Knapsack Etiquette

Here is something that bothers me, and it's people that wear their knapsacks while around other people. The one thing that bothers me is how big the knapsacks are, and the person wearing it doesn’t seem to remember that they cannot see what their bag is hitting if it’s on their back. I understand that if you are walking a distance, having your knapsack on your back makes a lot of sense, but it’s wearing it in crowded areas that I don’t appreciate.

A knapsack that is on someone’s back can really be a bother for everyone else around them, especially in small areas. I wish people that have knapsacks on their backs would think of the other people around them and not just themselves. So many people take transit and think they are small and don’t realize or think about what is on their back and the extra space they are taking up. When taking transit, I know that transit people ask passengers to remove bags from their backs, but a lot of them don’t pay much attention to that message. These bags end up in other people’s faces, jammed into someone else’s back, or just blocking access.

This similar thing happens when people are on elevators. The knapsack is either hitting someone else or blocking the way for people trying to get on or off the elevator. I know in our building when the students all get out of school, and they get on the elevator it is crazy because no one removed their knapsacks, but they just keep pushing on. By simply taking their knapsack off their back and holding it in their hands would make more room in the elevator for everyone.

It would be nice if the people that wear their knapsacks on transit or on elevators understood the impact of that on others around them. Sure, it leaves your hands free to be on your mobile device, but it is impacting other people around you. I don’t know how many times I have had a knapsack almost hit me in the face while I was sitting on a bus or subway. Also, on the elevator here in our building knapsacks are always hitting someone else if kids from school get on the one, we are on.

So, remember that simple knapsack etiquette is taking our knapsack off your back before getting on transit or an elevator. If you don’t do this, you are communicating to everyone else that “My bag is important, and you aren’t.”