Have you ever flipped someone the bird who cut you off in traffic? Ever purposefully drove slow because someone was tailgating? Or pretended to sleep so you don't have to give your seat up?
Yep, we all can sometimes be rude when it comes to commuting. Even though your daily commute could make you go a bit crazy during rush hour—especially on a Monday—it sometimes pays off to bite your tongue because you never know who are going to meet.
On Monday, a man, who was obviously in a rush to get somewhere important, was traveling on the London Underground. When the train stopped, another male passenger blocked the impatient passenger's way, so he reacted just how we all might have—he pushed the guy in front of him, cursing at him as he forced his way off the train.
The commuter who was pushed, Matt Buckland, was actually getting off the same stop at Monument Station. He was only seemingly blocking the path because he was letting a woman off the train as well.
Buckland, an HR executive at the investment firm Forward Partners, shook off the commuter who told him to go "f himself" and went on with his day. In a classic tale of what goes around comes back around, hours later the rude commuter strolled for an interview with Buckland.
Karma - the guy who pushed past me on the tube and then suggested I go F myself just arrived for his interview...with me...
— Matt Buckland (@ElSatanico) February 16, 2015
And this is probably the worst scenario that could possibly happen to a commuter.
The commuter at first did not recognize Buckland from the morning commute. So Buckland decided to ask him about how his commute on the train was. That is when the rude commuter caught on.
"It was totally awkward," Buckland says. Instead of Buckland returning the phrase to the commuter and telling him to get out, the two actually were able to approach the situation with some humor. "So I approached it by asking him if he'd had a good commute that morning. We laughed it off and in a very British way I somehow ended up apologizing."
Even though the interview went smoothly, the commuter did not get the job. However, it was only because he was not right for the role, not because of the morning exchange on the tube.
"When you interview you are looking for a read of skills but also to know if that person is a real human being, it's about that connection," Buckland says.
Let's just hope the commuter will use better train etiquette from now on.
[PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Page/Flickr]
