Another one of my beautiful Sydney-based colleagues
Soaliha Iqbal advocated for hogging the chair ‘cos it’s so bloody squishy — especially post-pandemic.
“Hogging the seat facing you if you are sitting in the single corner seat is NOT rude IMO,” she said.
“If anything, it’s rude to sit in that seat as a total stranger because it is so close and intimate to the other person. There is NO leg room, you would literally have your thighs pressed up against each other.
“In a post-Covid world I think it is actually fucking rude to try and sit there, so closely to someone else.
“If the seat is facing the other way, however, then I think it’s fine to ask to sit there. But only if you aren’t facing anyone else.”
Other people in the subreddit also said Covid-19 had changed train etiquette.
“Seat bags are more common than ever. I’m guessing it’s about getting themselves a Covid-safe buffer bubble. I would be uncomfortable about being that close to a stranger who may or may not be an unvaxxed disease vector,” someone said.
“To be fair, many people are still conscious to keep the social distance post-Covid. If you can’t find a spot that’s a seat away from other people, I’d rather stand,” said another.
“The rules kind of changed with Covid too. Most won’t go for this seat or the middle of three anymore, so the bag thing became a bit more normal,” said a third.
It looks like there are many schools of thought when it comes to the Hobbit chair, but judging by the comments on a cringe Transport for NSW Facebook post joking about it, the little seat has a shit tonne of fans. Folks were going ham.
