Yahoo! Voices asked me to write about something I’d make mandatory in NYC besides food composting. I chose pushing onto the subway car before passengers have gotten off, because WOULDN’T THAT MAKE THE SUBWAYS BETTER FOR EVERYONE?!?! I’ve written about subway manners before, because like everyone else in the city, I have really strong opinions about NOT BEING A FREAKING JERK ON THE SUBWAY.
New York City truly is the greatest city in the world. We have everything you could possibly want, and then some. Unfortunately, some people — who MUST be tourists, not residents — commit a terrible mistake on the subway when they try to push onto a subway car before letting the other passengers exits.
Look, I get it. You’re in a hurry, and jumping on that subway is bringing you closer to your destination. We all understand the hurry, and that goes double for G train and certain other Brooklyn lines with sporadic delays. But here’s the thing, if the people getting off go through the doors before the people getting on, then everyone moves more efficiently. Everyone gets to their destinations faster.
Those people must be shamed. In DC we do in fact shame them pretty heavily. Of course in DC there is no food allowed on the trains either and you must stand on the right when riding the escalator.
Most New Yorkers stand to the right… but there are always a couple idiots who think the middle is a good place to look at their phones.
Bostonians tend to let people off before entering. The biggest problem we have is that many people flatly refuse to wait for the next train, which is literally right behind the packed-to-the-gills train they are trying to get on, and try to jam themselves in. Actually, you’re making it longer for everyone, since the doors can’t close with your behind in the way.
I bet that the tourists are from Ohio.
The other day as I was trying to wait for people to exit before I got on the train, this guy came up and put his arm out in front of me to block me, then walked onto the train, shoving the people exiting back onto the trains. Two other people then squeezed by me. I was very close to reaching out for their shirts and pulling them back saying, “LET THE PEOPLE OFF FIRST. did you think I was standing by the door for fun? OF COURSE I’m waiting to get on the train too.” But I thought better of it and got on a few seconds later.
Oh, yeah, I was just standing here for the G Train ambiance. I was in no way trying to GO HOME or anything. Feel free to get on first!