Amtrak trains are now all-reserved-seats-- there should've been a seat for every person holding a ticket-- no one should need stand in the aisles any more? (Having taken Amtrak up and down the Northeast Corridor for the last 10 years, largely-gone are the days of sitting on my suitcase all the way from Boston to Penn/NY...)

I guess my only question is-- did you say something to her? e.g., Would you mind doing that in the restroom, please? ... People like these will keep doing things like this if no one asks them to stop.

In the meantime, I *love* the Quiet Car! It's even better when the Conductors are ruthless about enforcing the noise restrictions.

RIGHT, RIGHT! I took my daughter to NY for her birthday last month and we rode Amtrak (I, from Boston; she, from Providence). Returning, we were in the quiet car on the Acela. Two people pulled out cell phones and yakked (right across from me). Cell phone drivel drives me stark-raving mad! Next to me was a young man who had to watch a B movie on his computer. Even with earphones, the volume was so loud I didn't miss a word of dialogue, and I always travel with ear plugs. Behavior is disgusting, and there seems to be no escape - or improvement.

While I agree about the cell-phone and messy eating, I think you are overreacting to the self-medication. It seems to me on par to breastfeeding - a necessary behavior which some people are squeemish about. You (hopefully) wouldn't object to her use of pills, eyedrops, or inhalers, so why the problem with needles? This is your problem, not hers.

She probably wouldn't have been so offended by the needle if it hadn't been for the other unpleasant circumstances. Most likely, she wouldn't even have noticed the woman doing anything out of the ordinary except that the woman had already attracted attention.

You use the term "the head on the brew" as if it's a bad thing. I realize most American beers don't throw a lot of foam, but a thick, creamy head on a glass of pilzen is a signature of a well-crafted, authentic brew...foam is not a bad thing on a glass of good beer!

I love Amtrak too, when it works the way it's supposed to: as a quiet respite from everyday life, a chance to rewind and recharge in peace.

Which is why I think there's a special circle of Hell reserved for people who disrupt the ride the way that woman did. And here I thought my seatmate on my my last trip was bad, the one who had plugged a nasty skanky mango-papaya-type Glade air freshener thing into the outlet by her seat.

What was the syringe for? That's unsanitary in so many ways (for her and you!) Yeck!

I feel your pain. I commute every day on a bus that brings wage slaves into the city. Nothing can be more horrible than being surrounded by 4-5 hell phone users yakking on and on about 1) their terrible day, 2) private health problems, 3) family disputes, 4) what to pick up for dinner. Of course they all try to talk louder than the others on their hell phones.
I'm with you on things that should be done in the restrooms -- eye drops, cleaning ears and other body orifaces, nail clipping, self-administration of injectibles. Isn't there a restroom on AMTRAK? Couldn't you tell the needle user to go to the restroom instead? I know if you mentioned that to her she probably would have started a scene. Jeez.

The real problem presented here is with our car dominated culture, which causes travellers to no longer observe common decency on public transport.

Look, I'm a type 1 diabetic, and there are times when I need to take an insulin injection in public. Such as when I'm out with my children at some crowded restaurant and can't leave them alone. Or, when I'm in a public place where there simply is no privacy available. And, FYI, some diabetics do multiple daily injections. I take about 6-7 a day, so some conflict is inevitable. Sure, maybe this woman could have been more discreet but there's no justification for suggesting that taking medication requires bolted doors, yeesh.

Be thankful it wasn't a suppository. Oh, I'm so funny.

If you don't speak up for yourself, you have no right to blame those who offend you. As others have inquired, why didn't you ask the man to lower his voice? If the woman's self-medicating was so shocking, why didn't you ask her to take care of the matter in the restroom? Failure to speak up implies that you condone the behavior. I learned long ago that if I expect others to police themselves, I'm in for a lot of disappointment.

Have any of you ever actually been inside an Amtrak bathroom? Talk about unsanitary conditions.

You should've one-upped the woman with the medication and started reading out loud from the Amtrak magazine.

Like the earlier commenter said, this is the byproduct of a culture that does not embrace public transportation. People get used to having their privacy and being socially uncouth, and it affects fellow passengers when it comes time to ride the friendly rails.

To an earlier commenter -- How absurd to say that it is unsanitary to give myself a shot in public! To say that it is unsanitary to you is just self-centered! Careless disposal could be unsanitary to you, but that wasn't your complaint. Going in the Amtrak bathroom to give yourself a shot is the MOST unsanitary place of all!

Why should type 1 diabetics be confined to bathrooms and dark corners to take injections? Are we supposed to be embarassed? I refuse to hide in some foul bathroom to give myself a shot! It is not as if we are tapping a vein here! That being said, most type 1 diabetics (myself included) use much discretion in public - doing it under their shirt, quickly and saving the needle to discard at home. That is why most people never ever see it even though it happens right in front of you several times/day.

You live in a world full of other people besides you, it's too bad for you that we can't all live in a way that is convenient to you. You have to smell their perfume, watch them eat, listen to them talk, and smell their breath when the train is crowded. It's not always pretty. Perhaps you could drive yourself and avoid the everybody - but that is far less convenient... Get an ipod and a book or confine yourself to the Amtrak bathroom!

In a commuting relationship (DC to NYC) and I've been on my fair share of terrible train trips over the years too, but hands-down the most uncomfortable was the guy tightly cropping pictures of thong-wearing women's bottoms. Very strange behavior to say the least.

I'll take an insulin shooter anyday.

Cell phones should be banned. Period.

Let's not focus on the beer/chips, but if she was a diabetic (let's just assume), I applaud her for taking her shot in public. Diabetics should definitely not be shunned to disgusting and unsanitary bathrooms to give themselves their medication. It's bad enough that diabetics have to live with the stigma of sugar/food/being overweight/underweight/etc./etc. that the last thing we need are people giving us crap for taking care of ourselves. Get over yourself.

What a prima donna! I guess everyone has to stop living so you can be comfortable.

Try riding a third class train in a poorer country.

People like you disgust me.

You are assuming, that riding a train is only for vacation or other leasure time.

Here in Germany it is quite common to go long stretches by train and work during these hours. The possibility to work (with laptop) on board of the train gets quite a lot of people onto those fast trains.

When working, it is unavoidable to have short phone conversations. For that, even cars with repeaters (for better receiption) are available.

So what's wrong with mobile phone conversations on board of a train? You always can reserve seats in a "quiet car".

Just for information: Here, there have to be a quite high number of unreserved seats on a train.

It's public transportation. Thus, it is available to the public. This includes people you may find unsavory. Tough. I don't like sharing space with children, fatties, smokers, or people who wear too much perfume, but I'm also not selfish enough to think I am entitled to that anywhere but my own car.

I'm sorry you don't understand the phrase "public transportation" :(

Could have been worse, Andrea. You could have been seated next to the guy who used the barf bag for a urinal.

So, you phone only in private, with the shades down and the door bolted?

What profession do you have ?

What did the woman say when you asked her about the medication? self-injection is not for non-life threatening diseases as we all know, so it was guaranteed to be important. Frankly I find the public airing of such private matters to be in the poorest taste and to reflect so poorly on the so-called journalist that a letter to the editor is required. Where is the writer's sense journalistic integrity? No quote from the woman injecting equals no story. Can't run a story without her side and have it be ethical.

When I became a manager and hit a salary level beginning with a one, I had to be available for calls from my staff 24/7. I'm sorry when this offends people, and it does, when I'm squirreled away in a Costco aisle working the weekend staff through a backup recovery, but if you all won't pay for my son's college fund and my mother's nurse then you cannot comment, period. If you want to comment about my cellphone usage, you can pay the bills. You get no free lunch.

Here's what most cell phone users don't seem to realize: your home phone is equipped with a speaker that ampliphies your own voice back to you, so you can hear yourself through the earpiece as well as hearing the other person. Cell phones don't have this feature. That's why people yell into their cell phones. Try speaking at a normal volume next time. Unless you're having real reception problems, you'll be surprised how well it works. And how many fewer dirty looks you get.

Can you say for sure she was injecting insulin? Maybe she was a drug addict who didn't give a damn who saw or who knew.

Spare me the sanctimonious "I need to talk on the cell phone otherwise my kids won't go to college" attitude. I do the DC-NYC run on Amtrak several times a month. When I am sitting in my seat, the phone is on vibrate. I keep my voice down until I can get up and move to the end of the car or to the dining car. Partly out of consideration, partly from not wanting the world to listen to my calls. My biggest horror story was sitting in Acela first class and having two lawyers behind me turn the nextel speaker phone on and have a CONFERENCE CALL!. Morons.

I agree with the poster who suggested you ride a train in a 3rd world country. I have, and it makes Amtrak look like a ride in a Bentley. Sure, a loud talking mobile phone user is a HUGE annoyance, but if you didn't like seeing her inject herself, then DON'T LOOK! Excuse me as I'm now off to a stall in the men's room to take an asprin..

A busload of us were treated to a discussion of background checks of applicants to a well-known Federal agency. Another time we got the low-down on how many times somebody went to the bathroom during the night. Unless the house is burning down or somebody just dropped dead, why can't this wait until you get home? Really, folks, are you so damned important that you want this stuff overheard by complete strangers? What did you do before cell phones became so prevalent? I don't own a cell phone and I refuse to get one.

Diabetics, Please keep your needle use private! You ate yourself into your predicament so now you must pay the price for your sloth!

Exhibit A: "But this woman was slurping her beer and CHOMPING ON HER DORITOS.."

Eat some freaking vegetables.

Okay, so the guy on the phone was loud. Maybe he was trying to be heard or maybe he was just a loud talker.

If I've got a loud talker next to me, it's annoying listening to them talk to someone else, but that's life. I'd much rather have that than them talking to me.

If he's speaking loudly to be heard, perhaps when he gets off the phone you could strike up a friendly conversation about cell phones in which you drop hints about ones that might work better than his.

But you can't begrudge anyone for trying to get work done on a train between NYC and DC. It's not like you're on an Alaskan rail tour or a train through Napa. Would you rather he be driving up I-95 talking on the phone and checking his email?

As far as taking medicine goes, that's the most absurd complaint I've ever heard. Grow up. Regarding comments that you should have asked her to take it elsewhere or asked what it was for, if I were a diabetic having to do 5-10 shots a day and somebody asked me one of those questions, I believe my standard reply would be: I'm sorry. This is my allergy shot. I'm deathly allergic to people who can't mind their own #@$%^&* business. (How annoyed would you have been if she'd gone into insulin shock and your train had been delayed. "I don't understand why that woman couldn't just keep up with her shots so she wouldn't have convenienced all of us.")

As someone who wears a medical device that has to be worn on top of clothing, it makes me happy that the only people who ever mention it are those who know me very well. It's not meant to be a conversation starter.

Obviously, that last sentence of my second to last paragraph above should have said "INconvenienced" rather than "convenienced."

Should diabetics be drinking beer and eating Doritos in the first place? I had an uncle who had severe diabetes and on insulin at least 3X a day. His diet was very, very closely controlled. No beer and Doritos for him.

What about all this privacy of health issues anyway? If you don't want your medical history out in the open, then you go shooting up in public? Similar to people who have unlisted phone numbers then spread their private life out on a personal website with photos of them in various states of undress, or in the delivery room spreadeagle smiling for the camera. Go figure.

To "dabetic diatribe": It's almost not worth commenting on your complete lack of knowledge of diabetes, but since this is a public forum, we certainly don't need more false information out there. Diabetics don't "eat themselves into this predicament," certainly not type 1 diabetics who HAVE to inject insulin because their bodies have destroyed its ability to make insulin, through no fault of the diabetic and certainly not from "eating." Do some research before you attack an entire disease as the fault of the victim. Insensitive.

If she was injecting insulin (an assumption most of the reponders feel comfortable with), there's a pretty good chance she's a Type 1 diabetic. That's an autoimmune problem just like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. One does not "eat [one's] self" into the destruction of one's pancreatic beta cells (to borrow from a previous poster).

Perhaps it's not insulin at all. Maybe she has some kind of hypercoagulable state and is taking heparin subcutaneously to prevent thrombosis during the trip.

Or, like another poster suggests, maybe she's really just skin-popping.

Either way, good for her.

I was a train commuter for many years and I have learned a lot.
Rude behavior does not stem from the train but from the people themselves, specifically those of this country -we sit among a rude and disrespectful culture of people.
One comparison would be most of those who ride/commute on trains in Germany. Where people do not stuff their faces with food, put their feet up on seats (with or without shoes) and talk loudly on a cell phone.
Granted, our poor transportation system has a long way to go, but has made (tried to) the appropriate accomodations in time, such as 'quiet cars' etc. Since the overflow of SUV drivers wanting to save on the gas started riding/commuting on trains, the system has been overloaded with yet another swell of potato chip munchers and 'I am such an important businessman/woman' loud cell-phone conversations.

I wouldn't criticize someone for self-injecting in public, even if it made me uncomfortable. (I don't especially like being around breast-feeding either, but I recognize that's my problem, not the mothers', and I keep it to myself.) The spewed Dorito, however, would have sent me off the deep end considerably earlier. There is just no excuse for that, nor does it sound like this person even acknowledged she had done it, much less apologized.

And let's make a distinction between the many cell phone users who do manage to keep their voices at a reasonable level and those who yell. I'm not bothered by the former, whether in a store or on a train or bus; if they're speaking in a conversational voice, it's not much different than if two people were sitting together and talking (I think we just notice it a bit more because we only hear one side of the phone conversation, so the flow is off). But the people who scream into their phones with no thought to those around them should have their own special circle in hell.

@ Unapologetic Diabetic #2:

I'm not so sure you are correct. May I point your attention to the ADA website:

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-prevention/nutrition/healthyfoodchoices.jsp

The number of comments on this blog only confirm the author's point that you're all boorish, self-centered and have no sense of decency or privacy.

People who find nothing wrong with injecting themselves with whatsoever substance on a train belong on a Greyhound bus, not the DC-PENN line.

Get over YOURSELVES. Your health issues are not anyone else's problem, and those of us who aren't accustomed to watching others stab needles into stomachs or arms, shouldn't have to watch you perform your necessary but eyebrow raising treatments. Breast feeding is one thing, but there's a world of difference between discretely feeding an infant, and jamming a needle into stomach fat.

Sorry you have Diabetes. Not my problem, I don't like to think about it, I don't want to see it, I shouldn't have to. Your life, your disease, your problem. Not mine.

Hey folks remember that lots of people find breast feeding in public distasteful. It seems that the woman was probably a diabetic, realizing she was having trouble and needed to get some food in her system. When she realized that wasn't working, as a last resort, she injected herself. I would imagine her situation is worse than yours watching it, much as a new mom breastfeeding gets less sleep than those who just want to enjoy to train ride without seeing veiny breast. have you ever accidentally happened upon a gay rights parade with kids in tow? I would chose the injecting and spitting woman gabbing on the cellphone anyday.

Wow, Karen. Sorry us homosexuals are all so distasteful. You're right. We shouldn't be seen in public. Public intravenous drug use n' Dorito Spittle are much more socially acceptable than we are.

Before you decide to judge others, you should at least become fully informed. There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 (insulin-dependent) in which the body has lost its ability to make insulin that then regulates the levels of sugar in the blood. Injections of insulin help maintain appropriate blood sugar levels, preventing diabetic shock, coma, and death. Type 2 is insulin-independent, in which the body has lost its ability to respond to insulin signalling, and so injections of exogenous insulin will not help. Type 1 is usually diagnosed in childhood/adolescence, although adult-onset is known to occur. Type 2 is associated with obesity, but can have other causes as well, and is just as potentially harmful as Type 1.

I wondered if I should have said something--though aren't I saying something now, just to a larger audience. (Wonder if my chewer-slurper-shooter is reading this? Hello, if you are!) But it is hard to tell someone to chew softer, sip daintier and take your meds elsewhere. Next time, well, I don't know if I would have acted any differently. Though I might have asked the loud talker to lower the volume or given him a librarian's "Shhhhh!"

Most of the gripes about diabetics here are filled with inaccurate facts and intolerance. A blog is the perfect place for YOU to practice your uneducated passive-agressive intolerance!

You're right about one thing though - it is our problem -- and we will deal with it our way. Maybe if you saw some things that you are "not accustomed to" then you would learn a few things. The only difference difference between breastfeeding in public and giving a shot in pulic is that you are uncomfortable with one and not the other!

The key issue here is communication - if someone is bothering you, let them know! There is no way for everybody to be happy if you don't tell them that you're bothered by something!

No diabetics carry loaded syringes - so it takes a minute to load and dose. If you see someone loading a needle - look away for a minute! If you insist on confrontation, let them know it bothers you so they can turn away from you to dose!

If the issue is that you don't want to see it then you have that power already! If the issue is that you want to control everyone around you then go work in a prison!

I took the post by Andrea to be her venting what happened. I do it regularly, whether I drive/metro/bus/train/plane to get where I'm going. So do many of my friends. And really, it's not easy to ask someone to move/be quite. I frequently am smooshed against a window on the metro by those who are wider than the allotted seat. When I've asked them to move so I can get up, I've been glared at and even yelled at before. I'd rather not deal with any of that, and would prefer to vent, complain, etc,.

Thank you to the above posters that bring up diabetes and perhaps she was injecting insulin, however, that's just conjecture. No one knows for sure that's what it was. Fighting with each other is only making you all angier just before you go to get on the train home. I hope I'm not sitting next to any of you.

This incident reminds me of the time I went to see the movie "Hamlet" and the woman next to me brought in a bag of fried chicken and slurped and smacked her way through her meal while rustling the bag so loud I could barely hear the movie. When she was done, I was relieved that she was done with dinner until she pulled dental floss out of her purse and started flossing her teeth! I was so shocked and disgusted by the whole thing that I didn't say anything, but I did lean in really close to my friend to avoid any spittle landing on me.

I agree that if the woman was diabetic, she would need to eat some food and doritos shouldn't have been her first choice for nutrition, but okay. However, I question the beer. She should've had some juice or water before she drank the beer.

Beer and Doritos. Yeah this is someone who's right on top of her diabetes (if indeed it was insulin). Please!

You are right and the insensitive slob you were sitting next to is wrong. People are so slovenly and rude in public that nothing surprises me anymore except for people like you drawing ire for not being comfortable being surrounded by people who act like they are in their own homes.

There are lots of things that it's completely "natural" to do that it's still not polite to do in public. It separates us from animals, in theory.

Then you get the public displays of affection that are inappropriate and embarrassing. I have been at Wolf Trap and Pier 6 in Baltimore in the lawn seating where people on blankets were getting a little too hot and heavy. I paid money to watch this during a musical performance? Excuse me, folks, but keep it at home. We have become a nation of rude, selfish slobs.

Thank god you dopes have never had, nor will ever have, any sort of health problem in your lives.

Get a job.

Andrea:

You seem overly sensitive to the realities of modern living. Try living on the savannahs of Africa for a while and get back to me.

Regarding a previous post: For the record: Tolerating someone else's sexual life choices and being disgusted by "gay rights parades" are not mutually exclusive. Not by a long shot. Many "gay rights" parades -- especially those in the '70s and '80s (ah memories) -- are too often weird, sexually bizarre, and just plain silly. This is the image homosexuals want presented to the world? As a conservative, I don't want to be represented by Falwell or Robertson. Why can't gay people stand up and make the same damn distinction about "gay rights" parades, which only hurt the cause? Just askin.'

"Diabetics, Please keep your needle use private! You ate yourself into your predicament so now you must pay the price for your sloth!

Exhibit A: "But this woman was slurping her beer and CHOMPING ON HER DORITOS.."

Eat some freaking vegetables."

Get a freaking clue. 95% probability is that this woman is a totally normal, sweet human (you obviously are NOT) - who was HAVING AN INSULIN REACTION - she needed carbohydrates, immediately. And, it's entirely possible she was mentally hazy- maybe about to pass out. And how would you perfect people have liked that?

Eww, gross, sick person on the floor. Let them take cabs.

Basic. Commonsensical. Consideration. For others.

That's all that's needed. It's not about the offending individual's rights ("I have a right to do x": well, yes, you probably do); just courtesy. Just a simple empathetic regard for others' needs and feelings.

Which means sensibly anticipating others' discomfort and responding to it straightforwardly. E.g.: "I don't want to startle you, but I'm going to need to take a medication injection now, so if you'd prefer to get up and stretch your legs for a few minutes, I understand."

As for the cell phone blabbers: they are hopeless, as some of the comments today disclose. Beyond shame, but perhaps not beyond public humiliation. So I'd suggest whipping out a little inexpensive tape recorder and switching it on, ostentatiously--or ostentatiously transcribing the conversation furiously on a shorthand notepad. And if the blabber objects, just beam at them and say, "It's for my novel. You're having a public conversation, after all." At the very least, you will have succeeded in discomfiting them momentarily, interrupting the blab, and exposing their gross lack of discretion to the person on the other end of the line.

(And if you're too timid to do that, tape-record or transcribe them secretly and email the transcript to your friends for laughs. Better yet, figure out a way to post it as prominently as possible online. There should be a Web site for such things, if there isn't already. You could solicit guesses as to which law firm or company or government agency the blabber works for. If enough travelers did that, you can bet people would learn to speak quietly into cell phones.)

The loud cell phone conversation in public is fundamentally a failure of good breeding, the deficiency people are least likely to recognize in themselves. So I think some remedial guerrilla warfare is in order on the part of the peace-loving majority. Revenge, in this case, could be especially sweet.

Feel free to join the cause.

I agree about the cell-phone talking and slurping/chewing with mouth open, but as far as the shot, you need to get over it! I have a brother in law with diabetes, and he has to give himself shots up to 10 times a day! At that point finding a place to hide so YOU can be comfortable becomes truly time consuming! (I am of course assuming she was injecting herself with a legal and prescribed substance-if she was doing something illegal, hiding would only be sensible on her part) This reminds me of the people who complain about women breast-feeding in public. This is stuff that has to happen, real-life stuff. If you're that squeamish, maybe you should just drive.

The difference, tl and others, between public breastfeeding and public injection--especially at close quarters, as when seated in a crowded train--is that injection involves use of an implement that can be lethal to others.

Just ask all the health-care workers who've accidentally stuck themselves with a needle they've just used to inject a patient, and then spend weeks or months waiting to find out if they thereby acquired HIV or Hep C.

To the person who said that the "way Amtrak is supposed to work is "a quiet respite from everyday life, a chance to rewind and recharge in peace." I hate to break it to you, but the point of Amtrak is to move people from one place to another in a timely, convenient, moderately priced fashion, as a sound alternative to the airlines. While this is another debate entirely, Amtrak still has to improve in this mission, but regardless, Amtrak is not for your entertainment.

To the person that suggested that illegal drug users should be riding Greyhound: Believe it or not, not everybody can afford Amtrak (whether the regional or Acela Express trains). I, fortunately, am able to afford Amtrak, but I wasn't always. To suggest the Greyhound is the place for drug addicts is hurtful and cruel to those who are more financially strapped than you are.

In terms of the diabetic (or whatever it was), I agree with those who have said that she should have simply used the needle as discreetly as possible, but you and the rest of the train should have to handle that. If you are particularly grossed out or annoyed, ask her to move, or move yourself (whether it is a needle or a loud-talker or a loud movie player...).

Please, everybody. I have also been on those 8 or 9 hour Amtrak trips with no AC and a broken down train from DC-NYC and vice versa. People are not always courteous on the trains. I'm sure that I do things that annoy others. But I guarantee you that everybody who has posted on this blog has, at some point in your lives, done something in public to annoy those around you, though likely unintentional. Try to be forgiving, don't be afraid to ask people to stop or move, and realize that there are other people out there around you. Everybody has their own things going on.

I'm with J.J.
When I give blood, I don't watch.
Really would like an option regarding someone else giving themselves an injection, for whatever reason.

Breastfeeding is a different category and is almost always discreet.

Cell phones. Courtesy. Seldom do they meet.

Just another example of how our culture has lost all capacity for anything but self-centered behavior. Apparently there is NO ONE on earth but me to consider -- the people who rudely intruded into your space and those on this blog who defend them are but part of the problem. People, the world is NOT all about YOU. Your right to do whatever the hell you want to should be circumscribed by how that action impacts the right of those around you to enjoy themselves as well. I am so tired of miscreants who can't understand that. That includes self-medication. It was HER problem, not the one who was forced to observe it.

Hopefully you by now realize that your overreaction was stupid. Diabetics and others have to self medicate, and measure their medication with their carb intake. Instead of overreacting, you should have shown compassion and be thankful for your good health.

While I am frequently disturbed by others having loud cell phone conversations on public transportation, I have (on occasion) been an offender. Sometimes when you are in public, you need to take a call and will disturb others. I understand that. But it would be really nice if the call was important... and short.

Common courtesy and consideration for others is far too underrated by travelers/commuters today. Once, while waiting at the gate for my flight to DCA, a man whipped off his shoe, whipped out his toenail clipper, and proceeded to cut his toenails--one of which flew across the isle and hit me in the face.

Intolerable. My understanding can only go but so far.

Sad to say, I think I can top this one. A few Xmases ago I was on Amtrak going home to DC, and a mother of several noisy, rambunctious, impossible-to-ignore children (and I don't blame them, I blame her for allowing it) went one further: she actually changed a baby's diaper on her train seat. Just...unbelievable. I almost retched right there--I literally had to leave for a few minutes, I was so disgusted.

Oh, and the comments about "you should ride the trains in [insert third-world country]" are kind of pointless. This isn't a third-world country. This is America. We have a relatively higher standard of living and we'd like to keep it that way. One could even turn that around and say "you should read the blogs in a third-world country, then this person's complaints about trains wouldn't bother you."

If the woman really was diabetic, of course she has to take care of her shots. But it's not that hard to make an announcement--surely she's aware that many people don't like the sight of needles. Just alert your seatmate, that's all.

Self-centered? The people who are self centered are the people who expect others to change to accomodate them. You recommend an entire group of people follow YOUR behavioral prescription so that YOU might not have to accidentally look at someone while they discretely take a shot. You assume that people feel the same way as YOU.

I understand the point about the sharp needle accidentally pricking someone else - that is definitely a risk. Just like anything else such as scalding hot coffee, a beer, doritos or even a pointy umbrella - anything that could injure someone else - you must be very careful!

I've been pretty "ranty" about all of this, but anything involving syringes has such a bad stigma that people automatically lean to the negative or assume something vile. I'm not suggesting flamboyant injection, or that anyone dose when someone is sitting right next to them. Diabetics are not exempt from commoon courtesy - but will not be restricted to the bathrooms, darkness and secrecy anymore than someone popping a xanax on a plane.

Unapologetic - no one's asking you to apologize. We're asking you to realize that there are some things that aren't socially acceptable.

I don't apologize for pooping. But I don't do it in front of you either. Insulin and pooping are two necessary functions for a body. Doing them in public, however, is unnecessary.

It's public transit. Sometimes the "public" will be there. Get over it (and yourself).

To all those saying that everyone's so rude and self-centered and blah blah blah - drive. Get a car, and drive. You're obviously all unique, special snowflakes who need your own unique, special personal spaces in order to thrive and bloom. I'm sorry you're all so sensitive that you can't ignore another person's conversations, or glance away while someone loads a needle. Maybe you should just realize that public transportation is just not a right fit for your delicate psyches.

And before anyone asks, no, I don't talk on the cell on the train (I turn the ringtone off), and I don't chomp my food and inject myself with random substances. I'm sure I must have unintentionally annoyed someone - anyone who uses public transit often enough will do that. It's just the price you pay for cheap, high-volume modes of transportation.

Unapologetic - no one's asking you to apologize. We're asking you to realize that there are some things that aren't socially acceptable.

I don't apologize for pooping. But I don't do it in front of you either. Insulin and pooping are two necessary functions for a body. Doing them in public, however, is unnecessary.

what a disgusting display of snobbery and elitism. it's a shame all of the horse-drawn carriages were taken and you had to ride with us commoners!

of all the overwhelming challenges and crushing misery this world holds for some people, it's hard to believe you could focus on something so ridiculously unimportant. if you feel so threatened by the day-to-day life of others, go buy a cabin in the woods or get a new therapist. don't subject us to your agoraphobic misanthropy.

i hope you'll forgive me if next time i see you, i fart in your general direction. get over yourself.

Cheap? It's cheaper to drive back and forth to NYC than to take Amtrak. Bad argument. Try again.

How about people behave themselves in public instead of everyone expecting to be catered to, because of their special problems?

I like to lie down across a row of seats and take a nap. Do I do it? No. I have to think of the other people on the train; not only that, but I paid for one seat, and regardless of any special back problems I might have, I'd be entitled to buy a row of seats if I paid for the entire row of seats. That of course is taken under the grain of salt that I'm engaging in proper train behavior. If I bought a row of seats during Christmas time and spread out while the Pregnant and Elderly were standing in the aisles, would that be my right? Yes. Would that be socially acceptable? No.

And, say, I got on at Union Station, not having paid for a row of seats, but lay down across them anyway, and refused to get up, quoting my back problem as a reason to take and keep a row of seats. Do my problems trump the rights of other paying customers?

NO.

exactly how does taking an injection impede on your personal space, you self-righteous troglodyte?

if one's back problems necessitated a full row, one would be forced to pay for a full row. what exactly are you insinuating a diabetic is having to pay for? the use of his or her airspace?

maybe amtrak could charge $20 for the privilege of not dying from hypoglycemia and shielding your delicate eyes.

Anti-Gen: ad hominem attacks are the province of little minds, but way to use Thesaurus.com to look up fancy words.

You missed my point entirely - my point is, just because someone has a special condition, doesn't mean society as a whole has to accommodate their condition absent a law requiring the same. Sure, it'd be nice.

Along the same token, it would also be nice if people with medical conditions realized that the attendant health risks that coincide with creating and handling hazardous medical waste on a mode of public transportation, mere inches from other travelers, merely to avoid trekking to the end of the train to use a bathroom, with trash receptacles, isn't what most travelers signed up for on a commute.

What happens if the train suddenly lurches and the seatmate gets stabbed by a used needle - will you then tell me that it wouldn't have been better for the needle-user to have administered drugs away from third parties? Go ahead. Try to make that argument.

I for one do not appreciate your moral puritanical streak. Other than the chip on your dress, I see no complaint of any merit in your rant. Eating and drinking on public transit, taking phone calls, and self-injection for any legal reason, are all legitimate uses of the downtime on a train or bus.

I for one like to be silent and stare out the window, or people-watch some of the strangers around me. I, like you, do not appreciate some of their superfluous noise. And if I were Emperor, maybe I'd order the more obnoxious among them to be less insensitive.

But I'm not Emperor, neither are you, and public transit is something that brings strangers together in a common setting--it is a blessing, not a curse. Stop being so uptight. If someone is bothering you so badly that you won't ignore it, ask them to desist--or move yourself. Don't come here and blog about it expecting much sympathy.

thank you, the peon. i fully agree. i couldn't have worded it better myself.

Um...that's is sort of why she is on this site - it's her job to talk about what she witnesses. So, lay the f*** off.

gen - When the train lurches the same thing that happens to the needle happens to the hot coffee in your hand, and the baby in your arms, and the laptop in your lap. People could be injured from a variety of things that are consistently present on a train. Maybe you should drink your coffee in the bathroom?

How can you compare pooping and insulin shots?! that's hilarious! Both are necessary, but one doesn't require me to pull my pants down! That is what the bathroom is for - not for insulin shots! And in your obvious concern for others you would have diabetics throw the needles straight in the trash (so some garbage collector may potentially be stuck??)?

Laying down across seats? How can you be serious?! You would compare an intentional act of selfishness with taking a shot? You only paid for one seat!

Handling medical waste? How about coughing and sneezing? People cough all the time and then hold on to the seat/pole. That is obviously far more prevalent considering less than 10% of the US pop has any form of diabetes -- but everyone coughs and sneezes! Watch out for the flying bacteria, not flying needles.

Where on earth is your "right" to not accidentally see someone take a shot of insulin? What about my "right" to take a shot of insulin? If nobody invades your personal space then your rights are not violated. "Society as a whole" does not have to accomodate me - just a few unreasonable people who can't tell the difference between pooping and insulin shots!

Boy you people use a lot of exclamation points. I'm glad to see a few posters explain a little about Type 1 Diabetes - it's a widely misunderstood condition and I'm sure many read the posts here without commenting.

I'll say again - there are times when I simply have to inject in public, and I do it so discreetly, but if someone catches a glimpse of me and my syringe in action, I hope it's just a momentary distraction. It's just one of those things you'll have to accept.

I think most of the outrage here is directed at the bad behavior, not the self medicating. For those who think syringes should always be used in private - I don't see how we can always accomodate you. Sorry...

I saw a woman changing a baby's diaper on an airplane once. I was across the aisle. She was sitting behind a businessman (I assume, he was wearing a tailored suit and reading the WSJ) and the baby was laying on the seat next to her. She removed a poop-filled diaper, rummaged around in the diaper bag to get a fresh one. The businessman starts sniffing the air, then his seatmate, and looked a little disgusted to say the least. The woman went on wiping and cleaning up the baby, oblivious to any others around her, then put on a clean diaper. It was so rude and uncalled for. Couldn't she have moved away from other passengers to the back of the plane to do that? Good grief. There are just some things you don't do in public. It was kind of funny watching that guy sniffing around and a poopy diaper was inches from his seat.

Half get it, half don*t. Better than I would have thought.

A little wisdom can carry one a long way . .

They carry it so far that if he who practices or teaches the established rules of pronunciation should speak (contrary to grammatical usage) without aspirating the first syllable of "hominem" ["ominem," and thus make it "a `uman being"], he will offend men more than if he, a human being, were to hate another human being contrary to thy commandments. It is as if he should feel that there is an enemy who could be more destructive to himself than that hatred which excites him against his fellow man; or that he could destroy him whom he hates more completely than he destroys his own soul by this same hatred.

What a bunch of wuzzies. Anyway, I think its great WaPo has a blog for the squeemish and intraverted people of the world for otherwise, who would ever know.
Love.

Bob:
"For those who think syringes should always be used in private - I don't see how we can always accomodate you."

In fact, you could, uh, use your syringes in private. Just like I presume you would use a nasal inhaler in private, and just like I insert and remove my contact lenses in private.

These are personal medical activities that aren't appropriate to be shared with the world at large.

To You're Missing it: Wow. I am astonished that you feel a need to do your contact-lens thing in private. You're very shy, I think. And if you can do that in a rocking Amtrak train bathroom, then I am impressed.

But you can't, I bet. And I stick by my point - let me give you an example: I'm traveling, with my children, who are young - under 7, both of them, and can't be left alone. I'm a Type 1 diabetic and I need 5-6 insulin injections a day. We are in the dining car of Amtrak. After I get a tray of food, we get back to our seats, and I'm left with these options: Leave them alone and go to the bathroom at the end of the car and give myself a shot there. Or, give myself an injection while sitting with my kids. Or, don't eat until we arrive.

I always choose the second option, and I'm always comfortable with that choice, and with the amount of discretion I use, which is as much as I can muster. Believe me, though, if I was hungry enough I would give myself a shot even if 1,000 of you were watching. Anyway, I think you're wrong to insist that we defer to what is, I agree, kind of a unusual thing to watch, but you should recognize that it's necessary. I do my best, but if we're in a public setting, none of us - you included - get to set the rules for everyone else. That's what makes travel kind of interesting, don't you think.

Besides, I'm pretty sure I'm bigger than you so don't screw with me. I just had to say that.

"The businessman starts sniffing the air, then his seatmate, and looked a little disgusted to say the least."

Okay, this? Hilarious. Did he know his seatmate or was he sniffing a complete stranger?

"I'll say again - there are times when I simply have to inject in public, and I do it so discreetly, but if someone catches a glimpse of me and my syringe in action, I hope it's just a momentary distraction. It's just one of those things you'll have to accept."

This seems to be the happy medium, just as breastfeeding discreetly is. No need to hide yourself away in shame, they're both necessary functions, but as these sights make some people uncomfortable, there's no need to flaunt it either.

I was "raised right" and not only behave in public but also am so restrained that I don't even shush or engage with others in public - it occurs to me....why is it ok for them to interject themselves into my space rudely (street musician, loud talker, eater next to you, etc), but I should refrain from confronting them? I guess it's from trying and having rude people - duh, they're RUDE - react badly. I have never had someone apologize and stop. Even at the SYMPHONY I've shushed people and been glowered at......

I totally agree with the cell phone complaints, which also can involve "live" private conversations, but I must differ with your concern that a diabetic should give herself/himself insulin injections in a private place. My daughter has Type 1 Diabetes. Unlike your "neighbor" on the train, who picked up her skirt to give herself an injection - not a good choice - my daughter, does it discreetly by slightly lowering her waistband and quickly injecting the insulin. If she is dressed so that this isn't possible, she can inject it into her upper arm. Bathrooms on planes, trains and buses are not always the cleanest or convenient places to perform these necessities - including breast feeding, as was noted in a previous posting.