Would you confront a high, belligerent passenger on BART?

I'm typically a pretty outspoken person but on BART, I am usually non-confrontational and try to be low profile. Very unlike my usual self but after nearly a decade of taking BART, I've also learned to just mind my own business and get the **ck out of there as soon as I can.

Yesterday evening, a drunk, drugged, belligerent homeless woman was SMOKING inside the train. I was pretty far away, fortunately, but saw the entire situation. A woman told her there's no smoking, she screamed profanity, then another passenger called the train operator, causing the homeless woman to spit on the person.

She got ejected, and on her way out, she was spitting (yes, spitting) on all the passengers in her way, screamed in people's faces and then pounded madly on the train window. The entire train was filled with smoke and stunk the entire ride.

Would I have told her to put out her cigarette? I honestly don't know. I've been verbally harassed by so many homeless near the Civic Center and Powell stations that I've learned to just walk as fast as I can, or just walk away. But yet, in any other situation, at a restaurant for example, if a patron smokes, I'd have no problems walking up to them and ask them to put the cigarette out.

What would you have done?

Monday Pet Peeves

This morning was one of the worst rides in awhile. It was a combination of many of my pet peeves in one ride but I'll share the top 5 so you're not overloaded with unpleasant visuals at the same time.

#5--
It was an overcrowded train but people kept piling on. Why can't BART have a max capacity censor that is loud and clear?? There was NO ROOM to stand, at least not straight, and people are crammed so tightly that they are practically spooning. An older woman was leaning on me for balance. If she wasn't an elderly, I would have said something.

#4--
When people are forced to smell each other, any trace of cologne makes the ride even more unpleasant. Cologne makes people sneeze, and when people are sneezing in such tight space, germs spread. Once this man with slicked back hair and powerful cologne walked in, at least 4 passengers within the vicinity started sneezing continuously, including yours truly. At least i covered my nose!! Others didn't! Let's just say I'm going to need to dry clean my pea coat!

#3--
Why won't people blocking the doors step aside to let people exit??? And even worse, when I politely step out to free up the entry, how is it that someone inside the train take my standing space??? I couldn't stand it today and reminded that person that space was mine. It was so crowded that without the space, I wouldn't fit on the train. And how can a polite action such as stepping aside to let people through end up be a punishment? I couldn't let that happen!

#2--
Large suitcase backpacks have become a trend these days. Tumi, Samsonite all make these fancy suitcases that go easily on your shoulders. The downside? They are too large to keep on during a crowded BART ride and they are dangerous. A Tumi backpack straight punched my face today when the clueless passenger turned a different direction. PLEASE, when the train is a max capacity, take your backpack down before you hurt someone.

#1--
Coffee and breakfast items on a maximum capacity train is 10X worse than it typically is. Today, the stop and go motion made several coffee cups spill, and someone's disgusting smelling sausage mcmuffin drop to the floor. Thank goodness that was a few feet from me because if that touched me in anyway, I would probably have blown up!

Let's hope the ride home will be a little more pleasant!!! This was one of the worst morning rides in awhile!! What ticks you off??

Look what greeted me as I walked onto the train this morning?

First of all, one of my many 2012 new year resolution....to update this blog more often! BART is never boring....I see and hear things everyday but I need to do a better job of jotting down my observations here!

So, we all know BART seats are disgusting. But this photo I snapped today really says it all. Whoever did this must have had QUITE a breakfast! I wonder who they'll clean it off. We know they won't be disinfecting the seats so I guess we all need to be careful to avoid any seats with stains. Oh wait, that is ALL the seats! Perhaps I shouldn't complain when I need to stand on BART...probably more sanitary.

Apologies for this graphic photo but wanted to make a point here! It doesn't get too much worse than this.

Just when I thought I've seen it all

We, the BART commuters, experience a lot of unpleasant things on BART. Whether it's rudeness, crazies, sweaty passengers, nail clippings, or food leftovers, we hold our noses, in most cases, bite our tongue and endure the 30+ minute ride.

Just when I thought I've seen it all, I experienced something for the first time. HAIRSPRAY! A woman not only did her make-up on BART but decided to do her hair on BART too. She was spraying her aerosol can like she's killing ants with Raid. She sprayed up, down, right left...the entire half of the train smelled like cheap hairspray.

I was sitting behind her, lucky me!! I fanned my magazine as furiously as I could. Other passengers turned the opposite from her. One even choked and coughed. Then, she walked up at 12th Street Station and left.

Wow. Excessive hairspray-ing on BART! That's a first!

Monday greets me with a vengeance

We all love Mondays, especially when it's dark and drizzly, which is the case today. It fires up everyone's already grumpy mood just a bit more.

And of course, a string of events during my morning commute made my Monday BART ride even more detestable. Here they are in chronological order for your amusement!

1) A couple who decided to share one remaining seat and also show their (physical) affections to the whole train.
2) Seeing a homeless man urinate inside the BART station while he is pretending to talk on the pay phone as distraction. At least he tried to hide it!
3) Being trapped behind two side by side smokers on the up escalator and getting smoke all over my face. I was a few passengers behind them but no matter, the smoke was in my face for a good 15 seconds as we all rode up the escalator.
4) Being invaded by a group of tourists who were lost going to different destinations. One after another, they asked me which way to the cable car, which way to Pier 39, which way to Farmer's Market, which way to Mission District. I was very friendly for the first couple tourists but after awhile, I started pointing people to my best guess and figured they'll have someone else to ask when they're lost again.
5) Having my building entrance be blocked by delivery crates for CVS (which is next door.) I couldn't even squeeze through and had to patiently watch them remove the crates, which took about a few minutes.
6) Oh, before I forget, at the Orinda station, I walked up just as the train doors closed and had to wait 5 more minutes.


I hope the rest of the week will be better! And let's hope the sun comes out soon. Happy Monday everyone.

Pick-up lines on BART

I've seen magic happen on BART, I really have. If you've read my blog for quite some time, you might recall the story of the sweet couple who first fell in love on BART. Well, I don't know if they are still together, but I've witnessed who they've started talking to each other on the train.

While magic happens, plenty of underwhelming pick-up attempts happen as well. I've talked about the guy who pretended that he loves knitting and the guy who freaked a women out by forcing her to sit in his vacated seat.

One very consistent pick-up strategy that surely almost always leads to no good is the foreign language "hello." What am I talking about? This is one that Asian or Latino women on BART sometimes experience. A man thinks he's impressing you by saying "hello" to you in what he thinks is your native language. Now, there are a few things wrong with that thinking. First, just say hello, we understand English. Secondly, just because we look one way doesn't mean we understand what you're trying to say. I know this is totally innocent but for the sake of the blog, do allow me to elaborate.

This has happened to me a few times. Here's the most recent example. A man comes up to me and says hello to me in Korean. I'm Taiwanese American but I've heard the Korean greeting enough times to recognize it. I politely acknowledge him with a faint smile and look down at my phone again. He then interrupts, I said hello to you in Korean. I said, I know, I'm not Korean, I'm Taiwanese American. He insists further, no way, are you sure you're not Korean? I have a lot of Korean friends and you definitely look Korean. At this point, my patience is extremely thin and I found his ignorance (likely innocent) and lack of tact awfully annoying. I could say so many things at this point but simply replied, yes, I'm sure that I'm not Korean and walked away. In the past, one man actually said to me, "oh, I love Thai food" when I told him that I'm Taiwanese American and not what he thinks I am.

I've heard this scenario a few times on BART with different women and it's pretty funny. Some respond flat out that you don't need to say hola, I can speak English, others completely ignore the attempt.

Just one more random thing to keep me entertained on BART when my Twitterfeed isn't working.

And you wonder why I hold my breath in the BART stations

Glad to know that BART is finally removing asbestos in the stations but didn't know until that point that the stations were caked with toxic paint.  Lovely.  Now I am really glad that I make a point to take a huge breath of air before entering the stations everyday.  Even if that did nothing to minimize any toxins I sucked in, I know it at least saved me from smelling the odors and bodily fluids that permeate the stations.