"Not mine," said the Little Black Duck

I got onto an early train the other day - I had things to talk to my overseas team about, so I left the office early to work at home in the evening. Lucky me. By early, I mean the time that saves me more than a dollar because I'm travelling "off peak". Woohoo!

Anyway, I entered the carriage & thought "That's great - an empty bench!", but didn't realise why until I was on top of it. Someone had left a paper cup-like piece of rubbish sitting on the aisle side of the seat. I ignored it & sat on the window side.

So far, so good, but what is the etiquette around finding rubbish on a seat where you don't have to move it or even touch it to sit down? Once upon a time, shifting a newspaper was a common thing. I think I draw the line at rubbish on the seat if it isn't where I want to be. Rubbish under the seat can be discreetly shifted about. Cans & bottles can roll around under foot from one end of the carriage to the other for all I care.

About four stops later, someone entered the carriage & eyed off the seat beside me (without me looking up). When they arrived & looked down, there was the rubbish looking back at them. They transferred their gaze to the next object of scorn & gestured at said cast-off as if it was mine, or at least my responsibility. I tried to think of something witty, but the best I could come up with (glancing up from reading) was "I am unsure whether my friend there has a ticket."

Suffice to say, the chap had no idea what I was talking about, assumed I was being rude (which I suppose I was), & continued down the carriage (probably shaking his head). I turned a shade of red & studiously went back to my fiction.

What is the etiquette here? It's not my rubbish. I have avoided coming into contact with it (assuming any possession), & want to ignore it. It's an SEP (someone else's problem) in the truly Douglas Adams sense. Yet I felt a little guilty. I felt even more so when I got up to leave the train & hoped that no-one noticed that same piece of rubbish still sitting there - as it's unlikely that anyone still in the carriage had noticed who'd left it behind in the first place. Perhaps they could get a stab of guilt for letting said person escape without their ire.

I seem to recall that it was common for train employees to go through with bags to collect rubbish quite regularly. What happened to them? Those pre-peak trains are precisely where they should be - a quick sweep before the bigger crowds, yet I can't recall the last time I saw the grabbers. Cut-backs, I presume.

Now that I've spoken out, I'm going to feel even more guilty each time I simply sit there & do nothing.