Common Sense No Longer in Practice in Subway
This morning, a string of incidents has led me to believe that at the moment a passenger swipes a Metrocard, that passenger becomes completely devoid of common sense.
Incident 1: A busker is playing guitar on the 1st Avenue train platform during morning rush hour. While the music is enjoyable, a crowd gathers to watch the guitarist, blocking the entirety of the narrow platform and preventing me from avoiding the bunching of crowds at the front of the train.
Incident 2: A crowded L train pulls into the station. Five passengers leave the train through the door I’m waiting to enter. A woman steps in front of me, steps into the train, and stands right in the doorway - despite the fact that there is plenty of room further into the train. I must push her into the train in order to board the train myself.
Incident 3: While climbing a crowded set of stairs divided in half by a handrail at Union Square, a woman and her small child choose to walk down this same set of stairs on her left side, against traffic. The right side of the stairs was virtually empty, as other passengers respected the unspoken policy of keeping to the right on the stairs. One passenger, in frustration, shouted at her, “hey, Lady! This isn’t bloody England!”
Incident 4: A Q train arrives at 34th Street-Herald Square. After the doors have already been open for 10 seconds, a seated passenger finally realizes that this is her stop. Despite the fact that she is only two seats from a set of doors, she pushes people out of her way to exit through another set of doors that are five seats away in the opposite direction.
Incident 5: A middle-aged male passenger - presumably a tourist - swipes his Metrocard, steps through the turnstile, and then turns to his wife behind him and says, “wait! I think this is the wrong stop!” Apparently, his memory of the signage on the street, on the walls, and in the station was erased as soon as he swiped his Metrocard.
This entry was posted on Friday, September 21st, 2007 at 8:43 am and is filed under Subway Stupidity, Life in NYC. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 21st, 2007 at 9:40 am
Lame_O says:I used to do the 1st ave. commute but now I walk up to 3rd ave. and take the bus to my office in midtown. no more subway raging and coming in the office is a pissy mood. the traffic moves surprisingly quick on 3rd ave and my commute is roughly the same. do what I did, for piece of mind alone.
September 21st, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Ha Ha Sound says:As silly as this will sound since it requires losing a bit of sleep (something which took me some time to adjust to), get up 15 minutes earlier so you can beat the rush hour subway commute. Trust me, it makes a huge difference. The trains are half as crowded, and the retardation factor is reduced by about tenfold.
September 21st, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Brooklyn Bitch says:I’ve given up on the subway as a whole.
I ride the L all the way from the ‘Burg, and it’s redonkulous.
People are so effin’ stupid and inconsiderate.
I may be a Brooklyn Bitch, but, you won’t find me shoving any one’s ass to get a spot on the train.
Skanks.
September 21st, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Eric P. says:To Incident #2: I feel your pain. This is an epidemic on the A-Train as well. Yes, that’s right, you heard me Bed-Suy, move ur asses!
“Incident 2: A crowded L train pulls into the station. Five passengers leave the train through the door I’m waiting to enter. A woman steps in front of me, steps into the train, and stands right in the doorway - despite the fact that there is plenty of room further into the train. I must push her into the train in order to board the train myself.”
September 21st, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Saw Lady says:What always annoys me is that when I try to get out of the train, people waiting to go into the train just start walking in without letting those of us who want to exit the train do so first.
Cheers,
‘Saw Lady’
http://www.SawLady.com/blog
September 22nd, 2007 at 1:21 pm
quin says:i miss new york
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Ed says:Prepare for this stuff to get worse when the MTA enables people to use their cell phones in the stations.
September 25th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Sammythebull says:Incident number#2 is the reason I’m going to finally snap someday and probably wind up stabbed
September 25th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Gwin says:The whole “standing in the doorway” thing happened to me on the 7 recently… I actually asked the lady to move into the car and she ignored me. So I shoved past her and she started screaming at me “ARE YOU CRAZY? ARE YOU CRAZY??”
Of course, no one had heard me ask her to move, so they assumed *I* was the rude one. I think.