Tuesday, October 23, 2007

People who block the train entrances

When there is a long line of people waiting to get onto an already crowded train, it never fails that someone in the line will stop right at the door to claim the space in front of the board connected to the handicapped seats so they can lean comfortably against it, while blocking at least 1/4 of the train entrance! Am I being descriptive enough here? You know which space I'm referring to? The two sides right in front of the door?

This person will then stretch his or her legs out while resting his/her back against the board and bust out their reading material without a care in the world. This person doesn't care that everyone else entering the train now has to walk OVER his/her legs to get on. This person doesn't look away from the magazine whenever the train approaches a station and passengers are struggling to get in and out of the train because both sides of the entry have been blocked by inconsiderate riders who must lean wide and diagonally in front of the train doors.

I believe that the only people who should take those leaning spots are those who are last coming onto a packed train with no where else to stand. These people should ALWAYS get out of the train each time people are embarking and disembarking, and return to the spot thereafter.

I've taken that leaning spot a few times but I always make a point to stop what I'm doing each time we arrive at a station, step out of the train to let people on and out, and then get back onto the train and continue standing.

This morning, with 7 people lining up to get onto the train, the first two people each took one side of the backboard leaning spots, leaving the rest of us walking gingerly onto the train with about 15 inches in between their feet.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I almost always move out of the way. However the only thing worse than the person that won't move...is when you move and the new passengers leave no room for you after you've done the polite thing. Then your left holding on with fingernails to anything within reach.

Anonymous said...

I can't speak for Bart, but i know that on MUNI, these people are all over the place, and they are usually carrying a pink grocery bag.

Anonymous said...

I take those standing spots because I have a bad back and bad knees and it makes standing bearable. I don't break open my paper until the doors close and I always stand up straight and keep my stuff out of the doorway so people can enter and exit.

And yes, if you move out of the way, someone will look you right in the eye and take your spot.

Anonymous said...

These are prime standing spots since you can lean on the 1/2 wall and don't need to hold on. The biggest problem is when people are inconsiderate about using them.... If you get off or move out of the way for oncoming/outgoing passengers you will usually loose your spot, but you can maximize the room people have to get on/off by holding your reading material out of the way, standing up straight and putting your rear-end against the wall. The worse is when people stand in that spot with their back to the door and hold on to the bar. A total waste of a good standing spot and they take up half the door space to boot!

Anonymous said...

This is one of life's simple IQ tests. If you choose to stand at the doorway, it's not hard to move onto the platform to allow riders to exit and you can still be the first person to get back on and reclaim your spot. Ideally you won't get in the way of too many people then entering the train, but at least it's better than impeding movement in both directions. Makes me wonder if those who don't move also stand, looking stupid, in other doorways.