Rage

This post may come across as a bit of a tangent and for that I apologize, I really really do. It's just that I am going to write about something that fills me with a violent desire to tell people to get the hell over themselves.

I do not understand for the life of me what is wrong with people who take public transit in this city. Riding public transit is not ideal. Sure, it's a great way to avoid the costs of owning a car, and yes, it is definitely better for the environment than congesting the roadways however, let's be honest here - when you ride public transit especially during rush hour - it is no walk in the park. Luckily when I start my day I get onto a relatively empty streetcar however, on my way home it's another story. You add in cold or dreary, rainy days and the story becomes even more dire.

People here seem to demand personal space on public transit as if it's a right. They don't want anyone touching them, they don't want the person sitting next to them to (god forbid) touch them, and they don't want to be reminded that they are sharing this space with other people. Obviously, I am generalizing here but please hear me out.

They complain when they can't get onto a crowded streetcar and yet those same people who complain, once on a streetcar, don't move to the back - instead they stand where they are, looking around expecting others to move while the streetcar driver encourages everyone to get to know their neighbour. People we should not have to be reminded to move to the back, seriously you take the streetcar at least 5 days a week, you see how crowded it gets and inevitably the majority of the time there is room at the back but few move back.

Another pet peeve of mine is people with book bags who refuse to take them off. You know who you are. Put. The. Bag. On. The. Floor. Seriously. It's uncomfortable for you to have people trying to work their way around it and it's ridiculously annoying for those of us you have to get around it or feel it poking into us. Also, a lot more people could fit on the streetcar if you just embraced this concept.

In my short time living in this city I have seen about 4 fights on the streetcar. People are full of rage and just itching to get it out. So they lash out at the streetcar driver, or the person sitting next to them, or the person touching them or in one case the person who happened to look at them. One of these fights ended with one girl calling the other a fat cow and the other telling her she was a dirty c-word. Yeah, the fight was over, get this - a bookbag hitting the larger girl in the head. In. The. Head. Life is too short to be filled with this burning desire to lash out at other people, to be jerks, to not get out of your seat for the elderly, injured or pregnant (and yes this happens all the time that grown men and women refuse to get up).

Let's purge the rage from our lives, stop thinking only about ourselves and start at least trying to have better public commutes. Trust me, your co-workers, your family and more importantly, your fellow commuters, will thank you for it.

Love and metro tickets!
Sara