41 Hilariously Unhinged Things Only Seen On The Subway

There’s just something about public transportation that makes weird encounters way funnier than in other public spaces.

Maybe it’s because they are packed and moving, so everything is amplified. For example, a person eating a full meal, or someone dressed in a superhero costume can feel like a full-on performance that you get to enjoy for free.

You also have no option but to be stuck with these weird encounters for several stops — you can’t just glance and move on like in a park or on a street.

The subway also brings together all kinds of people from different socio-economic backgrounds.

Because they’re mostly anonymous, people don’t feel like they have to follow the usual social rules, which can lead to all sorts of unexpected behavior.

Artists also treat subways as their own personal stage. You can see buskers and performers of all kinds using train cars and platforms like built‑in audiences — no booking needed, no tickets to sell, just a lot of people in one place.

That’s because subways give instant exposure and a moment of shared attention in a crowd that usually keeps its head down.

Sometimes, researchers also use subway environments for social experiments.

One of the most famous is The Great Subway Station Violin Experiment of 2007. World‑class violinist Joshua Bell went busking inside a Washington, DC metro during the morning rush hour, and played Bach on a $3.5 million instrument.

But only a handful of commuters slowed down to listen, which proved that context shapes what we notice and value.

It also shows that subways are fast-paced places — people usually just focus on getting where they’re going, barely noticing anything else, because there’s always so much happening around them.

There are also moments that go beyond performance and into the truly surreal — like someone calmly chopping onions on a wooden cutting board while the train lurches forward.

The act was intended to test social boundaries and engage with the public in unexpected ways.

That specific image, originally filmed as a performance art piece, has become a viral meme illustrating how strange subway life is.

In a more creative behavioral experiment on the Milan Metro, a man dressed as Batman actually made people on the subway act nicer.

Researchers wanted to see what would happen if they threw a little chaos into the usual morning commute.

They had someone dress up as the caped crusader and ride the metro, while a woman pretending to be pregnant stood nearby. At least 67% of passengers offered her a seat when Batman was around, compared to only 38% when he wasn’t.

The study called this the “Batman effect”: small, unexpected events can make people act more thoughtfully and notice others, even if they don’t consciously register what triggered it.

Some people also treat the subway as their runway.

Recently, during New York Fashion Week, many fashionistas from around the world had to slum it on the underground trains to get from show to show.

Wearing fancy and over-the-top designs, many were surprisingly not fearful of mixing grit in with their glam.

“It’s much faster and really convenient. There’s so much traffic in New York, and to commute somewhere by Uber, it’s going to take forever,” fashion content creator Kristina Dem says.

And for most New Yorkers, heading underground in couture is nothing new.

“I love taking the subway and showing off my pieces. It’s kinda like Comic-Con for me,” says PR consultant Nick Portello.

Plenty of influencers are taking over subways around the world, too.

On TikTok, searching ‘subway fit’ brings up hundreds of thousands of posts, with people showing off their outfits while waiting for or riding the train.

In London, ‘Tube Girl,’ whose real name is Sabrina Bahsoon, went viral for filming herself on the train with close-ups and fast, dizzying camera angles. She has over 800,000 followers on TikTok.

Tina Zhang, a New York-based creator, posts videos of her everyday outfits on TikTok as well. She says the subway videos are resonating with people because people feel empowered by it.

“I think that the ones that are specific to New York are very interesting because you can kind of see how the way that people live their lives and the way that they dress is very much catered towards the city they live in. I think that's why the subway is like such an interesting breeding ground,” says Zhang.

Thankfully, impromptu performances or people dressed in weird outfits don’t seem to bother people as much on the subways.

What bothers them more is hearing someone talk loudly, seeing someone eat a full meal on board, clipping fingernails or even cleaning their teeth mid‑ride.

According to a survey, about 50% of people said listening to somebody talk on their cellphone is the most annoying behavior on public transportation, followed by people who won’t give up their seats for handicapped or senior citizen passengers.

Many commuters said erratic or odd behaviour is a reason they’d ride less often.

Part of the fascination with weird subway encounters is also how they break everyday patterns.

People expect subways to be boring and when someone carries a coffin through a station or plays Squid Game in the middle of the platform, it’s surreal compared to their usual commute.