Let's take a brief timeout from Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and the debate over the country's greatness or lack thereof to deplore a disgusting sign of lousy manners in Minnesota: feet on the seats.

The Star Tribune Editorial Board strongly supports any and all efforts short of physical confrontation to convince mass transit users not to put their feet, bare or otherwise, on seats, leaving a trail of who-knows-what behind for the behinds, hands and belongings of those who follow.

Star Tribune business reporter Adam Belz took the accompanying photo while riding the light-rail Blue Line in Minneapolis earlier this week, posting it on Twitter with regrets for not speaking up for the rights of those who prefer a more sanitary transit experience. Note the "Please, no feet on the seats!" Metro Transit sticker just below the offender's flip-flops.

An Editorial Board member who's a regular Blue Line and bus commuter can confirm that feet on the seats is a regular occurrence in all four seasons and that perpetrators come in all shapes and sizes.

Unless this editorial goes viral, so to speak, it may not reach enough dirt-and-germs-spreading transit users to make much of a difference. So we have a piece of advice for those innocent victims who, after reading this plea, will never look at a bus or light-rail seat the same way again: Grab a hand strap and stay standing.

Americans sit too much anyway, and with a little luck, the hands that grabbed the strap before you were cleaner than the bottoms of the average pair of shoes or bare feet.