VOX POPULI: Children suffer when passengers act like jerks

Announcements and notices on Japanese public transportation systems tend to be in the form of polite requests.

On the subway one time, I came across the following sign near priority seats for senior citizens and people with disabilities: "Giving way to each other makes the atmosphere on trains brighter."

Certainly, by being considerate, passengers can make train rides comfortable. But the reverse also holds true.

The Koe (Voice) column of the vernacular Asahi Shimbun's Tokyo edition recently ran a letter to the editor from a 12-year-old boy about "an outrageous passenger" on a bus.

According to the boy, the bus arrived five minutes late at a stop in Machida, a western Tokyo suburb. When the boy got on with his mother, an angry male passenger yelled at the female driver.

Apparently furious that the bus was late, even after he sat down, the man kicked the bus and put his feet on a handrail. When the bus stopped at a traffic signal, the man shouted: "It's yellow. Go through it!"

Naturally, the atmosphere on the bus "got very scary." As the man got off the bus, he made a gesture as if to confirm the driver's name, the boy wrote.

Four days later, the newspaper ran the driver's comment. The driver, who is 46, said that being verbally assaulted simply because she is a woman made her profoundly sad.

Addressing the boy, she said: "I am sorry to have caused you to be frightened. But thank you. Because of you, I now have the courage to keep on working hard to make rides pleasant for passengers."

Drivers cannot choose their passengers. Nor can passengers choose their fellow travelers.

In particular, stressful urban living tends to bring out the worst in people, especially in trivial matters. People tend to get easily annoyed and altercations on trains and buses are common.

Most adults have the wisdom to blunt their sensitivity to annoying situations. For example, people often occupy their ears and eyes with music or cellphones to block out things that make them uncomfortable.

Offense and defense strategies go back to back in urban life. I feel sorry for bus and train drivers and station attendants who are subjected to rude and offensive passengers.

But children who happen to witness ugly scenes are helpless. They are especially susceptible to any situation that is strained.

When I think of voices being raised and insensitive behavior on buses and trains, I fear that young minds are trembling.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 29

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.