Lift your arms!

It never fails to surprise me how linear people can be. Like when they come up against a door marked "Pull" they'll always pull it, even if it's lodged ajar so it's clear it swings both ways, and it would be much easier to push it. Or encountering double doors where there's a group of people struggling to get through just one side, they'll never think of opening the other side to allow everyone through more quickly.

I was reminded of this on the 7.05 to Euston this morning (yes! Again!) when a young guy embarked at Stockport and tried to sit down next to me. He was hampered both by his large flight-case-style briefcase and the fact that the arm of the chair on the aisle side was in the down position. He contorted himself to climb over the arm, repeated the manoeuvre in reverse to stow his coat in the overhead rack and then again to sit back down.

What do you say? It's easy to come over a bit patronising in these circumstances, but how can he not have noticed that the arms are hinged, and can be lifted back into an upright position, allowing unfettered ingress and egress.

I took pity on him. "That's a lot easier if you lift the arm up," I said in my most earnest and non-patronising voice. I think he appreciated my help. Especially when, a couple of minutes later, I had to ask him to stand up again so I could get to the shop for a spot of breakfast.