Around the age of 15, a New England girl discovers that the $1 B-run cinema and Dunkin Donuts of Stoughton, MA is no longer a requisite of an exciting weekend. She figures out that all of those signs on Route 24 do (sorta) in fact lead to Boston and is curious about the World that She Knows (FYI: in 1995 she is also obsessed with Collective Soul).
My father worked in Boston for 29 years and is a hardened veteran of Tip O'Neil and his dream of an underground construction project that rivaled the ancient city of Rome. Fed up with a construction project that turned out to be a the largest in the history of western civilization (the Big Dig) he started taking the T, Boston's answer to mass transit.
T riders are eclectic to say the least. White collar professionals and college hippies ride side-by-side on Boston's subway and commuter rail system. Boston has the oldest subway system in America and much like ancient Rome, all lines on the MBTA lead to Boston.
At the precious age of 15 the Troll and I decided that we were ready to do battle where the Red Line meets Quincy Adams. Our mom grew up in tony Chestunut Hill, where taking the T in town was as much as a right of passage as one's first Neiman Marcus charge card. Luckily our Dad had no qualms about sending us into Boston/Cambridge at such a young age but obviously since he grew up in a tougher neighborhood a bout of hazing was required.
Dad: "So, you girls think that you're old enough to ride the T?"
Troll and I: "Yeah, Dad, it's like, so not a big deal".
Dad: "Ok, let's pretend that we're on the T now". Sitting in the kitchen, staring us down
Troll and I: We say nothing but slowly look up
Dad: "Who THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE LOOKING AT???"!!!
Us: "huh?"
Dad: "What, do you two have a fucking staring problem?"!!! "Your eyes are to remain on the ground or staring straight towards nothing! You are NOT TO LOOK AT ANYBODY. DO YOU UNDERSTAND??? THEY WILL FUCKING END YOU!".
Us: "Ok, we get it....".
Needless to say, I haven't had much of a need to take the T since I graduated high school. However, since most of my friends haven't discovered the joy of the South Shore suburbs, I am required to go into Boston at least once a week in order to maintain any semblance of a social life. I recently discovered the fact that people in my 'hood pay big bucks to live within a four minute walk of an MBTA station (ok, I guess it was always there so it's kind of arrogant to say that I just "discovered" it since it's been there longer than Nay's been alive; also, I sooooo drive the quarter of a mile). For roughly the price of my sanity (believe me, it's rather cheap these days) and parking I can get from my condo to Back Bay station in exactly 21 minutes.
Tonight I took the T in to meet Nay and my life was significantly less complicated. I didn't have to worry about parking or sitting in an hour+ of traffic. In fact, I could work until almost 6pm and not worry about traffic, my alcohol consumption, or whre the hell I was going to park for > $30.
Will I be taking the T all the time? Heck, no. As my friend Attorney Lee puts it "the problem with mass transit is that it's for the masses". But for those random happy hours after work, it's not a bad option.
As of yet, I've never been physically or mentally harmed in the way that dear 'ol Dad prepared me for while riding the MBTA. While this may (or may not) be directly link to the fact that I choose not to hang out in his stomping ground of North Quincy, it's nice that he prepared me for a life of sitting straight, looking forward, and not talking to anybody (even those poor suckers who ask me for directions). All in all, the T's not a bad option, and I'm lucky that I have a less frustrating option available than making the 14 mile drive into Town.
Over a decade ago my dad taught me a valuable life lesson about riding the T, one that I will never forget. I feel compelled to pass it on because while subways the world over may be a nicer, "greener" option than driving, it's still really important to be aware of your surroundings. As we do battle with rising gas prices, a damanged environment, and expensive garage prices, it's important that we explore all of our options, no matter where we live. In the meantime, I look forward to meeting everyone at South Station/Back Bay via the 5:57 Providence/Stoughton train.
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11 comments:
What a riot! I got the same lessons and more from my grandmother. We too the "El" into "Town" at least once a week (I am much older than you). The whole "no eye contact" was very important. But one of the other rules that my sisters and I laugh about was "Elbows up". It used to aggravate my grandmother that people would rush to get in the train car without letting people out. So she would put her elbows up as she exited. You would think people would be upset, but they weren't. It was like getting elbowed made them realize that they were rushing the car and they would apologize, lol.
Thanks for the memory.
Your depiction of your dad's lesson about the T is hilarious!
"Will I be taking the T all the time? Heck, no. As my friend Attorney Lee puts it "the problem with mass transit is that it's for the masses". But for those random happy hours after work, it's not a bad option."
I'm sensing a healthy dose of elitism here.
The rest of the post was great, but I lost interest after this point.
Yea, I too was disappointed with the post after your comment on the T's ridership. Sometimes it's tough to remember that there are a goodly number of public transit-dependent people who are just as - and in many cases a whole lot more - friendly and hardworking as your white-collar professionals. The post was funny though and redeemed itself a bit at the end when mentioning reasons for using pub trans, aside from outright dependence. My question is why are you driving a 1/4 mile to the station if you recognize these problems?
I don't think that being afraid of taking the T makes you elitist, I think it makes you afraid. Perhaps fears that are unwarranted in my opinion but we're 2 different people.
I take the T because I DO NOT have a choice. I remember you would always say, "And Dee, there's a T stop nearby, since you love the T so much". I don't "love" the T. It's not a pleasant ride, but I don't have a choice. No choice. The only choice I have is to take the Ashmont train instead of the Braintree train cuz the Braintree one is always packed with commuters.
For you, it's stricly a convenience when you want to come into the city and avoid traffic, which is great. But for A LOT of T riders, it's a necessity. I think that's where ppl felt like the post sounded elitist. Many T users DO NOT have a choice in the matter. I cannot afford a car at this juncture in my life. I don't take the T because I think it's an enjoyable ride.
As for the fear of taking the T, if you want to talk stats, I've got a whole argument that will further prove that those T attacks were unfortunate but infrequent.
Unless you plan to get out and hit the streets at the Shawmut T stop (which your Braintree redline doesn't even go past), I am trying really hard to understand what your hang-up with the T is.
The T is a wonderful convenience for most and a necessity for some. I get it. I think that hard working people of Boston are downright fortunate to have access to such a comprehensive public transportation system. In fact, for the life of me I can't understand why you WOULDN'T take the T if a station is accessible and you work a regular 9-5 job in Town.
I happen to live in the suburbs where off-peak the commuter rail schedule is spotty at best. Unlike you folks who live off a subway line, if I miss my train, the next one might not be along for an hour or two. Because I have a car, the T had damn well be a much better option than the hassle of driving into town. This is certainly the case at 6 o'clock rush hour.
Traffic and parking woes notwithstanding, I would still rather drive than take the T any day. If this makes me an elitist, too bad. You choose higher city rents, I choose a suburban dwelling complete with a rear-wheel drive vehicle. It's a trade-off that I'm willing to live with for the inconvenience or convenience (it's all perspective) of taking the T every once in a while.
Yikes... some people are taking a funny blog post a little too far.
Great story though! I laughed out loud at the "WHAT THE FUCK..." part.
"Traffic and parking woes notwithstanding, I would still rather drive than take the T any day. If this makes me an elitist, too bad.""
That doesn't make you an elitist, but this comment on the other hand suggests that you view much of Boston as being beneath someone such as yourself:
""the problem with mass transit is that it's for the masses"
Hi Bill, thank you for making such an overwhelmingly positive assessment of my character based on a single blog entry. It was meant to be a sarcastic commentary on how I feel about my collective T experiences thus far. Lighten up....
I'm firmly in pahkcah02's corner on this one. She's being elitist, she's hitting the nail on the head.
I've ridden the Commuter Rail every day twice a day to and from Middleborough for over the past year. Before that I took the 450 bus to and from Lynn for 5 years previous. I consider myself a "MBTA nut" and can lecture people about the various history and intricacies of the T. So, I feel this makes me fairly competent to talk about this:
The T is full of sketchy people.
Yes, there are wonderful people out there who are working slobs just like myself who take the T to and from work every day, I ride with a lot of them and am quite friendly. However, like every other time when you look at the whole, there are some crazy people out there. The problem with public transportation is that instead of being able to be blissfully unaware that the person in the car next to you is talking to the voices in his head rather then a mobile phone headset, he is now sitting one seat behind you and is telling a non-existant person to shut up.
The T is a magnifying glass on humanity. It shows the good and the bad. Nothing elitist about pointing out that there are some sketchy people on there.
Very Funny!!! :))
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