Timothy Birdnow

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority has been upset for some time now with the practice of "manspreading", where a fellow allows his legs to sit comfortably apart. Oh, the horror! Well, the California Transit people aren't going to take this lying down! From Weasel Zippers:

"Last week, the agency’s board voted 5-4 to adopt a new "one ticket, one seat” rule imposing a $100 fine on commuter train riders who, after a warning continue to use a seat for something other than sitting.

Subway riders who park a backpack on a seat or spread out in wide-legged oblivion have long been the bane of the rush-hour crowd in major commuter cities across the United States."

The effort to prevent these faux pas in California follows similar campaigns launched by transit agencies in New York, Philadelphia and Seattle with slogans such as "Two seats? Really?” and "Dude … Stop The Spread. Please

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Now, this is an odd concern for a place where the City of San Francisco intends to fight a lawsuit aimed at shutting down an open-air urinal in a park; seems it is hunkey dorey to hang out your genitals in Frisco and maybe splash urine on fellow park-goers but it's NOT okay for a man to spread his legs on a public conveyance. Personally I'd rather be next to the leg spreader.

This is the city where public nudity has been elevated to an art form. I wonder; if the bus rider is naked will these laws still apply? For that matter, is it only applicable to men? It's not called womenspreading, after all. And what of the transgendered, of which San Francisco has more than it's fair share; will a dude in a dress be ticketed for Manspreading? After all, California passed a law allowing students to choose the bathroom/locker room based on how they feel that day.I guess spreading the man is different from manspreading.

Last year New York spread the word, enacting a manspreading ban and actually arresting people - cowboys, motorcyclists, hookers, public mound waxers, and any others who suffer from bowed leg syndrome. They have done this even while relaxing a ban on public urination. So New York will be a citywide toilet, but at least people will sit with their legs uncomfortably together! Now THAT'S progress!

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 03:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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