As you know, I am the Terror of the 5:47. When people scream into their cell phones at the top of their lungs, I will get up and politely ask them to shut their damn cake-holes. I don’t mind quiet talkers, or a quick, “I’m on the train—meet me at six,” it’s the yellers. So I saw a NJ Transit Customer Service desk at the train station today, and stopped by to have this conversation:
Eve: I know you don’t have room for a “quiet car,” but could you ask the conductors to make an announcement and post signs asking people to keep their cell-phone conversations as quiet and brief as possible?
NJT Guy: That’s the numer-one complaint we have. I hear it at every station. But we have no policy on it.
Eve: Well, don’t you think it’s time to make a policy, if it’s your most frequent complaint?
NJT Guy: Well, we can’t ban cell-phone use.
Eve: I know—but if you made an announcement and hung signs, at least I’d have something to point out when asking people to pipe down.
NJT Guy: We can either have people yelling, or no phone use at all. There’s no in-between.
Eve: Huh?
NJT Guy: If someone’s too loud in the seat next to yours, you could ask them to be quieter.
Eve: No, the problem is people ten seats away yelling so loud no one can work or read. At least a sign and an announcement might be a little helpful . . .
NJT Guy: Well, we don’t have a policy on that.
Eve: I know. You should have a policy on that. Who can I talk to at NJ Transit?
NJT Guy: You might send them an e-mail.
Eve: I did. Never got an answer.
NJT Guy: Well, we have no policy . . .
Eve: [head explodes]
Why the hell do they even pretend to give a goddam when they refuse to remedy what they admit is “their number one problem?” Idiots.
I’m not a mass-transit commuter, so while I can sympathize with your rant, I can’t empathize. Regardless, rudeness is rudeness, and when someone else 10 rows away can hear your conversation, you’re too dadgum loud.
At the risk of being snarky, I have to say that your rant reminded me of a (probably false) urban legend about the (I think) Long Island Railroad. A woman was upset that the first few cars on the train were always jam-packed with people, while the cars near the rear of the train were sparsely occupied. She either wrote a letter or called the LIR to complain and demanded to know why the empty cars at the back of the train couldn’t be moved to the front, so it wouldn’t be so crowded.
Why couldn’t NJT ban cell-phone usage on some cars? Or even one car per train?
I asked them about this maybe three years ago, and they said, “we just don’t have enough cars to do that.” So, okay, I understand that. But if loud phone-calling is your “number-one complaint,” I think that indicates it’s damn well time to institute some kind of policy, or at least make announcements!
I’m confused. Presumably they have the same number of cars now as they would if they instituted a one-car-per-train ban on cell-phones. Do they think folks wouldn’t flock to the non-cell-phone car on each train? If anything, I bet they’d get a larger number of people who want to ride in that car, just to avoid the shouting jerks.
Sounds like apathy and inertia reign supreme at NJT.
Yep, I’ll vote for “apathy and inertia.” “Yeah, it’s a huge problem and we get a lot of complaints, but we have no policy on it. Start a policy? Ummm, that would mean we’d have to do stuff!”
Eve, if I were you I’d always make sure to carry a fresh cup of hot coffee on the train. That way when some jerk is screaming loud enough for you to hear his end of the conversation you can say, “Since you were nice enough share your conversation with us, I’d be remiss if I didn’t share my coffee with you”. Of course you will be dumping it on his lap as you say it. Trust me, it will be funny.
Well, last night, some fishwife was screaming into her phone so loudly that everyone on the train was turning to glare at her. This, of course, had no effect, so I moseyed over and asked, “Excuse me, dear, could you please talk a little more quietly?” She turned away from me and continued yelling. So I said, in slightly louder tones, "Well, if you can’t be quieter, could you at least be more interesting?"
Random Girl: (talking to her mother for 36 minutes). I HATE my roommate Sarah. She’s an immature slob. You wouldn’t believe how messy she is. How LOUD she is. I hate her. She keeps me up all night. I should never have roomed with someone who is still in college. I can’t believe my boyfriend likes her. She’s terrible… (on, and ON, and ON… and believe me, she was talking pretty loud for me to hear her across 4 rows in the car).
then, just before we pull up to New Brunswick, she makes another call.
Random Girl: Michelle, is Sarah there? I need her to pick me up.
Oh. My. God.
BTW, if you’re stupid enough to talk loud, expect me to eavesdrop.