Waterfall

Waterfall
All photos have been captured by me, unless otherwise stated.

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Hold on to your hats, kids. This is a public transit rant.

Let me state, first and foremost, that I take public transit every day of my work week and that I am in no way the perfect citizen. However, I am starting to notice two trends. The first is that I am a rare breed of kindness and patience.  The second is that the only other polite people I seem to find are younger men, and even teenage boys. Little old ladies are the meanest. I kid you not! Keep in mind this is a generalization and there are people of all ages and genders that are kind out there and even riding on buses, streetcars, and subway systems. I just can't seem to find them. There seems to be too many irritating behaviors to count, but I am going to try.  

1. The absurd lack of pleasantries. Acknowledge the people who are getting you where you need to go. "Hello", "How are You?", and "Thank you" take half a second to say and could very well make a world of difference to a person's mood or overall day. Especially a person that is personally in charge of getting your ass where it needs to be. Public transit employees work long hours and although they deal with some of the  kindest people, they also come into contact with the rudest, most impossible, people on a daily basis. These employees have the patience of saints, even though some are cranky, and others periodically lose there minds. ‎Who can blame them? Whether they say hello back, or care how you are, take a second out of your day to acknowledge that they are human beings. You never know, a smile and a "thank you" may stop a bus driver from pulling over and yelling obscenities at you, and all the other bus passengers. Worst case, it does nothing, and you wasted half a second on a few uttered words. Big deal. 

2. PRIORITY SEATING, people. Yeesh!‎ I shouldn't have to write this. Plan and simple. There are signs and yet I have still witnessed a little elderly woman swaying back and forth as she holds her shopping bags and struggles to keep upright while standing on the swerving, curb hopping, bus. All because two 30-something year old woman, and one 40-50-something year old man have the three blue priority seats (blue means give up the fucking seat, for non-TTC goers) in front of her, and none of them have respect for the elderly. Or a heart. Instead a teenaged boy, yes, a teenaged boy, offered his arm to the lady to help her keep her balance. He has three hearts. One for each of the other lazy bastards (yeah, I said it). Even the little three-year-old I take care of has had to work hard balancing herself on the subway because people look away instead of standing up to give her a seat. Yet, here I am. Four knee surgeries. Terrible balance. Often holding on to numerous bags, and a child or two. Yet, I manage to get up for anyone who is pregnant, elderly, or with young children. I also offer my seat to people carrying numerous bags, or pets. I know the struggle. I get it, and I do what I can to help. What happened to respecting your elders? What happened to helping out a neighbour, or being a decent human? Bottom line, if anyone looks as though they could use a break, give them the fucking seat, and use the working legs you were blessed with.
 
This is the most I have ever sworn in a blog post. Sometimes, it's the best way to show just how ridiculously shitty people can be. Oops. I did it again.

3. Why the rush, folks? I get it. We live in a big city. Transit is packed. People are agitated. People are late. If you are one of the late people, and you push past everyone to be the first person off the bus and down the stairs to the subway, you better be running. fast. Because, if I dare catch you pushing past other people only to stop and buy a newspaper, or a coffee, or to stroll your way to work, then I have lost all respect for you and your disrespectful self-righteous ways. Let the people standing the whole ride get off first. You have a comfy seat, enjoy your blessings a little while longer‎. If you are standing with us mighty jammed in sardines, smelling BO, morning coffee breath, or sheepish farts, then (for the fastest exit and the most sanity for all) PLEASE let the people in front of you go first. We all have places to be, and people to see. And shit to get done. Put away your self-righteous attitude for the greater good of city rhythm. We will all get there. Deep breaths. Not too deep, you might smell more than you bargained for.

4. Stop being gross. If you wouldn't do it in your mom's living room (with her there), don't do it on the streetcar. This means, please don't blow your snot onto the streetcar floor, please don't have lengthy, unbearably loud and cuss-filled debates over the phone or with your transit neighbour, and for fuck sakes, please don't engage in sexual activities. These things are disgusting, rude, and just plain gross. ‎Grow up and use your manners.

Most importantly, show respect, be kind, and remember the love. If everyone can do this, transit may be a little less like getting an infected tooth pulled twice a day. Monday to Friday.  

End Rant...

With love,

Lauren

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