It's been a while

Hello?

Oh, hi.

Yeah, yeah, it's been some time. What, a week maybe? More? Yeah, well, who reads this anyway?

Oh, you do? Well...um...thanks. Then, uh, here's another post for you.

I think in my last post I complained about how stores were stocking their shelves with Halloween items soon after Labor Day. Here's a NY Times article from yesterday to prove my point: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/business/media/17adcol.html?ex=1347768000&en=fb3b6cafab90f7ef&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

That's a long link. I hope it works.

But enough about candy, let's get back to work.

I'm sure most of you who work have to commute. Unless you work at home or live under your desk a la Costanza, then I bet you either walk, drive, bike, ferry, bus, or take a train to work. If you use a helicopter, horse, or hovercraft then your work must be kind of cool. I think most of us can agree that commuting sucks. It's time consuming, tedious, monotonous and can get pretty darned expensive.

I take Metro-North's New Haven line commuter rail. First off, I'm all for public transportation. I think it's great for all of the reasons: environmental, cut down traffic, support the downtrodden, etc. However, this country's public transportation system is underfunded, which should come as no surprise. The trains seats are cramped together; the train cars are falling apart; the lines get flooded or frozen; the trains don't run on time. All true, all gripes, but they're not the biggest problem.

The biggest problem with public transportation is the public. And yes, I am talking about the homeless man with a bag of rancid meat riding the subway or the fat kid selling candy bars, not to mention the countless other crazies riding the New York subway (but I'd still rather take that than a bus). I'm mainly talking about us 9-5ers who live outside the greater metropolitan area. Those of us who smoosh together in those cramped seats, avoiding eye contact, struggling to open the business section of the paper. Sardines have it better than we do.


Here's a typical, decrepit Metro North New Haven Line train.
Thanks to Mr. Cox for the photo.

I propose a call to action. Don't be afraid, commuters of the world. If you see some grey haired power-broker leaving his laptop on an empty seat, not saving it for anyone, you tell him to move. If you see a person sitting on the outside seat of a two-person row, you take that window seat. There should be no reason for there to be empty seats. This isn't a movie theater, where, unless it's opening night or you know a theater should be packed, people leave a courtesy seat open.

And let's get rid of the bar cars, shall we? I'm not against drinking, but I am against having a whole care devoted to selling four people beers while the rest of us are forced to stand. That whole car can be filled up with seats! And they sell alcohol right outside the train before you get in! If you really need a drink that bad and you forogt your Bud, then carry a flask, man.

It's the people that make the commute terrible. A majority of the people want to sleep in the morning, so don't talk loudly. Don't spread your legs open when you sit down in between two other people thinking like you own the place. Just this morning, as the train finally pulled into Grand Central, two older men got up into the aisle at the same time, one blocking the other.
"Did you ever hear of letting someone go first?" One curmudgeon said.
"I was sitting right here, I just got up. Maybe you should look before getting up," the other unhappy man said.
"[Inaudible muttering]"
"[Groan]"
Needless to say, their bickering about holding each other up caused them to hold other commuters up, and ultimately delayed their leaving the train. And why the hell would were they so eager to get to work in the first place?

The New Haven Line is not expected to get new and improved train cars until 2009. And yes, we'll have to pay more, but it'll be worth it. You must have seen the Hudson Line cars. They're beautiful. So until we make it to the 21st century, let's all realize that we're in this together. We're tired, cranky, and we don't like our knees touching other peoples'. So sit down, shut up, and be a good citizen. Work sucks enough, let's try and make the to and from less painful.