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There are many positive points to choosing public transportation over your own car: it’s better for the environment, is generally cheaper than owning a car and driving everywhere, you can get a few extra winks of sleep on your way to work or school… But, like everything, it also has its downsides, namely, having to share an often very small space with a bunch of strangers.

People aren’t always conscious of how their actions affect those around them, while others may not have enough patience left to ignore their fellow passengers’ excessively loud phone conversation, constant snot snorting or noisy gum smacking. Or perhaps the smell of rancid feet, as was the case when a fight that broke out between two women on an express train making its way from Beijing to Chongqing last week.

The incident, according to China’s Chonqing Morning Post, happened around 9pm on September 17 between a middle-aged woman and a girl judged to be either in her late teens or early 20s.

The two female passengers were in the same car on an express train bound for Chonqing City, when the older woman took off her shoes. The smell of the woman’s feet apparently bothered the younger girl, who asked her to put her shoes back on. The older woman ignored the request, however, so the girl responded by plugging up her nose with tissue.

Seeing this angered the older woman, who began yelling insults. The younger girl retaliated to the verbal abuse by throwing the cushion she had brought along with her (clearly she takes her travelling very seriously), initiating a full-on scuffle between the two.

▼ Cat fiiiight!

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Image: A Cat Clinic

Surrounding passengers tried to break up the fight while others went to notify the train authorities. Police on board finally intervened, reprimanding the two for their actions and bringing them to settle their dispute. Police reports state the younger girl had scratch marks on her face where the older woman had clawed her during the scuffle while pulling her hair.

The older woman was ordered to give a verbal apology, as well as pay the girl 1500 yuan (US$235) in medical expenses. I have a feeling some anger management and common courtesy classes are in order as well!

Source: Focus Asia/Yahoo! Japan News via Toychan Net
Featured image: Guancha