Evening Commute -- Feb. 9, 2010

I arrive at Government Center at 6:02 pm, to a crowd of people on the platform. This is usually a bad sign, but a B line train arrives almost immediately, so I must have had unusually good timing tonight and come right at the end of the service gap.

A C line train arrives at 6:04 pm. It is fairly crowded, but there are two seats available, both being blocked by a woman standing right in front of them. People will sometimes stand next to empty seats. I don't understand this, (a) having terrible balance; and (b) being one of the laziest people on the planet. But, since every other seat is taken, I say, politely, to the woman blocking the row of seats, "Excuse me." She doesn't acknowledge me, instead steps to block my access to the seats even more, which I find perplexing, until I realize that she's saving the seats for herself and a friend coming from the opposite end of the train, who darts through the crowd in the car and scurries over over to where I am standing blocked by the woman. The friend slides into the seat, followed by the woman who had been blocking me, who then looks at me and smiles, like we're buddies.

I'm sorry, is this a thing we're doing now on the subway? "Saving" seats for people? I adhere to the rule that it's first-come-first-served on seats. Please let's not go down the road to anarchy that will result from saving seats. I give you this CommutingFail Tip for a Smoother Subway Ride(tm): If you are traveling with a friend, board the T together. Is it really that difficult to enter using the same doors? Really? Am I just irrationally angry about everything that happens on the subway?