To the guy who is manspreading on the Broad Street Line,

Please stop. You may not even know what you're doing wrong or what "manspreading" is. Let me educate you. Manspreading, as defined in the Oxford online dictionary, is "The practice whereby a man, especially one traveling on public transport, adopts a sitting position with his legs wide apart, in such a way as to encroach on an adjacent seat or seats."

Now you're probably thinking, "Yeah, I do that, but it's not really bothering anyone." or "Yeah, I do that because I have to. It's uncomfortable for me to sit in any other way."

Let me give you some perspective. I'm a college student who has been up all night studying for a chem exam. I still feel cold in my bones from walking the 1 mile from my house to the subway to get to Temple, and I feel my spine starting to curve due to my heavy backpack. The contact in my right eye is bothering me but I can't scratch it or even touch my face because of the germs I came into contact with on the railing. I'm looking for a seat in the crowded subway, scanning the car for a warm orange seat when I spot one! I walk towards it and there you are, taking up half of the empty seat with one of your gangly legs. I have two options at this point. A. I tell you to move or B. I continue standing up for fear of a confrontation. Which one do you think I always choose?

Manspreading is such a problem because it's about having a lack of respect for those around you. The whole point of taking public transportation is to get from one place to another at a reduced rate in a shared car or bus. When sharing this space with others, whether it be a subway, trolley, bus, or train, it is important that you keep to your own space, and take up the smallest amount of space you can - especially during rush hour!

Manspreading is a universal problem and it was even banned in Madrid.

SEPTA loves to post their Dude It's Rude signs. . . I'm wondering when they're going to do one about manspreading.

SEPTA | Passenger Etiquettewww.septa.org

My purpose in writing this is to make you, the reader, aware of your behavior the next time you're on public transportation. And this is not just for you manspreaders, but it's for you bag spreaders, those of you who play loud music, smoke weed on the subway, and more.

Sincerely,

Everyone