Sixth Sense

I'm on a 6 train. In NYC, 14 St. Union Square is where I boarded the late train. Others and I board and are immediately greeted by the news that the next stop will in fact be Bleeker and after Bleeker, Brooklyn Bridge, which is the last stop. Now for non-commuters and non-New York Citizens, here's some supplementary information: Bleeker is two stops from 14 ST. Union Square, Astor Place is the stop in between; After Bleeker, we have, Spring, Canal, and finally Brooklyn Bridge/Chambers ST. making the last stop three stops from Bleeker; the time was somewhere between 6:45pm-7:00pm, at the threshold of Rush Hours ending credits; the 6 train is a local train while the adjacent 4 and 5 trains are express and were not facing any significant delays at that specific point and time. Now let's get into it.

The conductor announces we will be skipping stops, he then accusingly awards the fault to us commuters and our habit of holding the doors which have delayed the overfared train. He repeatedly requires us to take notice of the delay and to make the connection between our action and its consequence. Almost as a punishment or reprimand, the stops will be skipped. We, however, are not overcrowded on the train nor is the Astor Place waiting platform any worst. In fact, Astor Place is pretty empty in comparison to Union Square. I do not see why we could not have easily made the stop, especially since we were at the closing end of the line anyway; especially since its a local train and to stop doesn't really stall the schedule as intensely as they'd have you believe through their saucy intercom announcements. They should keep in mind that public transportation means its for the public not the schedule, the MTA is a service for the people and its sweet that they'd like to keep everything running on time to get people where they are going but what about the folks waiting to get to Astor, Spring, or any of the skipped stops who had nothing to do with holding the doors, why should you make them pay for the actions of others, while we're at it, why turn them against or inspire contempt in them for fellow commuters because your schedule dictates time before service? True, we're running late and maybe skipping those stops does help to efficiently organize an overall commute down the entire line but my major problem is the announcement that blames the people, the customers, and makes them feel as if they need to behave better and "because of their actions we will teach them a lesson" by skipping some stops which some of the commuters may feel inconvenienced by having to exit the train and await the following train which will be making all the local stops that should be made by every train on that local track.

My stop was Bleeker so I wasn't affected but nonetheless the insult found me just the same. I place the entire experience as follows: Establishment slaps hand of citizen, and further conditions them to follow instruction or face inconvenient consequence.

If you paid $2 and have heard that the fare will be raised but your labour check will not, HOLD THE MOTHERFUCKING DOORS ALL YOU WANT!!! Far as I'm concerned they're our doors anyway.