Sunday, February 23, 2003
The sweeping ignorance of the general public is something that continues to amaze me. It especially seems to flare up in situation with heightened frustrations. My day today was booked-ended by two charming examples of ignorable anger.
Stepping out of the car at the train station this morning I noticed an abnormal amount of people waiting when my morning grogginess was interrupted by a strangers voice bellowing “No need to hurry buddy, we ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.” He was right, we weren’t going anywhere for a good 50 minutes.
Fifty minutes that was spent absorbing the tensing atmosphere of the numerous commuters standard at various stations each getting equally more frustrated as each minute of train tardiness placed them further from their schedules. It was an impending foreshadow of what was to come.
As a commuter you come to expect the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) will get you to your destination on time roughly 40-45 percent of the time. Now, most of the time they get you there no more than a few to 10 minutes late. And then there are the days like today.
Priding themselves on doing their best to guarantee your prompt arrival and thereby increase you confidence in them, the MBTA maintains a refund policy if your train is more than 30 minutes late. How this policy works is that should you be on a train that is 30 or more minutes late to its destination, you can fill out a form with the MBTA and they will send you a refund. However, they still instruct their conductors on these late rail vessels to still collect all fares. As you can imagine, this is a policy that can ruffle some feathers, which I got to witness first hand in the following exchange between a couple of irate commuters and our fearless conductor.
Irate Commuter #1: “So let me get this straight, we need to fill out a form to get a refund.”
Fearless Conductor: “Yes sir, just go to the ticket counter in South Station or fill out the form online and I believe they will send you two free tickets.”
IC #1: “Why don’t you just not take my ticket?”
FC: “I wish I could sir, but unfortunately they do not allow us to make a decision like that, I’m sorry.”
Our conductor continued along picking up tickets from commuters who were no doubt just as frustrated but who at least had been taught the principle of decorum while the irate commuter continued grumbling to a fellow irate commuter. This insightful exchange went a little like this:
IC #1: “That is so stupid, they (MBTA) don’t know how many people are riding these trains. You’re telling me he absolutely has to collect these fares. Who’s gonna know?”
Irate Commuter #2: “Oh, you’re telling me, its stupid, he’s just an idiot.”
Mind you, the conductor is well within earshot of this exchange. I have no idea how he was able to keep quiet, because I barely could, but as I turned to see whom our irate ignoramus #2 was, I realized it must have been easy. After all, I’m sure slurs are a little bit easy to brush off when they are coming from 40-ish year old woman sporting a feathered Cheryl Tiegs hairdo circa 1978. I figured her presentation pretty much effaced anything she had to say.
I can only imagine what it must be like to be in the middle of a train full of very pissed-off and late commuters. There is probably some version of the scenario in hell. However, I can see the point behind our irate commuters regrettable exchange and question how the MBTA applies its 30-minutes fare refund. By instructing their conductors to continue collecting fares on these refund-eligible trains, the MBTA is banking on public indolence; that people will just be too lazy to take the time to fill-out the refund forms. And I’m sure they are right, but they need to realize the position they are putting their employees is in. I hate seeing a working-class Joe getting shit, for simply doing his job.
Fast-forwarding past the ill-bred corporate part of my day, we find my evening commute brushing itself with another ignoramus.
Walking toward the entrance to the subway, I was stopped by a clearly flustered woman asking me if I could point out a particular building she was looking for in the area. Apparently my two seconds pondering was a little too long for this woman as she blurted out, “Oh, you don’t know, what good are you?” Coincidentally, that was the same question I was asking myself as I played my eight game of solitaire while my inbox continued to ping with new messages a few hours earlier. But stepping out of myself for a second, I apologized to her and kept on my merry way knowing full well the karma police were sure to take care of her.
Don’t get me wrong; I’ve been in similar situations as all of our players today, but I do my best to swallow because making a public spectacle is not high on my list of priorities. It did give me some fodder for the rest of my trip though as I realized in public, we’re literally only an indiscretion or judgment lapse away from chaos. They say ignorance is bliss, but not when you feel the need to display. So to our irate friends out there, do us all a favor next time; be considerate of others and shut-up.
Stepping out of the car at the train station this morning I noticed an abnormal amount of people waiting when my morning grogginess was interrupted by a strangers voice bellowing “No need to hurry buddy, we ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.” He was right, we weren’t going anywhere for a good 50 minutes.
Fifty minutes that was spent absorbing the tensing atmosphere of the numerous commuters standard at various stations each getting equally more frustrated as each minute of train tardiness placed them further from their schedules. It was an impending foreshadow of what was to come.
As a commuter you come to expect the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) will get you to your destination on time roughly 40-45 percent of the time. Now, most of the time they get you there no more than a few to 10 minutes late. And then there are the days like today.
Priding themselves on doing their best to guarantee your prompt arrival and thereby increase you confidence in them, the MBTA maintains a refund policy if your train is more than 30 minutes late. How this policy works is that should you be on a train that is 30 or more minutes late to its destination, you can fill out a form with the MBTA and they will send you a refund. However, they still instruct their conductors on these late rail vessels to still collect all fares. As you can imagine, this is a policy that can ruffle some feathers, which I got to witness first hand in the following exchange between a couple of irate commuters and our fearless conductor.
Irate Commuter #1: “So let me get this straight, we need to fill out a form to get a refund.”
Fearless Conductor: “Yes sir, just go to the ticket counter in South Station or fill out the form online and I believe they will send you two free tickets.”
IC #1: “Why don’t you just not take my ticket?”
FC: “I wish I could sir, but unfortunately they do not allow us to make a decision like that, I’m sorry.”
Our conductor continued along picking up tickets from commuters who were no doubt just as frustrated but who at least had been taught the principle of decorum while the irate commuter continued grumbling to a fellow irate commuter. This insightful exchange went a little like this:
IC #1: “That is so stupid, they (MBTA) don’t know how many people are riding these trains. You’re telling me he absolutely has to collect these fares. Who’s gonna know?”
Irate Commuter #2: “Oh, you’re telling me, its stupid, he’s just an idiot.”
Mind you, the conductor is well within earshot of this exchange. I have no idea how he was able to keep quiet, because I barely could, but as I turned to see whom our irate ignoramus #2 was, I realized it must have been easy. After all, I’m sure slurs are a little bit easy to brush off when they are coming from 40-ish year old woman sporting a feathered Cheryl Tiegs hairdo circa 1978. I figured her presentation pretty much effaced anything she had to say.
I can only imagine what it must be like to be in the middle of a train full of very pissed-off and late commuters. There is probably some version of the scenario in hell. However, I can see the point behind our irate commuters regrettable exchange and question how the MBTA applies its 30-minutes fare refund. By instructing their conductors to continue collecting fares on these refund-eligible trains, the MBTA is banking on public indolence; that people will just be too lazy to take the time to fill-out the refund forms. And I’m sure they are right, but they need to realize the position they are putting their employees is in. I hate seeing a working-class Joe getting shit, for simply doing his job.
Fast-forwarding past the ill-bred corporate part of my day, we find my evening commute brushing itself with another ignoramus.
Walking toward the entrance to the subway, I was stopped by a clearly flustered woman asking me if I could point out a particular building she was looking for in the area. Apparently my two seconds pondering was a little too long for this woman as she blurted out, “Oh, you don’t know, what good are you?” Coincidentally, that was the same question I was asking myself as I played my eight game of solitaire while my inbox continued to ping with new messages a few hours earlier. But stepping out of myself for a second, I apologized to her and kept on my merry way knowing full well the karma police were sure to take care of her.
Don’t get me wrong; I’ve been in similar situations as all of our players today, but I do my best to swallow because making a public spectacle is not high on my list of priorities. It did give me some fodder for the rest of my trip though as I realized in public, we’re literally only an indiscretion or judgment lapse away from chaos. They say ignorance is bliss, but not when you feel the need to display. So to our irate friends out there, do us all a favor next time; be considerate of others and shut-up.
