MOV, bitch, get out the way!
Ok. I've made no secret about my disdain for the MBTA. To be fair, it's usually the lack of adherence to their own schedule that bothers me most. However, as ridership increases (and will likely continue to increase due to soaring gas prices and fewer and fewer parking spaces available), the riders themselves are irritating me more and more.
This morning my commute featured the best of both of these problems. As I boarded the bus, the driver - who is always friendly - greeted me good-naturedly and asked, "Where've you been? Have you been cheating on me with other drivers?"
Without missing a beat, I snarked (friendly-like):
"Not intentionally". Heh.
Anyway, as is increasingly common on the Red Line, there was a disabled train somewhere between Alewife and Davis. Therefore, when the train finally arrived, it was Squishville.
What really pissed me off though? There were several senior citizens standing around, but one in particular bothered me. The woman was not just senior - she was elderly and petite, clutching her handbag and generally trying not to topple. At several points as the train lurched, she was saved only because there was no place to fall. I scanned the lines of seats along the wall of the train, and almost without exception, the asses in the seats belonged to seemingly-healthy 20-somethings with their iPods wedged firmly in their ears. Those who had the good sense to be ashamed of themselves were feigning sleep, and those who just didn't care continued reading the paper or chatting with their friends. Through the entire ride from Harvard until at least South Street where I got off the train, nobody offered this woman a seat.
Yes, I know I can't know for sure that Tiffany Twentysomething doesn't have a back condition or that Tommy Teenager doesn't battle vertigo. But there are like... 50 or more seats in each car. EVERYONE has some debilitating disease that prevents them from standing?
Today I am wearing my beloved ouchy shoes that have caused me to fall in a crack at the junction of Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue, stopping traffic and bruising my knee with three shades of purple - and I'm not particularly graceful. I managed to stand just fine. I was just disgusted. Had I been closer (in proximity) to the woman, I would have shamed someone into giving up their seat.
This morning my commute featured the best of both of these problems. As I boarded the bus, the driver - who is always friendly - greeted me good-naturedly and asked, "Where've you been? Have you been cheating on me with other drivers?"
Without missing a beat, I snarked (friendly-like):
"Not intentionally". Heh.
Anyway, as is increasingly common on the Red Line, there was a disabled train somewhere between Alewife and Davis. Therefore, when the train finally arrived, it was Squishville.
What really pissed me off though? There were several senior citizens standing around, but one in particular bothered me. The woman was not just senior - she was elderly and petite, clutching her handbag and generally trying not to topple. At several points as the train lurched, she was saved only because there was no place to fall. I scanned the lines of seats along the wall of the train, and almost without exception, the asses in the seats belonged to seemingly-healthy 20-somethings with their iPods wedged firmly in their ears. Those who had the good sense to be ashamed of themselves were feigning sleep, and those who just didn't care continued reading the paper or chatting with their friends. Through the entire ride from Harvard until at least South Street where I got off the train, nobody offered this woman a seat.
Yes, I know I can't know for sure that Tiffany Twentysomething doesn't have a back condition or that Tommy Teenager doesn't battle vertigo. But there are like... 50 or more seats in each car. EVERYONE has some debilitating disease that prevents them from standing?
Today I am wearing my beloved ouchy shoes that have caused me to fall in a crack at the junction of Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue, stopping traffic and bruising my knee with three shades of purple - and I'm not particularly graceful. I managed to stand just fine. I was just disgusted. Had I been closer (in proximity) to the woman, I would have shamed someone into giving up their seat.