This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
New York • New York City's case for some of the world's most boorish behavior is made every day in its subways: A woman casually clipping her fingernails, a man slurping an especially pungent dish under a fellow passenger's nose, and if nature calls, there are the riders who coat platforms with their urine.
Transportation officials are taking a stand against such rudeness with signs in subway cars, reminding riders of the most rudimentary etiquette in a tone that's part shaming, part scolding.
"Clipping? Primping? Everybody wants to look their best, but it's a subway car, not a restroom," reads one sign, accompanied by an illustration of a passenger squeezed between a primper and a shrapnel-spraying clipper.
Another sign takes on one of the most common complaints — "manspreading" — the practice of (mostly) men sprawling in their seats with their legs spread wide. "Dude ... Stop the spread, please. It's a space issue," it reads. Another: "Offer your seat to an elderly, disabled, or pregnant person. Not only is it the right thing to do, but you'll make your grandmother proud."
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees a subway system that transports about 6 million riders every weekday, began putting its signs in the subways late last year after it received numerous complaints from riders. The campaign was expanded to buses this week.
Andrea Dini, a college professor of Italian, says he appreciated the signs but had mixed feelings about the "manspreading" edict.
"If a car is half empty and a man sits like that, why not?"