Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Rider Hall of Shame: Your Move

@h45 shoulder to shoulder standing room on Red Line. She's blissfully ignorant. http://yfrog.com/be498jj


@s1ncer1ty http://twitpic.com/mn0eq #wmata redline at rush hour, dude needs three seats apparently



From reader Jared. "The nefarious inside bag. On the Red Line during rush hour this morning."

Designkitten Do you really need two seats, buddy? #wmata #metroannoyances http://twitpic.com/su68c


There's a whole Web site dedicated to these lovely folks.



Other items:
Metro looking for extraordinary people (WTOP)
VA bus route changes (WMATA)
MD Bus route changes (WMATA)
DC bus route changes (WMATA)
Md. Transit Admin. worker charged with stealing $400K in bus fares (WaPo)
MTA (NY) proposes big cuts (NYT)
Metro again promises Web management of SmarTrip (GGW)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh I love these people! I'm the first one to loudly and clearly say, "Excuse me!" I then give a beaming smile and start moving in. Either slide over or move your legs, dis ole dog is coming through to that seat!

Saw it on Friday. Fellow sat in the side seat for challenged persons, put his bag on the seat next to him, sprawled his legs across the aisle. All while the orange line train was shoulder-to-shoulder standing room. It was not he was oblivious - he just didn't care.

Anonymous said...

I like to hand people their bags so I can sit down. They usually freak out like I'm going to steal it and move it out of the way super fast.

Anonymous said...

Ok, we can always ask people to move, but we shouldn't HAVE to do it. I would assume people would move on their own upon seeing there are folks standing, but that's too much to ask...

Anonymous said...

I've never had anyone refuse to move when I've asked them to. And I like to think that after a few times of being asked to move people will just start doing it automatically.

michelle said...

Yep I ask the people to move to... and yep I seek them out... watching as a train pulls in, if i see a seat with a bag on it i am headed their way! usually they huff and look at the other empty seats around them. i too hope they pick up on the fact that putting that bag on their seat makes them a big ole bulleseye for a very vocal minority on metro :P

Anonymous said...

I do not understand it myself. I'd be so embarrassed to be caught doing such a publicly rude thing. I must have been taught "old school" style. And I really must try Anon #2 idea. The look on their face has got to be precious!

saf said...

I have had people refuse to move. And yesterday I had one let me sit down who then glared, sighed heavily, got up and moved to another seat (also next to someone. Guess I smell?)

Anonymous said...

I can't wait till next month when I have shoulder surgery. I'll be kicking people out of the handicap seats right and left.

Banksy said...

Good for you, Michelle! I do the same thing -- and I wish others would, too. People shouldn't have to ask, but they should also have the guts to ask so that selfish morons can't be seat hogs.

Love the Seat Hog web site, though I wish it had photos from places other than New York. It would be interesting to see if this happens in other countries. I imagine in some cultures, where the people are more polite, less selfish, and less concerned about personal space and where public transportation is even more crowded (think Tokyo's infamous subway), seat hogging is nonexistent. And there might be cultures where seat hogging is even worse -- but I doubt it.

Anonymous said...

Some people are jerks, like this chick I saw on the train this morning who was sitting on the inside seat with her leg propped up on the outside one, and then glared at anyone who dared look like they want to sit next to her. And some people are just being practical. My commute's not that long, but if there's a seat, I'll take it. Sometimes I get lucky and the train is nearly empty when I get on at Metro Center, and then fills up at Gallery Place and Union Station. I only have a few stops to go, though, so I typically sit on the outside, and offer a seat to anyone who is standing near me. Can't tell you how many times I've gotten dirty looks from people when they accept and I stand up to let them into the inside seat. But, if I scoot over and give them the aisle, they get annoyed when I ask them to get up and let me out a few stops later (yes, they can remain seated until the train stops). Maybe it's just me, but it seems like everyone's being selfish for that aisle seat, even if they live at Glenmont.

ksu499 said...

I wish MetroRail would get rid of the forward/rearward facing seat and put the seats along the sides facing inward. The problem is that no one want to be in that inside seat. At least MetroRail could take the outside armrests off so that it would be easier to slide in and out of the seats.

sagre said...

In the 1970's a got on a very crowded provincial bus on it's way to Manila, Philippines. I'm a big GI, and the roof on this bus was about 5'5". The bus was packed with hogs, chickens and people. A young man stood up, and in the native language, said, "You're too tall, you sit here". I could not believe it. I sat down, and answered him in his tongue, "At least you can sit on my knee". The bus burst out in laughter and applause. I was reminded of the 50's when men in the US would stand and give their seat to a lady, particularly a pregnant one. I believe the days of chivalry and courtesy towards our common men and women are gone.

Anonymous said...

That is a really touching story, Sagre. Shared humanity is a beautiful thing, I assume the man did indeed sit on your knee, is that so?

Anonymous said...

Say excuse me, may i sit down, while your moving their bag. And sit down!!!

Post a Comment

 
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Site Meter