Except when they aren't...

Usual Monday morning on the green line, as tired commuters fought to get on the train.  The announcements told us that pass-holders should go in the back doors, fare payers in the front.  Except our driver refused to open the back door, once again jamming the front.  Look, if you're not gonna do it, don't announce that you are.

Ya know what's nice...?

When a train drops you off during rush hour because it's going out of service and the driver tells you, "There's another train right behind us" and "right behind us" turns out to be ten minutes later.

Oh, and to the guy blasting "Men at Work" out of his MP3: Well, there's just nothing I can say.

What I'll remember...

Hit the green line for a quick trip downtown last night.  After a 10-15 minute wait, a single car green train pulled up.  Given the fact that it was half-full, the T seems to have assessed demand pretty well.  Despite the pouring rain, the driver only opened the front door.  I was in the seat across from the driver.

As we approached Coolidge Corner, one of the passengers made the not-so-ridiculous request that the driver open the back doors.  It was raining, so nobody wanted to wait in line to board.  And it was a single car, so fare evasion was less likely.  The driver grunted as she walked by and uttered to a colleague standing outside, "Lazy fucking people."

Wow.  I always knew they had it in them, but I was pretty sure they would manage to hold back. 

As you know, I believe there is a fine line between preventing fare evasion and treating customers as, well, customers.  Let's look at the situation.  It was a single car, so the chance of fare evasion goes down, as the driver can see everyone.  It's also only taking a few people per stop.  Enough to cause a back-up while boarding, but not enough to be a mob.  And it's pouring.  Any driver with any common sense should open the back door.  And upon request, should not swear about the passengers.

Just another day.

Why everyone hates us...

Yesterday, I had the "privilege" of sitting next to three 20-somethings discussing their drinking lives.  The guy next to me, decked out in a Bruins shirt, was talking about how awful his week was because he hadn't been able to go drinking.  Just the kind of guy that makes everyone hate Boston sports fans.

Dude, if your week is ruined because you've had to go a week without getting sloshed, you need to skip the game and get to an AA meeting.

Hearts and minds, hearts and minds

Part of the fun of the morning commute is never knowing which T Driver you are going to get.  90% of them are perfectly pleasant.  Today, I got the other 10%. 

I'm pretty sure that this guy thought he was a bouncer at the world's trendiest nightclub.  He did a great job of finding something wrong with everyone.  First, there was his refusal to start the train until a passenger took off his backpack.  Normally, I'm in favor of backpacks on the ground on the T, but this was a half-empty car.  And refusing to move?  Come on, get real.  Then, as a passenger flashed her monthly pass at him, he shouted, "Take it out, I don't know what's in your wallet!  And what about your friend?"  Her friend?  Was he trying to get a date?

Seriously, employees, your time is coming.  I'm not saying that's good or bad, it just is.  Everyone else has taken cuts, and when you go on strike, you'll need all the public backing you can get.

Post-Celtics rush

Went to the Celtics game last night and took the Green Line home.  So here's what I don't understand: There are 20,000 people heading out of the Boston Garden and it seems like half of them are taking the T.  So why aren't there trains waiting for us?  Seriously, not that hard.  Have a couple of trains ready to go as soon as the game lets out.  You know it's coming.

C'mon, make up your mind...

Seriously, it's getting annoying.  This week, they dropped the asinine "We're checking everybody at an above-ground station" program in favor of only allowing front-door boarding.  I'll give them credit, in that they're ignoring rush hour for that particular trick.  But the weekends and evenings do get busy and my ride just became that much longer.