They ride, therefore they blog: cries and whines from the Web
While riding the T is a solitary pursuit in many ways -- avoid eye contact, don't chat with your seatmate, keep out of your neighbor's space -- for some reason it generates intense online communities, in which riders gather to vent. Several local websites and blogs focus on the state of T civility.
``Complaining is wonderfully cathartic," says T-rage.com founder Michael Mennonno. While he recently recast his blog as masspurgation.com, which deals with other topics as well, there's still plenty of T-rage floating around in cyberspace. Listed below are some excerpts of postings about MBTA etiquette around the Web.
Commuterrant ``Where I rant about my commute. And other things:"
At Park Street this morning, I boarded a C train and sat down as commuters continued to pile on. A man wearing a black Guinness baseball cap came charging on, clearly intent on something. He shoved his way through the crowd and bolted toward an unassuming woman making her way to the back of the car. He proceeded to SMACK her on the back and yelled something along the lines of ``Thanks for pushing me! You pushed me! " . . . He HIT her. No one else seemed to notice. Is this normal commuting behavior now? It's now okay to hit people if you perceive that they have wronged you on the T?
Bad Transit ``Charlie's back, and he's ticked:"
Today, in an obscenely overcrowded B-line train, the driver closed the doors on the fingers of a girl standing next to me. The train was so packed she really had nowhere else to hold on to. Then he started to leave the station (Hynes) until several people yelled and finally got him to stop and open the door. The poor girl was so traumatized that we couldn't get her to really tell us much other than the fact she was in obvious pain. I'm also not sure if she understood English too well. You would think that the driver might have wanted to know why he was being asked to stop the train. Nope, he just went onto the next stop. Finally at BU East, another rider finally got the driver to call for help.
Life on the Green Line ``A cynical examination of all the faults and foibles of Boston's very own method of public transportation: the T:"
We live in a society where seats on the T are so few and so coveted . . . So why is it, then, that there still exists a breed of greedy people in Boston I have dubbed . . . Seat and Pole Hogs . . .
Seat and Pole Hogs exist in the lowest rung of the ethical ladder. They are the people that exhibit more greed than Dick Cheney at an OPEC conference. They feed off the pain of others. They sip from the chalice of evil and savor every minute of it.
Let's face it, Boston, we're a city which prides itself on sarcastic cynicism. We eat it, we breathe it, we live it, and we're damn good at it, but at what price? On the crowded confines of the bus and subway, some people really do need to be reminded of their manners. I've had enough of seeing people sneeze on their hands and then touch the poles, act like animals on the trains, and leave half filled juice bottles and coffee cups on the seats. T employees, of course, share in the responsibility to making the atmosphere . . . less aggressive."
Maybe, instead of having undercover T employees give out $2 Dunkin' Donuts gift certificates to especially nice passengers (which is apparently part of the plan), they could give out tokens. Wait -- if they gave out tokens and you wanted to get on at the airport, you couldn't, so maybe they should give out CharlieTickets. Except then you couldn't get on at Central Square. And anyway, the tokens would be a waste if you needed to take the bus. Maybe they should just give people two dollars in change with at least a few dimes and nickels so there would be exact change for the bus."
Incoherent Rambling of a self-proclaimed Diva:
(On students and their backpacks) . . . Is it too much to ask that they remove the pack from their back so as not to smack innocent bystanders? . . . If you are really fat, DON'T TRY TO SQUEEZE YOURSELF INTO A SEAT!!!!!!! I mean really . . . the other day this oversized woman wedged herself in the seat next to me, then proceeded to rest her arm on MY LEG . . . as if it were her own! Total disrespect!"
Bostonians need to learn some manners and be more like New Yorkers:
Being a Junior at BU, I should be used to the MBTA system by now. I should realize that no matter how much room is in the back of the T, people refuse to budge an inch. I should understand that there are freshm en on the T who have not gotten the hang of things yet and don't understand that if there is an empty seat, they should take it so there can be more room for the rest of us to stand. I should prepare myself for the inappropriate touching and strange level of closeness that I reach with the stranger who is standing next to, or should I say on top of, me. I should not expect people to move away from the doors when the T stops so that people who need to step off can do so. I most certainly should not expect people to take advantage of deodorants and various breath freshen ing tools. But I do. Coming from New York, I am very much used to the public transportation system. Not only am I used to it, I am one of those rude and selfish passengers who will push and shove my way into and out of the Long Island Rail Road and the subway systems. Regardless, we New Yorkers have respect for the other rude and selfish passengers on the trains and understand the need for rushing and pushing, so we try to accommodate our fellow commuters. I wish that BU students would take some time and learn the proper etiquette of T travel and act somewhat more responsibly and politely, such as those of us from New York."
I am a little germaphobic on the public transportation system, so I do not sit, however, common courtesy for everyone else. . . . Try not to smell. Everyone lately, excluding myself of course, smells. Maybe I can blame it on the rain and that mildew, wet dog smell. . . . but god, there are no windows, so just try and shower in the morning or something.
