BART - a human experience: research project
We've all seen it, and may have even participated. Folk who don't give up their seat for someone who needs it, feet on the seats, nail clipping, the list can go on. I'd love to get your input, thoughts and experiences. Why do you think some individual have no sense of etiquette or manners on public transit? Are you bothered by it, or just walk away and mind your own business. Why has BART never addressed these issues in the form of a campaign like they do with safety tips (much of his bad behavior does affect passenger safety), or their recent twitter ads?
I have a blog where I'm documenting all of my findings, and hope some will take a moment to add your two cents.
http://bcavila.blogspot.com/
Cheers!
Britta (batty britt to some)
With all the other issues
With all the other issues that make BART, BART why should any of those ideas be addressed? People pay their money and unfortunately some will do what they please thinking they are in their La-Z-Boy, at home with nothing better to do than put their feet up and clip their nails. I think it would be rather impossible to control. Look at some of the other larger issues at hand, such as fare evasion and rare is anything ever done to combat it. Eating and drinking are two others that are addressed, sort of, with signs and ads, but people still do it because they know they won't get in trouble for it.
If you can figure this out,
If you can figure this out, maybe I can apply it to the person on the other side of the cubicle wall. In any mass environment I think there are going to be people who do selfish, annoying things. No amount of courtesy posters or text messeges will fix society. The posters will probably just end up with mustaches, or worse.
To Bartrage - Hey guys!!
To Bartrage - Hey guys!!
batty britt - If you are really bored go through the older posts in this forum. We have many and many discussions on what we observed in the past.
I even have lots of pics of what I see and hear. Just go through my older posts. Perhaps you can get more info for your human experience.
hey rafa! nice to hear from
hey rafa! nice to hear from you.
The problems are all pretty
The problems are all pretty common sense.
The people you see behaving badly are mostly very poor, and are from very poor backgrounds. They aren't raised with any etiquette and they don't have any as adults. Not to mention that a certain percentage of people are just extremely selfish and don't care about other people.
I see that you are doing this for a "Visual Communication" class and I have to say that no amount of posters or signs is ever going to solve this problem. People already ignore the few signs there are, and more will not help. The only thing that will help is more Police patrolling the trains and giving tickets.
These people know that they are being inconsiderate, and they do not care. Putting up posters telling them to be more considerate will do no good, and may have the opposite effect.
Being able to pick poor
Being able to pick poor people out of a crowd is an amazing skill.
It's not hard to look at
It's not hard to look at someone's clothing and get a pretty good idea of the kind of work they do and the kind of income they have.
Sure, people of means behave badly too, but I find that the folks who behave particularly badly tend to be the poorer ones.
The people I see behaving
The people I see behaving badly on my train are the ones who get off at Orinda and Lafayette. These are the business men who sit in the seats next to the door who refuse to give up their seat for an elderly or disabled person. When asked, they continue to look down at their laptops like they didn't hear a thing. Poor, no; self-centered, YES!
I do agree with you that no amount of posters will solve etiquette problems on BART. I also agree with you that more police need to be on the trains giving tickets.
Sorry, I don't mean to pick
Sorry, I don't mean to pick on poor people. My point was just that they have a different cultural background and different ideas of what is and is not acceptable. There are plenty of wealthy people who are terrible too - just look at Paris Hilton!!
Sooooooo poor people have
Sooooooo poor people have "different cultural backgrounds" and rich people are white?
Weird.
Anyway, in My Personal Experience (which should be considered fairly legit considering my mixed white and "cultural" parents and upbringing) is that the rude/inconsiderate/obnoxious people on BART come equally from all walks of life.
Hell, just today I saw:
A. Some white dude in a button-up shirt and slacks block the whole aisle with his bicycle (he especially pisses me off because he's giving us bicyclists a bad name). I've seen him do this several times in the past few weeks. Once he sat directly across from me (and my non-aisle blocking bike) and blocked the aisle so well that I got up and moved to a different seat just to free up space.
B. Some black guy with his iPod blaring gansta rap.
C. Some asian guy stand in the doorway for three or four stops; making everyone entering and exiting the train squeeze around him.
D. The obligatory loud-on-the-cell-phone black girl.
In the past I've witnessed several people Not See a pregnant lady, or someone with a cane, or even move out of the way and forcing a wheelchair-bound passenger to block the aisle. Depending on my mood, I'll speak up and tell them to move, which seems to work.
People just get lost in their little bubbles. I don't think signs would help. Everyone on BART knows the rules, most of them just don't care. Hell, I'll vacate my precious bike-friendly ADA seat for anyone who even remotely looks like they need it, and later take said bike on an escalator.
I'll wait until there's no one behind me, but still, that's the rule I choose to ignore. Most people just choose to ignore more.
It's the American Way.
"rich people are white?" I
"rich people are white?"
I never said that.
Well, it was more in
Well, it was more in reference to you implying that poor people come from different cultures, and then using Paris Hilton as an example of the well to do.
Poor people do come from
Poor people do come from different cultures.. Like European, Asian, African, South American, Austrailian, American.
Unless you are trying to play the race card? Not the cultural card. There is a huge difference between an African and an American that puts a label on themselves as African-American that has never stepped foot in africa, or their parents.
And what is this "mixed white and cultural" BS? White is just a color, like Black. Compare apples to apples. White AKA Scottish? Russian? Irish? You almost made it sound like you throw out the culture that is white.
I am amused by people that say "white and african(or something else)-american". I want to ask to see their african passport. I also want to know where the contenent or country of white is.
The "huge difference" between
The "huge difference" between culture and race is only realized by a small percentage of Americans. Most people replace Color with Culture fairly frequently.
It's like an PC way of being un-PC. Or something.
I pretty much assume that anyone who brings up Poor and Culture in the same forum post is talking about race. Yeah, yeah, assuming makes an ass out of all of us, but hey, it makes for fun internetting sometimes. Call me a troll, but that's no more trollish than claiming that my mixed culture heritage is bs.
I had more to say, but I'm at my stop. Gotta go.
"Culture" does not imply
"Culture" does not imply ethnicity.
If you don't understand the subject why try to talk about it?
I'm not going to argue with someone who doesn't understand what they're talking about and it's not my job to educate you.
I'd like for you to see me on
I'd like for you to see me on BART and guess my economic station in life. I bet you would miss it by a mile. Looks can be deceiving.
I have had some pretty interesting conversations on BART with people that appear to be "from very poor backgrounds."
Me too. People in suits give
Me too. People in suits give me the stinkeye all the time. Little do they know I make more an hour than most of them.
Sigh. Of course I'm only working part time right now, but we won't talk about that. Thanks economy.
Heh. I can't complain.
If people judged me by my car
If people judged me by my car they'd be way off.
What's your point?
What's your point?
Stereotypes and perceptions
Stereotypes and perceptions are no way to determine what a person is really is.
stereotypes have a function
stereotypes have a function in that a chunk of information is easily retained and follows the rules of parsimony-simplicity, which is easily computerised in the mind, in some form of memory system-if we had to remember every minute detail about every single person that we have or have not met.
and with time getting to know someone gradually brings more pieces of info to the picture so a stereotype can be either confirmed or broken. A stereotype also serves the function of having a reference point in memory to latch onto so we can understand new info.
BART needs to emulate the
BART needs to emulate the Japanese train operators' practice of plastering public spaces (including subways) with helpful instructions on how to behave. The charts on the ground at some of the door entry spots on platforms that show how to form two lines should be applied to ALL door entry spots on all platforms, not just at points where riders need to form "V" lines to spread out in tight spaces. There should be signs telling riders to form two lines at each entry point and to step back away from the doors to allow people to exit trains. There should be signs telling folks not to put their feet on seats (although anyone with manners should know this, it helps to establish expectations). Signs to tell people to move to the center of the train when it's crowded rather than unnecessarily bunch up around the doors. Signs to tell people to hold on and maintain responsibility for their own stability rather than bumping into others with every lurch of the train (again, you'd think this would be a no-brainer). Et cetera.
They used to have signs on
They used to have signs on the floor telling boarding passengers to keep the doors clear until everyone is off.
They still have those in a
They still have those in a couple stations in downtown SF. Unfortunately they are too damn cheap to put them where they are really needed.