Oh, how horrible

Egypt: Train hits school bus; 47 children killed

A speeding train crashed into a bus carrying children to their kindergarten in southern Egypt on Saturday, killing at least 47, officials said. Distraught families searched for signs of their loved ones along the tracks in the aftermath of the latest disaster to hit the country's railway system.

The bus was carrying more than 50 children between 4 and 6 years old when it was hit near al-Mandara village in Manfaloot district in the province of Assiut, a security official said, adding that it appears that the railroad crossing was not closed as the train sped toward it.

I feel so sorry for the families in this terrible tragedy.

I see this (and to a certain extent do this) daily

although I do move my bag if the seats are getting scarce and let someone sit down, then 50% of the time ignore them blankly. Still, I do chat with other riders on occasion and as the mood hits me. I would not survive in New York, and I would be quickly labelled a target, because I'm not inured to commuting to the point of ignoring all aspects of my fellow travellers. :) Of course, as the researcher points out, we don't really ignore them--we take great pains to appear to.

Strangers On a Bus: Study Reveals Lengths Commuters Go to Avoid Each Other

Kim found that the greatest unspoken rule of bus travel is that if other seats are available you shouldn't sit next to someone else. As the passengers claimed, "It makes you look weird." When all the rows are filled and more passengers are getting aboard the seated passengers initiate a performance to strategically avoid anyone sitting next to them.

Rescue and tragedy

Calif. woman killed by train after rescuing kids: Teen also injured after helping pull five children from car stopped on tracks

Thank goodness the children are safe, but it's a shame that the woman was killed and a teenager injured after pulling the kids from the car.