# My subway rants! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 12, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703 "2013-11-12T05:49:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/41 "2013-11-12T19:48:46Z")
It’s ticketable to eat on BART too but I do it anyway. Though it never smells, it is usually a cookie from Specialty’s. And my view is if you don’t want me to eat that cookie on the train then don’t put a cookie selling place a the entrance. I’m unusually tolerant of the foibles of other people in a dense urban environment. That said, the one that pisses me off is when there are 23 people/square inch crowded around the door but people lying down to take naps in the aisle in the middle of the car. And the occasional soul crushing of getting your hopes up that the car stopping at your spot is emptier than it should be so you’ll actually get a seat and when you board discovering that the heater is stuck on high (in August) or the AC on low (in February). That emotional swing is harsh, and then you have to decide whether to cram into another car and suffer there or suffer here. ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/42 "2013-11-12T20:08:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > People who take two minutes to pay in cash would probably take just as long to insert the card the right way up. Not if they had a CharlieCard, which are hard plastic and are tapped on the sensor. ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/43 "2013-11-12T20:13:36Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > It’s a bodily function, and usually, folks don’t have control over it. People don’t have control over their farts? Since when? Just because you have fart incontinence doesn’t mean everyone else does. I have never not been able to hold a fart in. I won’t fart in front of anybody, not even my family. Yes, they think I’m ridiculous for it, but farting, in my opinion, is a private bodily function, just like taking a dump is. If you don’t have control over your farts I suggest you see a gastroenterologist. ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/44 "2013-11-12T20:15:34Z")
> [@Jesse\_Pinkman](#): > > Whenever I pay with cash on the MBTA in that manner, I always go to the back of the line and let everyone else with a CharlieCard on first. That way, they can all get on and the bus can start moving when I’m putting in my cash. THANK YOU! That’s exactly what I’m talking about! Finally somebody who has some sense! ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/45 "2013-11-12T20:18:08Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Farting in someone’s face intentionally is rude. But I can’t help if gas leaks out of my ass after a long day. I doubt I’m alone in this. Am I the only one here with a functioning sphincter? Does a bit of fecal material leak out with your gas? ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/46 "2013-11-12T20:19:16Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Failing to fold a stroller 'round here is something else which can earn a visit from the transit police. Wish it was the same here. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/47 "2013-11-12T20:28:47Z")
> [@TashaKitty](#): > > People don’t have control over their farts? Since when? Just because you have fart incontinence doesn’t mean everyone else does. I have never not been able to hold a fart in. I won’t fart in front of anybody, not even my family. Yes, they think I’m ridiculous for it, but farting, in my opinion, is a private bodily function, just like taking a dump is. > > If you don’t have control over your farts I suggest you see a gastroenterologist. Not everybody can! How is it always so hard for Dopers (and humans) to understand not everyone has your Princessy butt? If nothing else, things change as you get older, trust me on this one. Not everyone’s body is built to standards, and sometimes you just can’t hold it in. I am bang along side most of the rest of the rant, though. Especially the giant backpacks. Nothing makes me want to punch someone in their nose then them standing there inconsiderately with their huge asshole backpack. AAARGH! While we’re on the subject, let me tell you, in the last two years I have been on the: NYC subway Detroit Metro Chicago subway Montreal subway None, and I do mean NONE, have the general reek, smelliness, and messiness the NYC subways do. All three of the others are neater, people are nicer, everything is cleaner. We were amazed to see in Chicago…someone had left a banana peel on a newspaper bin. Within five minutes an employee came along and cleaned it up! In NYC it would have become Banana Peel Storage Area. So why is it that only the NYC subways are so disgusting? And smell like puke? ANSWER ME, NEW YORKERS! And hey! I live in Upstate NY, so guess which one I have to take the most? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/48 "2013-11-12T21:13:48Z")
Your experience in Chicago was extraordinarily unusual. The OP has clearly never shared a bed with anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/49 "2013-11-12T21:17:56Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Your experience in Chicago was extraordinarily unusual. You are the second person on the boards to say this. At least you didn’t flat out tell me I was lying or dreaming like the other guy did. Well, I’ll just say again: When we went to Chicago, everyone was extraordinarily nice, friendly, and helpful. The city was very clean and the subways were also clean and not stinky. I enjoyed my visit greatly. I was really expecting, I don’t know, gunfights in the streets and a bunch of Al-Capone look-alikes all over. 🙂 I kid, of course, but it was a wonderfully pleasant experience and I would definitely go again. ---
**Author:** ![Jesse\_Pinkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jesse\_Pinkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jesse_Pinkman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/50 "2013-11-12T21:38:23Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > The OP has clearly never shared a bed with anyone. No, years on the MBTA wears on you. I didn’t agree with everything she said but I certainly understand where it’s all coming from. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/51 "2013-11-12T21:46:03Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > When we went to Chicago, everyone was extraordinarily nice, friendly, and helpful. The city was very clean and the subways were also clean and not stinky. I enjoyed my visit greatly. I was really expecting, I don’t know, gunfights in the streets and a bunch of Al-Capone look-alikes all over. 🙂 I kid, of course, but it was a wonderfully pleasant experience and I would definitely go again. I ride the blue line in Chicago at least 10 times a week and generally find the city very clean and the subways generally clean and not stinky. Except for the jefferson park terminal bike racks which for some godforsaken reason seem to be the urinals for homeless people. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/52 "2013-11-12T21:55:08Z")
> [@Jesse\_Pinkman](#): > > No, years on the MBTA wears on you. I didn’t agree with everything she said but I certainly understand where it’s all coming from. In regards to her claims about farting. Try to follow along. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/53 "2013-11-12T21:58:59Z")
> [@TashaKitty](#): > > Am I the only one here with a functioning sphincter? Does a bit of fecal material leak out with your gas? Which is more likely: Huge numbers of people farting indiscriminantly because they are smelly, bestial jerks who love pissing everyone off with their vapors. Or people simply can’t help what their gut flora do? Most times you aren’t even aware that people are farting in your presence. But believe me, they are. It’s just that you’re more likely to smell it in the small enclosed space of a subway car. My advice would be to grow up. Or save up some money to buy a car. Cuz farters aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Not as long as raw vegetables and meat are sold for public consumption. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/54 "2013-11-12T22:00:33Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > You are the second person on the boards to say this. At least you didn’t flat out tell me I was lying or dreaming like the other guy did. Well, I’ll just say again: > > When we went to Chicago, everyone was extraordinarily nice, friendly, and helpful. The city was very clean and the subways were also clean and not stinky. I enjoyed my visit greatly. I was really expecting, I don’t know, gunfights in the streets and a bunch of Al-Capone look-alikes all over. 🙂 I kid, of course, but it was a wonderfully pleasant experience and I would definitely go again. Oh, of course I believe you. I love my city, believe me, I wouldn’t live here otherwise! You just got lucky with the transit, and caught a really good moment on a really good day. But, I’m also talking as someone who rides every day, so naturally catch many of the bad moments, and you know how people remember the bad stuff more than the good. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/55 "2013-11-12T22:04:28Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > The babies are collapsible too? Sure, last I checked. Then again, I don’t get asked to babysit much, so that may have something to do with it. (They fit on your lap, too, unlike behemoth strollers. 🙂 And I was at the Porta Portese flea market in Rome where people used those teeny foldable strollers without fear of the madding crowds there, so it’s definitely done.) ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/56 "2013-11-12T22:15:22Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Huge numbers of people farting indiscriminantly because they are smelly, bestial jerks who love pissing everyone off with their vapors. Of course they don’t do it to piss people off, but it’s quite possible that they were never taught as children that releasing smelly farts in enclosed spaces is rude, and as adults they simply aren’t very considerate of how their bodily smells might affect other people. And as far as I’m concerned, if you can hold in your poops you can hold in your farts. Perhaps the people who find themselves unable to hold their farts in need to try a bit harder. Unless you’re either 90-years-old and incontinent and/or somebody whose anal sphincter has been weakened by years of large anal insertions, you should be able to hold your stink in. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/57 "2013-11-12T22:29:54Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Which is more likely: > > Huge numbers of people farting indiscriminantly because they are smelly, bestial jerks who love pissing everyone off with their vapors. > > Or people simply can’t help what their gut flora do? After all these years, I don’t know why I’m still capable of surprise at the ability of people on this board to rationalize and defend every manner of bad behavior. Have fun marching in solidarity with the farters. May you always bring up the rear of the parade. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/58 "2013-11-12T22:38:45Z")
> [@TashaKitty](#): > > Not if they had a CharlieCard, which are hard plastic and are tapped on the sensor. San Francisco buses have the pass receiver (you don’t tap you just hold the pass next to it for a fraction of a second) on the left side, so those with passes can go on in on the left while those paying with cash can continue on the right. Why can’t your stupid subway system arrange things that way? Maybe your rant is mis-directed. And while we’re at it, OP, since we are already in the Pit I feel no compunction about telling you where to take your entitled princess self, and to express my glee that you are a full continent away from me. Please do not come here, ever. If you do, I will free to fart in your general direction. Thank you. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Jesse\_Pinkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jesse\_Pinkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jesse_Pinkman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/59 "2013-11-12T22:44:01Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > San Francisco buses have the pass receiver (you don’t tap you just hold the pass next to it for a fraction of a second) on the left side, so those with passes can go on in on the left while those paying with cash can continue on the right. Why can’t your stupid subway system arrange things that way? Maybe your rant is mis-directed. > > And while we’re at it, OP, since we are already in the Pit I feel no compunction about telling you where to take your entitled princess self, and to express my glee that you are a full continent away from me. Please do not come here, ever. If you do, I will free to fart in your general direction. Thank you. > Roddy It was a rant, dude. I’ve been using the T for 7 years now and after a while, a lot of the stuff starts to annoy you even if you didn’t before. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703/60 "2013-11-12T23:03:56Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > NYC MTA rider for 33 years. The personal space and odor issues I totally agree with. I admit I’m guilty of the backpack thing too I don’t take it off all the time. Okay, normally I read a whole thread before I post, but I had to skip down and post this. I hope you don’t have anything important in your backpack. I am originally from Long Island, and I would never wear a backpack on the subway. I would hold it with both hands in front of me. I haven’t lived there in over 20 years, but surely not all of the pickpockets are gone? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-subway-rants/673703.md?page=4)