Dear Urban Diplomat: do people have the right to eat a meal on the streetcar?
Dear Urban Diplomat: do people have the right to eat a meal on the streetcar?
Dear Urban Diplomat,
I get queasy easily, and I can’t stand it when people eat food on the streetcar. I’ve seen passengers wolfing down Big Macs (there are several McDonald’s outposts on my 501 route) and sucking back pad Thai—I even saw a guy devour a half-rack of ribs. I’ve had to get off a few times because I’ve been on the verge of vomiting. Do I have a right to demand they keep their food wrapped up?
—My Name Is Hurl, PARKDALE
The very thought of Ribs Guy grabbing the handrails with his saucy fingers has me reaching for the sanitizer. Eating anything on public transit that’s pungent or requires two hands, napkins or flatware is bad form, but it’s not illegal. The TTC brass has dismissed the idea of a ban several times because it’s next to impossible to enforce, and because people with medical conditions, such as diabetes, may have to eat en route as a matter of survival (although I’m sure a saltine or two would do the trick just as well as a tub of pad Thai). Which means you have the right to ask, but the offender has an equal right to say “Bite me” with impunity.
Send your questions to the Urban Diplomat at urbandiplomat@torontolife.com
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Dear Urban Diplomat,
I get queasy easily, and I can’t stand it when people eat food on the streetcar. I’ve seen passengers wolfing down Big Macs (there are several McDonald’s outposts on my 501 route) and sucking back pad Thai—I even saw a guy devour a half-rack of ribs. I’ve had to get off a few times because I’ve been on the verge of vomiting. Do I have a right to demand they keep their food wrapped up?
—My Name Is Hurl, PARKDALE
The very thought of Ribs Guy grabbing the handrails with his saucy fingers has me reaching for the sanitizer. Eating anything on public transit that’s pungent or requires two hands, napkins or flatware is bad form, but it’s not illegal. The TTC brass has dismissed the idea of a ban several times because it’s next to impossible to enforce, and because people with medical conditions, such as diabetes, may have to eat en route as a matter of survival (although I’m sure a saltine or two would do the trick just as well as a tub of pad Thai). Which means you have the right to ask, but the offender has an equal right to say “Bite me” with impunity.
Send your questions to the Urban Diplomat at urbandiplomat@torontolife.com){kind=link}
Don’t hate on the Big Mac! If I’m eating it on the streetcar, it’s because I had a horrendous day and I NEED it. Some things really are unacceptable though, like soup in a thermos (a lady every single morning on the King line).
The worst however, is when people throw their garbage under the seat and then offer you that seat.
I spend my days rushing between school, 2 jobs and a volunteer gig. Many days, the bit of time I’m on the streetcar is genuinely the only chance I have to eat. Do I enjoy having to eat a meal that way? No. But if its that or go hungry, I’ll be eating. Streetcars are large enough that if you have an issue I’m sure you can find a spot away from the offending item.
other cities have the ban-washington d.c. springs to mind, commutes can be just as bad, but the metro is clean as a whistle…
ttc couldn’t lose the revenue from the mcdonalds kiosks in subway stations or from jamaican patties at news stands….
the real problem is the mess that people leave behind-eating or not-food wrappers, news papers, coffee cups, juice bottles…
The complainant is clearly neurotic. It is not normal to feel like vomiting when witnessing people eat. It is not polite to eat on the streetcar, but it isn’t a crime. Maybe some people should stick to driving.
I agree with the neurotic comment.
If I’m hungry I’m going to eat WHEREVER I am. When I was in school and travelling 5 hours a day on the ttc it was the only place between school/work/home that I could find time to eat. As long as you clean up after yourself I don’t see a problem.
What? Big macs are acceptable but soup isn’t? That makes no sense. I agree it’s pretty gross but so is people coughing, snogging, farting and snottering all over their sleeves on transit (and I’d never eat there because of the coughers etc and your hands being filthy). What are you gonna do – you have to drive to work if you want to avoid interacting with people.
I’m more offended by cell phone users who subject everyone within earshot to inane rubbish about their sex lives, fights with friends etc than by someone eating (as long as they take their crap with them when they exit the vehicle)
I have NO time to have a cigar between work and picking up my kids, and volunteering so the only place I can enjoy my stogie is on the streetcar. I’m sorry it makes you queezy, but hey, I have the right to nauseate everyone else in public.