It pains me to confront a regular

What's a regular you ask?
A regular is what I call GO people who I see almost every day.  I don't know who you are, but I know you to see you, kind of regular.

Last night, I couldn't let something slide. I could not. Could not. Could not.  Could NOT.

I took the 643pm LSE express which is what I call the full fat express train. The light express trains are the ones that leave Oshawa and don't stop til Pickering.  The 18% coffee cream trains are the ones that make two stops between Pickering and Oshawa.

I sat upstairs. One quad over sat a regular who took advantage of the empty seat in front of her and assaulted it with her wet shoes. I should mention when she caught sight of the TSO who popped upstairs for a fare inspection, she dropped those feet and was on her best behavior, so you know what that tells me? She knows it's wrong.

Once the fare inspection was over, back up went her feet.  I said nothing because suddenly I was surrounded by foot riders. So I sat and steamed, and was busy composing an exit speech in my head, so I could tell them all off, and then bolt from the coach, when my thoughts were interrupted by a commotion beside me.

Ms. Regular with her dirty shoes on the seat got up in a huff, dramatically collected all her belongings and said, "Fucking immigrants" loud enough so we'd all hear her and made a grand and pointed exit down the stairs.

As it happened, she was annoyed by the couple who were behind her chatting in their native tongue. I heard them too, but it was quiet and nothing extraordinary.  But Ms. Regular was in the Quiet Zone. She made sure we knew that when she left.

What THE WHAT?!

I don't care that she did what I planned to do, to call her and others out for their footriding BS, but her racist comment had to be addressed. Footriding was just an aside - I mean, pot meet kettle, right? Getting pissed about people talking when you're also being rude by acting like you're in your living room? I can't even...

So when I saw her on the platform, I confronted her. I told her it was offensive and uncalled for.  She didn't apologize. She shrugged, lit her cigarette, and casually walked away.

I dislike confronting regulars. In the past, it's made taking the train emotionally challenging as I then take measures to avoid the person, especially if it was a heated exchange and that person isn't over it. I modified my schedule in the evening to avoid a certain regular (a smoker who smokes in the line for the bus) who threatened to punch me out when he saw me again, and I believed him, so I started taking an earlier train from work.

I know a lot of you read the blog and wonder why more people just don't speak up. Why we quietly take photos of smokers, seat hogs, Quiet Zone blabberwockies, foot riders, boozing passengers and bad parkers.  We're afraid.  That's why.

We see most of these people every day and unlike a subway train, you're confined to these coaches for quite a distance, with no exit strategy, so protecting your personal safety is paramount.

In my many discussions with GO Transit Security, even their officers marvel at what I am willing to take on, in person, because they see a side to this commuter subculture that is very dark, and very dangerous.

I saw Ms. Regular this morning. She walked past me like nothing happened.

Phew.