(no subject)

[spatch]

I think I need a T icon now. It's getting that bad.

Three times this past week the Red Line train I've been riding has had "door problems." On Friday my homeward train was magically turned into an Express Train to Harvard from Park Street, simply because the right-hand doors along the entire train weren't working. So long, Charles, Kendall and Centralsuckers! Those of us who exit on the left are SAVED! I sure hope they shunted the train onto the correct track at Alewife.

Things got even better yesterday and today. My morning commutes have been interrupted horrendously -- once in Harvard, today in Davis. Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes go by while they empty out the offending car, reshuffle the customers into other cars, and then wait until Sully gets back from Dunkies aboveground with new coffee. Then two guys get on the intercom at the same time at every stop. One man, whom we shall call Mr. Helpful Mans, says things like "The second car is not in service, please use another car." This lets the customers know that the second car is not in service, and that they should use another car if they wish to travel on this train. The other man, who sounds amazingly like the "THERE ARE NO SERVICE" guy from a few months back, does nothing but holler "THE SECOND CAR IS ISOLATED! THE SECOND CAR IS ISOLATED!" which lets the customers know that... uh, that the second car is, uh, isolated. Really, as far as helpfulness and obfuscation-eschewing goes, it's about as helpful as singing the theme to The Jetsons at them.

I love my scrappy little city by the hahbah, but golly do I feel ashamed when I think of the public transportation system we've got and the mess it's in. Such wasted potential mired knee-deep in bureaucracy and ineptitude! Such a black eye on an otherwise ... well, slightly pristine reputation! Folks should say "We can go anywhere, we've got the T!" rather than "We can't go there, cause we'd have to take the T." Oh, for the loss of innocence! You should've seen our fresh faces back around 1997 or so, spritely flitting through trains both underground and above, while An American In Paris-like music danced about. Now we simply scowl after being shoehorned into a seat between two seat hogs, pretending to sleep so as to avoid eye contact with our fellow purgatorians.

Alas for Danny G! Alas for humanity!

Comments

[eclecticavatar.livejournal.com]

However... we HAVE a public transportation system. Try living in most of Appalachia, the Midwest or the south and good luck getting anywhere without a car!

I take my lumps and smile politely, trying to always recall that fact, having experienced how the other half lives.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

T is for Toy.

(Inspired by frotz, who grumbles a lot about the T being a toy system.)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

You should've seen our fresh faces back around 1997 or so, spritely flitting through trains both underground and above

The T was better in 1997? Really?

[allicat42.livejournal.com]

Um. It's STILL better than MARTA.

[mhaille.livejournal.com]

Four words:
Pushing Virgins Towards Amherst.

I'll take the T over that.

[spatch]

I've been in that situation, too. Back in the days of the Valley when all I had was a bike and a sometimes-working headlamp and enjoyed my midnight rides down Route 9. And frankly if I didn't have to be places at "reasonable" times at night, I'd just hoof it to and fro every day. It's only like 6 miles. I'd get me a new pair of shoes and an umbrella for those bad days, and then I'd get back those calves to die for.

But I shouldn't have to, because the framework is in place for a functional transit system. That's what irks me the most.

[spatch]

Maybe so. Maybe not. But in the wide eyes of a fresh-off-the-farm-boat youth, them trains were magical.

Perhaps the scales have fallen off the rose. Most likely.

[muffyjo]

The tune of "Charlie of the MBTA" comes to mind...

[orionsmom.livejournal.com]

hahahahaha! What a great icon for this situation! I love it!

[(Anonymous)]

That makes sense.

I mean, the T beats the snot out of the nonexistent transit in most of the US. On the other hand, compared to Montreal or New York...well, let's not.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Oops. That was me.

[lexinatrix.livejournal.com]

Word.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

[spatch]

IF THE TERRISTS WIN, IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR NOT SAYING ANYTHING

[revolution724.livejournal.com]

I was just going to say - dude, I grew up in Atlanta. I just feel lucky as to have a moderately functional public transportation system. The T makes MARTA look like... um... I don't know, but it's in a third-world country somewhere.

[revolution724.livejournal.com]

HA! I posted above before I saw this! Amen.

[eclecticavatar.livejournal.com]

Amen! Lexington Kentucky had a bus system that was supposedly really good but barely got you anywhere and the schedules were so crazy that it was easier to walk than try to go from one side of the city to the other.

[allicat42.livejournal.com]

I grew up in middle-of-nowhere Connecticut. Went to school in Boston. Back home to CT. Been in Atlanta for 5 years. MARTA is only good for things like cheap (aka FREE) parking for sporting events and day-tripping Dragon*Con... Oh, and occasionally getting to and fromt he airport. However, the long-term parking MARTA lots are few and far between. Wah.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

WE *ARE* THE TERRORISTS, POOPHEAD
HURR HURR HURR