The cranky commuter has been a little less cranky lately. Maybe because it's nice out. But yesterday an old problem caused me to lose my commuting sangfroid. I had to climb over a stair-sitter on my way down from the second floor of the Metra train to get to the doors.

"You know, there's plenty of room upstairs," I told the stair-sitter.

She ignored me. And kept sitting.

I don't get this. I often have to crawl around these people getting into the train or out of it. There's almost always a seat somewhere if you're willing to find it. So what's with the stair-sitting? This lady I had to squeeze around yesterday was wearing a rather nice silk dress with flowers on a white background -- why on earth would she want to sit where people's feet had been?

Are these people trying to avoid the fare? Do they just hate people so much they'd rather sit in the dirt than sit next to someone? Do they like the enclosure of the stairway? Do they like to get in everyone's way? Or are they just doing it because they're getting off soon and would rather sit in the dust than stand in the area between the doors?

If you're a stair-sitter and can tell us why, please tell.