Stockholm buses are quiet. They are as silent as a library even when they’re packed with people. They tend to be eerily, disconcertingly void of chatter. Every now and then they are rowdy late at night, but not so often.
An English friend who is very soft spoken was told by a bus driver to be quiet when she was speaking on the phone one time. She was mortified. I couldn’t believe it and thought this was surely a one off. Outside of on a school bus, when are you told to be quiet on public transportation? Then I had other friends tell me similar stories, including one who was told she would have to get off the bus if she did not shut up.
I don’t remember American buses being so quiet, but maybe my memory is off. I’m not sure where the silence here comes from. Swedes don’t typically indulge in small talk with strangers, so I suppose that is part of it. But is that all there is to it? I’m curious.
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I’ve yet to ride the bus in Sweden, so I have no idea. You can’t talk or make noise? What about children???
In Sydney quietness or otherwise depends on the route. The buses I catch regularly are the 372 and the 395. On the 372, there’s generally a sense of happiness. People are quiet, but happily so. They smile and go about their business. When someone needs a seat, they’ll make room. Older people are generally well looked after. Whereas on the 395, people are generally quiet and grumpy, usually looking out the window, avoiding eye contact. There’s a lot of passive aggressive behaviour with people not moving over to allow people to sit down, and often older people are left standing. As I have a choice of buses, I’ll generally let a 395 go past waiting for a 372. Perhaps it’s an issue of routes in Stockholm also?
I once offered an older woman to take my seat. She was so angry and kind of aggressive! She said that she needs no seat and that she is able to stand and so on.
I was confused. In Germany it is polite to offer the seat to older people.
As for the quietness:
I think it is like the “Swedish Allemansrätten”. You have the right to camp on the ground of your neighbors but the Swede will never do it.
They don’t want to disturb the other in their private life. May be the bus is a kind of private space?
James,
Very interesting tale of two buses. I think that this is probably true here too, as I’m sure different routes must have a different clientele.
Antropologa,
I would not think that these rules can really be enforced, but I guess they are to a degree. But I can’t say for sure as I don’t ride the bus as much as I ride the subway. The subway can certainly be rowdy before a football game or with school kids.
That’s very curious Britta. I have regularly offered my seat to both older and pregnant women and most have gratefully taken me up on the suggestion. I have seen other people do the same. You must have just encountered a grumpy old woman!
In my 30 years here, I have never heard anyone tell someone to be quiet on the bus! That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, but I’ve never experienced it. But busses aren’t usually noisy anyway; I think Britta makes a good point about the private space. Now trains are another story! I don’t know how many phone conversations I have been forced to listen to while on the commuter train. And with very intimate details to boot! Not to metion the teenagers who talk loudly and those who drink.
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