Another Transit Adventure

[gnomi]

This afternoon, I was riding the Green Line C to Winchester St./Summit Ave. from Park St. The train, a one-car trolley of the newer style with the increased accessibility and the interior staircase (for those unfamiliar with the Green Line, usually the trains are two-car), pulled in at Park St. and disgorged a large number of passengers. Subsequently, I (and many others) made our way onto the train and stood smushed up against each other.

At each stop, fewer people got on than got off, so there was a bit of wiggle room by the time we hit Kenmore. At Kenmore, a blind woman got on the train and attempted to find a seat. There was a seat available up the stairs, but both of the handicapped-designated seats by the doors were occupied.

The woman moved toward the far-side handicapped seat. The guy who was sitting in it pretended not to notice the woman, even after she used her cane to explore the footwell of the seat. "Is this seat available?" the woman asked. "No!" the man responded. "Use the seat up the steps!" "I can't," the woman said. "I'm blind." "I'm blind, too," said the guy, lying through his teeth.

The other passengers started telling the guy to give up his seat, and he got more and more belligerent, swearing at the passengers who were exhorting him to move and at the woman who required the seat. Eventually the driver came back and told the man to move, implying that she would not continue on to St. Mary's until he gave the woman the seat.

With a greatly put-upon sigh, the man stood up. "I *paid* for my seat!" he yelled to the people sitting and standing nearby. He then tried to get the people who tried to convince him to give up the seat to identify themselves.

As the train pulled out of Kenmore, the driver announced that the train would be going express to Coolidge Corner, so the obnoxious guy sighed *again*, but he got off the train at St. Mary's without incident. I've very rarely been as happy to see someone get off a train as I was then.


(The train subsequently went express from Coolidge Corner to Cleveland Circle, so I ended up having to change trains anyway, but I got home in plenty of time.)

Comments

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

What a %$@#!

Mind you, I did once have the experience of a blind guy on the 70 bus complaining about someone stepping on his foot on the way off of the bus. "I'm blind, I don't know what your excuse is!" I leaned over and told him that the guy who'd stepped on him was legally blind and completely deaf. "Ah, right," was his reply.

(BTW, I can't recall if you have the same swearing policy in your comments as Michael does, so my original four-letter-word for a piece of male anatomy has been turned into cartoon swearing, just to be safe.)

[madknits.livejournal.com]

When I had a broken leg and was in a cast and on crutches, if there wasn't a seat near the door, someone always got up and gave me one of the seats for the handicapped/elderly.

Except once.

I got on a D line train at Hynes and no one moved.
So the conductor said, "Ths train is not moving until someone gets up and gives the guy on crutches a seat." Someone finally did, and we continued on our way.

[fenwayguy.livejournal.com]

Wow, that trolley driver deserves a commendation for doing that.

[rivkaesque.livejournal.com]

What a jerk. He did not pay for a seat. He paid for transportation. Geeze, man.

[tober.livejournal.com]

That's horrible, but both the other passengers and the operator did the right thing. FYI, for future reference, the vehicle you describe is a "Type 8" made by Ansaldo-Breda of Italy. The older, no low floor, non-ADA-compliant cars are "Type 7" made by Kinki-Sharyo of Osaka, Japan.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

thank you for dropping in with the transit-geek stuff. :-) and yeah, whatta putz.

If someone had said, "I paid for my seat," my response would have been to whip out $2 and say "here, I'll give you your money back if you leave."

[madfilkentist]

If the jerk had asked me for identification, I would have countered by insisting that he show me his seat reservation ticket.

[moneypenny.livejournal.com]

I was in Coolidge Corner last night and did not witness whatever prompted this, but a pedestrian and a car got too close to each other, and the man howled "WHAT THE F**K IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU F**KING A**HOLE." Same guy? Something in the water in your neighborhood?

[(Anonymous)]

Not that this was the rude man's situation and certainly not to excuse his obnoxious behavior, but some people do have non-obvious disabilities that make a seat necessary. In general, why does a person who is blind but otherwise able-bodied require a seat?

[sharonaf.livejournal.com]

Hard to maintain balance without a visual cue. Try standing on one foot with your eyes closed. ;-) My interpretation is that in a stationery situation a person needs to have two points of reference--either two feet, or one foot and a sight line--in order to remain upright. In a moving vehicle it's that much harder, and I would not like to see a person without use of sight standing in a vehicle, regardless of whether s/he is on two feet, holding on to a pole, or anything else. Too dangerous!
The man is unbelievably ... I can't think of a strong enough word. If he had a non-obvious disability, he could have said as much rather than telling the blind guy he's blind too.
In NY I've noticed people don't always notice a person with a cane or a pregnant woman standing, but as a woman who occasionally travels by train with a baby strapped to her stomach, I have found that for the most part I either get offered a seat right away or I get offered a seat the first time someone else stands up. I have even--twice!--had someone carry a stroller down the stairs for me in the subway when s/he WAS GOING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. That's amazing. I remember the first time it was a young man, very much dressing and otherwise behaving in a hip-hop sort of way--big shorts, necklaces, straight-brimmed baseball cap, etc. That made a huge impression on me. I hope his mother knows how gentlemanly he is.
...And then there was the time an elderly woman got on the train, I rose, she started to take my seat... and then a woman from way across the aisle left her seat to scoot under the elderly woman and take the seat. Which, as far as I could tell, was no better than her previous one. The elderly woman pulled herself upright and made her way toward the newly-vacated seat and managed not to fall over when the train started moving before she sat down.
People are WEIRD!

[sharonaf.livejournal.com]

Oh good heavens. I did NOT mean a situation involving letter-paper and envelopes. Please read 'stationary' rather than stationery. *shakes head*