Lacy (winner, Most Affectionate)
@ Dupont Circle
Q:If your dog was a celebrity, who would it be?
A:"Charlize Theron. She's glamorous."
Commuter Dispatch: Tourists vs. Commuters
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Arlington Cemetery Crystal City Pentagon City
FOR MANY BLUE LINE COMMUTERS, the Arlington Cemetery station is an annoyance -- a delay that can cause the long trip between the Pentagon and Rosslyn stations to drag out even more. Blue Line rider BJ Helwig notices that now that we're in the depths of tourist season, the commuter vs. tourist dynamic can get a little confrontational.
I ride the Blue Line from downtown to King Street on my way home in the evenings. Now, I could probably count on one hand the number of people who have used the Arlington Cemetery station since September. It is usually a ghost town -- trains at night do not even stop there. Now the station is alive with tourists. Commuters, who have forgotten the station exists, are stunned to have people fighting to get out there. Conversely, the tourist does not think that anyone would live at -- or even need to get off the train at -- a place called "Pentagon City" (sounds like a prison on the Planet of the Apes) or "Crystal City" (sounds like a halfway house for meth addicts). And therein lies your problem.Wonder if there's a "stand on the right" rule on escalators in Boise....Last month, I saw an escalating panic as tourists couldn't exit the train at Arlington Cemetery because of commuters clogging the door. The polite "Excuse me" escalated into a panicked "Let us through!" very quickly. They got out, but more tourists got on, reclogging the door. The reverse happened at Pentagon City, where commuters demanded "Clear a space!" to get themselves off.
It's no one's fault, but we do have to remember that this is "America's Subway," as the sign at L'Enfant Plaza reminds us. So we are all going to have to get along. And we commuters who use the system every day must take up the task of getting the tourists on the right track. (Cheap pun fully intended.) You never know -- when you end up on a bus in Boise, aren't you going to wish someone was looking out for you?
[Want to contribute a Commuter Dispatch? Send us your thoughts at comments [at] readexpress [dot] com.]
Photo by Michael Grass/Express
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Yes, Arlington is a tourist stop but in this case it is an important one so I try very hard not to rip on the tourists getting on and off there. I do think that Metro should position staff at the escalators to explain 'the rules of the road' to the out-of-towners.
Having to fight through the pack of hot, sweaty, fat people with their maps, cameras, and coolers to get off at Rosslyn can test the patience of any grown man. I'm glad that they want to see Arlington Cemetery. They just need to ride Metro like they know what they are doing.
TC
By TC the Terrible , Posted May 15, 2006 3:55 PMCAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG!!!!!!!!
By Spring , Posted May 18, 2006 12:43 PMIs there any way that people could not HOG the poles on the metro? I have noticed that increasingly commuters have started to "lean" on the pole as opposed to just holding the pole. If you are leaning on the pole, then I can't hold on to it because if I touch the pole, I inadvertently happen to touch the commuter's body.
By galleryplacegirl , Posted May 18, 2006 6:29 PMI am short person needs to hold on to something so I don't go flying through the metro car - not that anyone but myself would care.
So commuters, stop leaning and start holding the pole.