I hope you're okay with a bunch of kids sitting on your lap

[marconiplein]

Yesterday was kind of a hell day for BART travelers. It was super crowded because of the storm and all the people who might usually drive were crammed together, elbow to elbow in the trains. And it smelled. And there were delays every which way, particularly beyond 24th street for reasons that I still don't understand

Comments

[eyeruh]

I hate to say it, but your journal tends to remind me of why I left the Bay Area. :-)

I think it's a combination of two (perhaps related) factors. First, there's a fine line between "extreme tolerance" and "total self-indulgence" & a lot of people in the B.A. clearly don't know the difference. Second, there's a general lack of respect for your personal "airspace". D.C. was every bit as crowded as San Francisco, but there was a lot more respect for your zone (thieves/muggers aside). Maybe it's just an uptight east-coaster thing, but it drove me freakin' crazy.

[marconiplein]

Yes. I love public transit. And in New York, Austin, Rotterdam, Paris & Toronto most people are GREAT about sharing public space. It's the rule, not the exception. That's why the Bay Area is so baffling!

[edgeofthewoods]

They looked like Disney vomit.

Eloquent wording... I like this very much.

Have I lost my stuff?

No, I think your shoe-job on the jacket was heard loud and clear when the dust finally settled. Even if you weren't there to see it, I'm sure they got the picture.

[marconiplein]

"Even if you weren't there to see it, I'm sure they got the picture."

Or that mysterious thing we like to call "cause and effect." Of course, admittedly, the cause and effect went both ways. That's the part that makes me sad. I'm sure he was as convinced of his entitlement as I was. But yes, right or wrong, he will probably think twice before treating public transit like his own personal living room, if only to keep daughter's coat clean.

[davel_jonez]

I think you either need to find a way to let more wrongs go unrighted, or you need to arrange your life so you encounter fewer wrongs. How much martyrdom do you even owe San Francisco/Oakland?

[marconiplein]

I wouldn't say I owe anybody anything.

The subway only works during rush hour when people share space. If everybody kept their bags on the seat and didn't scoot over, we wouldn't have enough trains. Obviously that's not going to happen, but it's frustrating to watch when someone's bike or bags end up pushing people out of a seat. And anyhow, you never get anything unless you ask for it; Plenty of these people will never be confronted about their selfish behavior.

In the co-op communities that I have spent so much time in, it is everybody's job to help alleviate problems in allocation of resources. Just because I'm doing it and nobody else is, that doesn't necessarily make me wrong.

[marconiplein]

But yeah, I probably need to learn to turn my back on more stuff. :)