama. Which then led to them telling me all about their first trip to Florida, which was made on a whim and the clothes on their backs. I was in stitches from their adventures.

They then told me their "big plan" about a purchase they had made in Florida. They bought a parachute and had plans to deploy it while driving their ATV as fast as they could to see what would happen. I kinda watched the news for weeks for reports of anyone landing in the hospital from something like this. Those two young guys made a fearful lady's flight go very quickly!