I'm mad as hell and won't take it any more!
Well, at least not until Monday morning, that is.
I take a NJ Transit commuter train for my work commute. Overall, my gripes aren't with New Jersey Transit. Nope, not at all. I enjoy the conductors and engineers regularly running the trains on my line. For the most part, I get to work on time and I get home on time. It's quicker and cheaper than driving and I can read the paper or daydream while looking out the window as I travel. The legroom is perfectly acceptable and my own commute times/train line is relatively uncrowded. So, what's my fuss, you ask?
It's my fellow commuters. It's the cell phones, the loud iPods and Walkmans; it's inconsiderate boobs. Yes, I said boobs! I'm going to rant a bit here - I apologize in advance. If you commute on a train (or bus), you're sure to recognize some of these behaviors. If you feel I'm talking about you, repent! Repent your ways for the sanity of society at large!
The #1 Gripe is the cell phone bit. I'll get into those silly, annoying Nextel walkie-talkie phones first, I guess. Why must you use a walkie-talkie in a public environment? Why? The volume is always too high; that tone is utterly obnoxious in public. If you want to relive childhood fantasies of walkie-talkies, go build a fort and use it in there. Get it off my train. As for regular cell phone use, who the heck are you calling to chat with at 6:40 in the morning? Who? Why? What's wrong with you? If anyone called me at that hour to chitchat, I'd hang up and rescind my friendship. I don't want to know your personal business or your business's business. I just don't want to hear it. Text message or something. Perhaps go for psychological help to see why you must always be talking on the phone. Oh ... and if there's a one-sided loud cell phone conversation going on in back of me in Mandarin, I'm switching my seat. I don't want to hear it! Knock it off!
Article comments
1 - A.L. Harper
You're going to have a heart attack if you don't calm down. Maybe you should read a book about zen meditaion and do that on the train. Remember we can't control others and we must release what we can't control.
Although I do agree with you on most points. Still for your own sake chill.
2 - Nicholas Bowman
You tricked me into reading this with the implication that I would get to read about boobs. What are these inconsiderate boobs you speak of? Sounds hot.
3 - Mark Sahm
An alternate take on this for you might be to accept that while most people are inconsiderate, you can still pretend that they all have much more interesting lives than the reality you see.
That and a good pair of sound isolating earphones and I think you'll be golden.
4 - Jackie
A.L. - Not to worry. I might have exaggerated my reaction a bit here. Creative license, I say!
Nicholas - Heehee! That was the hook, y'see. ;-)
Mark - I tried to pretend the man in the gabardine suit was a spy - his necktie was really a camera. But, in reality, I think he's an accountant.
5 - Baronius
I love to eavesdrop. I listen to the interesting people and the regular people. But the best are the stupid people. If I've got a long train ride, give me a poser on a cell phone, a guy doing a bad job of hitting on a girl, or a drunk explaining politics to a friend. Better than any sitcom.
6 - David
Wow what a loser
7 - Friend
The article is absolutely right. Nothing is more disturbing than the loud talker or cell phone user on the early morning NJ Transit train. The entertainment is great in the evening, but at six a.m. people should shut up.