Triple time

I've got to stop posting so often....
I had meant to blog about this earlier, but I got carried away with A. and El Che and Nikki Giovanni.

This is what I hate about commuting to DC, particularly in summer:
1. Tourists who get up noisily on the metro to peer at the map and shout out "Which stop are we looking for again?" during the morning rush hour. Hey, out of towners, NO ONE TALKS ON METRO IN THE MORNINGS! If you don't know where you're going, get a pocket map and keep it with you or sit across from the map on the wall or - and I know this is a novel idea - do a little research beforehand and figure that out at home. If you've got the map, the rest of us will still know to avoid you on the escalators, but at least you won't be so OBNOXIOUS.

2. Tourists who stand two and three across on the escalators. Stand right, walk left, folks. Some of us need to be somewhere working, not lollygagging on the Mall, so if y'all could just step to the right in a single file and let us pass by, we'd really appreciate it.

3. Tourists who don't move to the center of the car on Metro. If you get on the train and there are no available seats, don't balk at the door looking around like you're not sure whether or not you're supposed to be there. Keep it moving; there are rails you can hold on to. And don't all stand in front of the door and decide that's the best spot for your family of seven. File in and leave the space by the doors free so people can exit and enter the trains easily.

4. Commuters on the Franconia-Springfield bus who talk on their cell phones (loudly) in the mornings. Apply the rules of Metro to the bus and let people sleep on their way to the station, for the love!

5. Drivers who talk loudly on the phone or listen to music and loudly as possible while they've got slugs in their cars. Turn it down, turn it to one of those God-awful stations: soft rock or "smooth jazz" or WTOP or screw those and turn on something worth listening to: NPR; and call your friends back once you've dropped us off in the commuter lot.

*sigh* Glad to get that out.... Don't get me wrong, I love the diversity of public/near-public transport here: Metro, buses, slugging (organized hitch-hiking unique to the area), but we have rules for it. Follow them and we should have a smooth ride....