How to get a good seat on the train or metro
July 19th 2007
I thought I’d share my strategy for how to get a good seat on the train in Paris, it works for the metro too (even better).
My current assignment has me working in Levallois-Peret, one of the cities that borders Paris. It’s so much like Paris that you wouldn’t even know you weren’t in Paris. My way home from work is to take the metro to the St. Lazare train station. Since it’s the train station, you can take your time and walk along the train and pick a good spot.
The seats are arranged in fours, with the groups of two facing each other. This is handy because the train runs in both directions and 1/2 the seats are always facing the right direction.
My strategy is simple: Pick a seat that no one else wants. This means picking a seat next to someone that no one else wants to sit next to. That way we are two people for four seats, sitting diagonally from each other there is plenty of leg & elbow room.
So who is the best candidate? Obvious a homeless person but I don’t want to sit next to them either. So lately my choice has been big black guys. Before you think I’m a racist, I remind you that I want to sit by them and no one else does, so that makes me the only person who isn’t a racist. 
If I don’t find a big black guy, any big guy will do. But black guys work the best. I got lucky and got a really big one the other day. Every other seat on our wagon had 3-4 people in the four seats while the two of us were sitting comfortably.
Tags:public transportation
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The fact that you want to sit next to the big black guys does not necessarily mean you are not a racist - per your own words, you just want a better seat with leg & elbow room, so you will sit wherever and with whomever so you can have that extra room - except next to a homeless person. Somehow, I feel that you are missing something in your thinking (and compassion or lack thereof)- this article bothers me a lot and maybe later when I have more time I will leave a better comment.
You should know that choosing your seat is not a social thing because there is a strict “NO TALKING TO STRANGERS” rule in effect on all public transportation. So you choose your seat based on comfort (both space and quietness).
You have to picture the crowded train, your legs are touching the legs of the person in front of you and your knees are just inches away from their.. you get the picture. So it’s only natural to avoid tall and/or big people. And it’s quite courteous to avoid them because they need the extra legroom.
Think of it like this: When you’re on an airplane, you’re quite happy when there is no one in front of you (who will lean their seat back from takeoff to landing)..
It’s kind of like chess. Lots of strategy involved. I’ll be posting more on this real soon from my experience this morning.
I agree with the first comment. Instinctively, your phrasing and intentions seem offensive, oblivious, and somehow rude (even if no one knows WHY you sit where you do - like cheating on your spouse is still wrong even if she doesn’t know).
From your back-pedaling in your response (in the comment section), trying to explain that SIZE is really the issue, it is reasonable to assume that the BLACK part of your premise is starting to seem wrong to you, as well.
“It is quite courteous to avoid them…” No. It is courteous to allow everyone their space in a half-empty car. It is mean to single out (large) black men to serve your purpose. So much so that you have actually thought hard about this - and whose unfortunate situation to exploit. And think it is clever.
What’s more, by your own comment, if it is “courteous” to “avoid” certain people, then you are being rude by purposely targeting them. Which is it?
Don’t dodge your own writing: YOU stipulated the “black” preference. You take tall people of other races only as a second choice.
The whole premise is so wrong that, like the first commenter, I don’t even know how to explain why and how offensive this whole thing is. And I’m not sure you could even see the point if anyone bothered. It is that far off. But you own it, not me.
If you have too little traffic on this site, maybe it is because you remove comments that you don’t like, squelching any kind of discussion.
I think the bigger issue is why isn’t there anyone sitting next to the black guy?
Think of my seat selection as affirmative action.
Too bad that is absolutely NOT the premise you started with. Seems to me that you are just desperately trying to justify a glib and fundamentally offensive outlook now. Good luck with that. I’m sure you will succeed - at least within your own mind.