Compass & Coffee Spoons

Commuter Sentences: mi musica es su musica

So I'm sitting on the bus with a woman
who clearly never learned the concept of how to behave in public. Though this is a common feature on my commute, because I've been "enjoying" her music for the last 20 min, it's grating on my nerves. Is it that she really likes to share? Does she need a sense of validation that her music is okay? Is she running a social experiment on peoples breaking points? I'll never know...

Commuter sentences: smell ya later

It's about time to do a commuter sentences. Namely because i'm on the damn bus and confronted by a smelly homeless person. The "pc" person in me realizes this us not "pc" bit as with many things like that, it's true. Poor Asian lady (also not pc but true) looks like she's going to puke. Culprit? Smelly homeless guy I nearly poked in the face with my umbrella.

My first experiences with body odor and transit came in Southern Spain, on the buses of Malaga. There's a shortage of water there, you see. And ample fried fish and garlic.

This, however is in a different class. That was "Euro" stink, sometimes experienced here, often by foreign exchange students and tourists. This is homeless stink. A combo of a long time of not bathing, not washing clothes, public urination and defecation and a general lack of self awareness. Again, not pc, but true.

My first experience with this breed of stink was also in Europe--in Prague when I was homeless (for a night). My friend and travel partner Terry and I boarded a tram to stay warm. There was a REALLY stinky guy. Nighttime Czech revellers were spraying perfume on him. I think the driver kicked him off. It was seriously gag worthy.

All I can say is that in comparison, I almost LIKE being bothered by overwhelming perfume, our third variety of transit odors, or fried food, our fourth. In fact, I'm craving a nice medly of Coty and fried chicken 'bout now!

Happiness Is A Full Tummy & A Warm Bus

I'd just like to say how good it feels to catch the bus on a cold night within a few minutes of having spent a lot more than I should have on a restaurant week dinner.

Seat hogs...in their native habitat

See this is what I'm talking about...cmon.

Another Day Another Seat Hog

That's all. I'd take a picture but I'm on the inside and am afraid she'd see!

Seat Hogs

Listen, guy beside me on the bus...if you want private transport, take a cab.

I get seriously annoyed at seat hogs. Not people who need more than their share--as a person of a certain size, I understand that Metro seats designed in Italy don't necessarily fit American-sized butts. What irritates me are people who stake their claim on 2 seats, refuse to move over, keep their bag on the seat even after you sit and even with a full bus or train.

This points to a general annoyance..a feeling of entitlement. In my estimation, it's why so many drive in the left lane even when not passing.

There's actually a great website exposing that crime against humanity...I'll link to it here when I'm not "mobile."

Commuter Sentences: To Catch a Thief

As I was exiting Union Station, I saw a teenager running really, really fast. It was one of those occasions when your brain has to catch up with what was happening. I thought "Boy he's running fast!" and then "Looks like he's running because he stole something." By the time I thought "Someone should stop him," he had run through the doors to the food court on the lower level and a man behind me was screaming "Stop! Police! He stole my iphone!" The man was running around like a crazy person screaming police. [As a side note, a Metro employee--who I don't believe was working at the time--responded "He sure did." Well, thanks, lady, that's helpful.]

Okay, this is disturbing on so many levels. This guy was not in a dark alley or even a semi-deserted street. Nor was he pressed in a train with so many people that anyone could reach into his pocket and take it unbeknownst to him. This was a busy metro station at UNION STATION which is a block from the Capitol. Crime happens here a lot. What's disturbing is that the guy was SCREAMING "Police!" and it took at least 10 min (or so it seemed) for them to show up and that was, I believe, because someone called them. (This oddly did not occur to me as something to do.)  At that point, a car with lights shows up and talks to him.

The Metro police are rarely where they need to be. And now, they're going to start random searching of bags for suspicious materials. Why not start with being present and catching people who have just robbed someone with about 50 people in view? This reminds me of a time (post 9-11) that I told Amtrak police about a backpack left under a chair in a waiting area and was treated somewhat condescendingly...I mean, seriously!!!! This is turning into a total rant, but in further news, I have noticed grafitti more and more on trains and busses. Whatever happened to dealing with stuff like this to prevent bigger crimes--a la the recently maligned Broken Window Theory? C'mon Metro! Between delays, fare hikes, and fear of crime, people will find alternatives when they can...

Commuter Sentences, Special Edition: or, Further Reasons Why Taxis in DC Suck

Okay, since taxis in DC moved to a metered fare system, they don't suck AS MUCH as they used to, but that doesn't make them NOT suck. Witness tonight. Ted organized a small army of people to go to the showing of Arsenic and Old Lace (love it!) at Screen on the Green. I insisted on taking a cab home, because after hearing about my neighbor's break-in and other crimes in my area, it wasn't worth it. Though Ted was going to walk, he figured what the hay, since we LIVE FIVE BLOCKS from each other. Keep that in mind. Five blocks. Barely. So, anyway, we get in the cab, and the driver says something I don't understand. All I knew was that it was something that meant we were going to be paying too much.

For those of you not from DC, let me explain. In normal cities, you get in a cab, the driver sets the meter, and then you get out and pay what's on the meter. You could drive with five people and each go to a different place and at the end of the ride, the fare is paid. Not so in DC. For the longest time, DC had a zone system. In the zone system, you could pay as much as twice as much if you were one block out of a zone. It was crazy. To go 1 mile from Union Station to my house, it would cost $10. The drivers bitched and moaned that everyone except them wanted a meter system. This was because people thought they couldn't be cheated if there were meters. Not so.

In the old system, Ted and I shared a cab once. We ended up EACH spending $20, which we didn't find out until Ted had already been dropped off. 

$3.00 initial fee + $1.00 fuel surcharge + $1.50 passenger fee=$5.50 + fare

The driver informed us he'd "save us" by resetting the meter because normally he would have to charge Ted the full fare and then charge me another additional full fare. WHAT? What is this, an airline? Why, then, wouldn't we get separate cabs? What savings is there in sharing? Whatever...so, when Ted got out, he paid $8.75...actually, I think he gave him $10.

Next, the meter's reset: $3.00 initial fee + $1.00 surcharge=$4.00+ fare

The dude drives me (slowly...by the way) the five blocks, which the cheapskate in me for a moment considered walking until I imagined being held up, and I get out and pay $5.00. That's $15 to go a little over a mile. Though scarier, it would have been cheaper to have been mugged. (Or, for that matter, to have driven into work).

This great taxi photo with a pre-meter rant can be found by Wayan Vota on Flickr.

Could This Help Transit?

I got a lot of enjoyment out of this articlefrom the Miami Herald, via Planetizen. Here's a snippet:

"James Harris loves public buses so much, he stole one from a Miami-Dade depot last month and, wearing a genuine uniform, chauffeured unsuspecting fare-paying passengers around South Beach for hours, police and government officials said Thursday.

When Harris, 18, was arrested a few days later, he posted bail -- and promptly stole a second bus.

''He's a real transit freak,'' said Derrick Gordon, assistant director for bus operations..."

Photo from nycsubway.org--their 2001 Best Non-NYC Metro Area Bus Photo contest winner BusProwler, depicting "bus 9910, a Miami-Dade Transit 1999 NABI 40-LFW is parked outside a trailer park in Liberty City assisting in evacuating a flooded trailer park following the infamous No Name Storm of October 2000."

 

Commuter Sentences: Why People Don't Take the #@%$ Bus!

Okay, so I leave the office at 6:20. Because WMATA alerted me that there were significant delays on "all lines" due to a derailment on the Orange Line, I decided to bus the whole way home. I arrived at the stop shortly before 6:30. The next scheduled bus was at 6:32. I waited, not at all patiently, until well after 7 with the heavy, humid heat weighing on me and the exhaust fumes in my face choking me. Yay. Once the bus finally came, it was okay, until Union Station when a group of roudy teens got on, one of whom hit my head accidentally, and thought it was funny. These same kids called a guy getting off the bus "Fat Albert" and I'm pretty sure they called me "Big Momma." Seriously. I wanted to rail on them, but keeping my urban street smart wits about me, I just got off the bus.

By the time I got home, it was after 8. Yes, folks, 1 1/2 hours to get home. A half hour more than it would take me to walk. Now, as a result of all this waiting, I was starving...and for something specific: Chinese food, the result of reading "The Fortune Cookie Diaries" during my wait. After ordering and being told it would take 35 minutes, I realized I couldn't wait. I ate two (ugh) hot dogs. Of course, once my General Tso's chicken and dumplings arrived, I tasted it, but it kind of grossed me out. That took care of my cravings for Chinese take out for another year or two.

Photos: Not Mine! Via Wikimedia Commons, Bus/Taxi Photo by Ben Schumin. 

Oh, and by the way, I'm officially annoyed by Typepad!