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Forget the indiscretions by tourists, Metro is aiming its new courtesy campaign at locals. Are you the anarchist in the video below sitting in the handicapped seats? Are you the obnoxious guy screaming on your cell phone about picking up the kids from soccer practice? Metro features a new YouTube video (no adorable Peeps, this time we get slightly scary Second Lifers) just for you, about common courtesy practices on the train.
The Washington Post has a lengthy feature with anecdotes about all the jerks that people with needs run into everyday, like the guy in his 20s who sat in the reserved seats "wearing an American Eagle striped polo shirt, reading a newspaper," while a seven-month pregnant woman stood next to him. The gist of the story being: we don't value public shame enough anymore, like Japan and its volunteer "etiquette police" deployed on subway cars. The hilarious/sad quote: "I don't know if etiquette police would be taken seriously," said Patrick Sheehan, chairman of Metro's advisory committee on seniors and the disabled ... "I wonder if public shame works in Washington, D.C."
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"I don't know if etiquette police would be taken seriously,"
They would if you gave them tasers, a license to kill, and immunity from prosecution.
Just think of it as "eminent domain for your fat, lazy, rude, and illiterate ass."
What about the people on the metro who make you listen to their ipod music even when they have earbuds: blasting away in their ears while you put up with the trebly whine?
You'll have the last laugh when they're deaf at the age of 29.
But since they won't hear you laughing, does it actually occur?
As our city is the capital of the free world, I will continue to symbolically practice my freedom by laying across the handicapped seats while eating my McGriddle and yelling at my mistresses on my cell phone, before stopping and looking around right after exiting the doors, and standing on the left of the escalators. Oh, and I also can't figure out how to use my paper Metro card to exit.
Ok, for starters, this needs to be recast with Lara Croft.
Right - she would just whip that guy at +1:01.
When was the last time you saw a punk like that at the 1:00 mark?
Also, that punk is a total poseur.
and what exactly is that old guy rubbing in his pocket after he sits down?
He had a thing for the young punk apparently.
New Metro Ad Campaign: "Give your seats up especially if the old man is a perv."
Let's face it. DC is, by nature, passive-aggressive. If the pregnant woman in question had bitch-slapped the wanker taking the handicapped/pregnant seats, this would be less of an issue in the future.
Why is it that we are so afraid to call out people for being dicks in DC?
Because you would have to say to yourself "one down, five million four hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine to go."
Who has that much energy?
Not everyone here is passive-aggressive. Why, just last weekend I say a woman attempt to throw something into a trash can out of a moving vehicle, miss, and then get out of the car to yell at a passerby for not picking up the trash and put it in the can for her.
Ha! Like I was saying...
When I see that happening on Metro I will go out of my way to not only shame but downright insult the idiots doing it. The problem with that is, half the time the people who need the seats try to be martry's by saying "oh it's okay I'll be okay" -- uh no! If you have a disability you should claim your right to have a seat before those of us who are perfectly able-bodied--take your seat and be a bit more forceful about it! I have made people get up with little effort in the past but it's all undermined when the person who needs to seat refuses it while clearly being in discomfort standing...
that's a good point. If you offer your seat to someone, and they refuse, it makes you feel kinda stupid and are less likely to do it again.
And it's not always the easiest thing to judge someone pregnant or not. Or disabled. Though erring on the side of politeness is rarely offensive.
Amen Amen Amen...my other favorite is the local drunk who decides to use 4 seats as his/her bed. A few years ago I saw an 80 year old lady pull some dudes legs off the bench and sit down...fuck em if you call them out many of those around you will get your back.
My favorite pet peeve on Metro are the leaners -- people who lean on a pole, therefore meaning nobody else can hang on to it, and people who lean by the doors, reducing ingress/egress space from the train by at least 1/4. The latter are best dealt with by stepping firmly on their feet as you walk into or out of the train.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Alex...employ the "metro punch" technique. Place your hand on the pole somewhere near the leaner's head...when the train jerks to a stop or makes a sharp turn pretend to lose your balance striking them in the head...apologize profusely by saying that it was the only room on the pole and sorry about that.
It works and you don't even have to hit them that hard.
I have to share my story about a leaner-
I was going to work last week when I encountered a leaner. I'm just shy of 5' tall so I cannot reach the top rails. I said 'excuse me' and went to reach for the floor to ceiling bar he was leaning on. He looked at me, looked at the top bar and POINTED TO THE TOP BAR. I went to reach for the bar again and he POINTED TO THE TOP BAR AGAIN. I had reach my arm up to show him that I cannot reach the top and only then did he shrug and move.
I would have grabbed his wang!! That'll get his attention.
I used to have a coworker who was too short to reach the high bar, and was consequently very bothered by leaners. Her strategy was to pull their hair. I think it worked pretty well.
I deal with leaners by digging my nails or knuckles into their backs as I try to grab the pole. Works every time.
Yeah I've had to push my way past a few guys 3 tims my size to get off the train. I love it when two big guys will stand in the way of the door like there's nobody trying to get in or out... or when people at the station don't give you enough room to get out--*SHOVE*--move your ass bozo! lol... Unfortunately I ride the yellow line every morning so I get to sit with a lot of arrogant Pentagon SOBs and let me tell you, guys with rank seem to think they're above and beyond all the rules and courtesies... they're among the worst Metro offenders!
Does WMATA ever put these out for MetroBus? They can start with my personal peeve: people who don't keep moving back on a standing-room-only bus as more people pile on. They'll stand at the foot of the steps to the rear seats, forcing a crowd to pile up in the driver's space.
I know most people probably won't believe this, but I find my fellow Metro riders to be incredibly courteous. I wear my 16 month old daughter in sling on the metro everyday and at least 95% of the time someone offers me their seat. I don't take it because my daughter gets fussy if I sit down, but I still appreciate the fact that people offer. When the crowds are extra crowded, several people will offer me their seat. I've had people offer me other people's seat. I've had people offer me a seat when there were clearly many seats available.
So kudos to the Red Line and their courteous riders!
It helps when you are commuting in from the start of the red line...and trust me the red line is probably the best. Come on over and ride the green on certain days and see if people are so nice.
I wonder if that guy on the Green line you saw was friends of this woman who I saw on the green line who took off both her flip-flops and rubbed lotion onto each foot.
Whoops, this was supposed to go under R Street Rat's comment.
Two professional types were loudly talking on a not too crowded, but standing room only metro car and one was basically shoving his briefcase up my *ss, so I turned to him and loudly pronounced, "I think you're cute, but I don't like it like that." Needless to say, he got his 'case under control and they both started edging away.
In my case, I pretend to have tourettes and scream, "EAT F**K PIE!" at random passengers.
I love F*ing pi
3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510....
VRE are currently in a public-awareness campaign to remind their riders that personal grooming should be done at home, and not on the trains. This happens on MetroRail too. So, the guy who was flossing last Thursday on the Green Line - yes, I am looking at you.
I assume you mean he was flossing his teeth and not his toenails. Because that's more of a Yellow Line thing.
Actually saw a lady clipping her toenails on the Metro a while back. That grossed me out more than the girl giving her boyfriend a BJ.
I once saw a pile of nail clippings on the floor below me. Nasty.
Maybe the Guardian Angels can be the etiquette police. They're already volunteering on the Metro, they have uniforms, and they can kick ass if people talk back to them. Lets give 'em tasers!
I once found a condom with a penis still inside.
Ha ha. Just kidding. That was in a cab.
Highlight of this video: when the people behind the Flight Attendant woman throw their fists in the air in protest. Also, could that old man move any slower? The Mohawk nearly mowed him over!
Definitely need the taser equipped etiquette police for the dweebs who start getting on the train before you've even exited. Halt, fool! Zap. Aieeee!
I'm courteous as I always try to keep the aisles clear for the beverage service!!
I can't believe that Lars Friedreksen of Rancid gave his seat up for Moby.
^ Reply of the year
2nded
The worst metro riders are the groups of high school/middle school kids who get on after school. They are generally the only ones to play music without headphones and they're usually yelling across the car to one another. To this curmudgeon, it's yet another example of kids in DC being pricks.
While I find many other passengers on Metro to be dicks, there are few who can hold a candle to the dickishness of most (not all) Metro employees.
Seriously, when I heard about a "Metro politeness campaign" I did not think they were talking about passengers. Oh well.
Yeah the employees need an attitude adjustment; especially the bus drivers. Asking a bus driver a question is like talking to cave people... all you get are grunts or gestures in reply! Most of them don't know their ass from the gear shift either. On rail, the station managers are seldom where they should be (near the fare gates) but are sipping coffee or puffing a cigerette with their non-uniformed buddies outside the station.
While I'll readily offer my seat to pregnant women, the disabled, and the elderly, I usually won't offer any of the special seats to families with children. Your choice = your problem, and you're able-bodied otherwise.
And offering my seat to able-bodied women just because they're women? Nope. That died with feminism.
I give up my seat to just about anyone that I don't want to sit next to, which is pretty much everyone. You never have some hottie sit next to you--no, it's always the smelliest, fattest, loudest, or most obnoxious person (or tourist) ever...
I find it easier just to give up the seats and stand then to get stuck on the inside and have to climb over them to get out or deal with them watching whatever I might be doing on my phone to pass the time (which is REALLY irritating).
I always get the hotties to sit next to me.
I leave them lots of room and always smile.
yeh, you really need to lose that iPr0n app.
I can't believe Storm sat there while that 90-year old ex MS-13 member whacked off.
How about training the Metro train operators to not be so rude when they ask people not to block the doors. Stop the 'tude, it's not your personal train.