Disabled and Ederly Seating is for the Disabled and Elderly
To the rude slobs that sit in disabled seating. You are supposed to vacated the seats when an elderly or disabled person boards the train. Don't pretend you don't see the cast on my leg or the cane that I am walking with.
Please feel free to shove me aside when boarding the train to take the last available seat on the train. Do not vacate the seat when I ask, I enjoy having you pretend that you do not see me, or that you are asleep. Please let me stand from Lafayette to Embarcadero every day - I love the challenge of trying to hold on at 80 miles per hour. The real thrill is when I fall when the train stops. I'm sure you would love these thrills if you broke your leg.
To the ignorant Bart Employee who called me back when I complained that I could not get a seat:
It takes all the strength I have to hold on and not fall when riding with a broken leg. I can not get to the operator call button on a moving train to let them know that I am being forced to stand.
I am having a hard enough time walking, let alone getting to the first car of a train to board. I have tried this, and there is no difference. The slobs in handicapped seating are no more willing to vacate their seats at the front of the train. Making this walk to signal the train operator should not be necessary.
NO I will not drive to another station further back on the line. I live close to Lafayette and driving to Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek where the parking is worse and the walk to the train longer is not an adequate solution
After riding BART to work for a number of years I do not hear regular announcements regarding the disabled seating. I do not see a plethera of BART empployees riding the trains and assisting the disabled. Above all I rarely see BART Police at East Bat Stations, on the train, or any where else. So counting on their assistance is a moot point.
To BART Management:
Perhaps there should be fines for these overly polite riders who do not vacate these seats. You can use media outlets to raise awareness that these seats are reserved for disabled and elderly passengers. At the minimum, train operators could be trained to speak clearly, and make such announcements during commute hours when the trains are full.
For a BART Employee to suggest that I walk extra distances, drive further, or attempt to make my way to the operator call box on a moving train with a broken leg is ridiculous and insensitive.
They make those
They make those announcements all the time, are you sure your eardrums weren't injured too?
It bugs me too when people don't give up their seats for disabled and elderly. Actually, it pisses me off to the point where I want to pick them up and throw them off the train.
But then there was the time
But then there was the time I offered my seat to a young man with a cast on his leg and he sniffed at me and said he didn't want it after I got up and he let his 9-year old daughter sit in the seat seat while I stood up. That wasn't too insulting. He could have declined and told me to stay seated but I guess his male pride was wounded so he let his daughter sit while this grandmother stood. Guess how hard it will be snowing in hell before I do that again?
Being that nobody seems to
Being that nobody seems to give a rats ass about the disabled or the elderly I think they should discontinue the constant barrage of announcements. Between the sing-songy bitch and the who guy sounds like Darth Vader in an iron lung I'm sick of hearing them.
To the jackass who asked if
To the jackass who asked if my eardrums were injured too.
I don't know what line you ride, but on the Pittsburgh/BayPoint line the announcements are infrequently made at the station. This means those wating at Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, and Orinda have to strain to hear the announcements over the freeway traffic as these stations are located near or in the middle of freeways.
Would it kill BART to have the train operators make an announcement every couple of stations -- OH, that's right they can not even be bothered to say the station name in an audible manner.
True!
True!
You know what pisses me off?
You know what pisses me off? They have new posters saying "Side seats are for the elderly and disabled" and then they have a young white guy on the poster, meaning the white guy is the one who should be reading this. I'm a young white guy and I ALWAYS give my seat up to the elderly or disabled. You know who NEVER gives their seats up? Minorities and women!! I'm sure there are a few young white guys who don't give their seats up but nowhere near the number of minorities. I think that poster is racist.
Not true, black guys always
Not true, black guys always give up the seat (if it is for a black woman).
You're definitely right
You're definitely right about women. Not so much about minorities as far as I've seen. (disclaimer: I'm an early 30's white male)
I always give my seat up when I notice somebody. From time to time I have failed to notice someone and I've always felt bad about it. The other day there was a pregnant indian woman standing and I didn't notice her until someone else got up and she sat down across from me. But at the same time an older black woman got on the train and I gave my seat to her so I felt slightly vindicated.
My perception is that the
My perception is that the worst offenders in this area are younger, well-dressed women.
df
SOME OF US YOUNG WHITE GUYS
SOME OF US YOUNG WHITE GUYS HAVE JOBS THAT REQUIRE US TO STAND ALL DAY LONG, AND OF COURSE NO SYMPATHY. PEOPLE NEED TO STOP BEING SUCH WHINERS AND BABIES BECAUSE THEY ARE LAZY AND WON'T STAND FOR A FEW MINUTES.
Say that convincingly when
Say that convincingly when you have added physical handicap to your current mental handicap.
look if i were posting a
look if i were posting a sign in the bathroom about handwashing a white guy is exactly who I have in the picture. i see minorities give the seat all the time. i see mothers instructing young sons to do the same...i never sit in the reserved seats...what I never see anyone black, white, male, FEMALE givin' it up for the pregnant momma (i suppose no one wants to here the insult - i'm not pregnant)
There may be a few woman out
There may be a few woman out there who don't get up. ButI always notice the women giving up their seat for the elderly/disabled before the men. I am pregnant and do this. Not once has a man(black, white, brown) offered a seat to me. They seem to have their nose too buried in the paper to realize what is going on around them.
That's my line and they
That's my line and they already make the announcement too often. I don't want to hear it every two stations, that would be really annoying.
It sounds like your injury has affected your hearing, you should get it checked out.
You should kindly ask those
You should kindly ask those seated in the elderly and disabled seats if you could have a seat. There may be some sitting there who do have a disability that is not readily apparent, but I think that putting the other mannerless louts on the spot is about the only way you are going to make much progress. In the long run the only real solution seems to be that these seats should ONLY be occupied by the elderly or disabled. Then some additional bureaucratic procedure would be needed so that those who do qualify could get some sort of proof to show to BART police on request (yes, there are real practical problems with this possibility). And, of course, BART police must then enforce this for it to really work, a problem of its own for those who are enforcement phobic. Ridiculous? Yes, probably, but that's the cost when people refuse to behave in a civilized manner ... enforced civilization for those who need it. As it is now, we have a rule, but few obey it and enforcement is, for all practical purposes, non-existent.
its all a bunch of worthless
its all a bunch of worthless reefer smoking niggers that causes bart to be so shitty... we should send them back to afr-i-ca so they can steal each others shit there.
CAN PEOPLE STOP CLIPPING
CAN PEOPLE STOP CLIPPING THEIR FINGERNAILS ON THE TRAINS? IT'S ANNOYING AND RUDE!!!
Err, why is it
Err, why is it rude?
Obviously it annoys you (but not me).
df
What does your place look
What does your place look like? Fingernails clippings all over the floor?
No, I vacuum regularly, just
No, I vacuum regularly, just as the BART cars are.
You're really upset by fingernail clippings? Get a grip.
One would hope you are
One would hope you are joking. If you are not, the more basic problem is that you need to ask such a question.
You need to see as well some
You need to see as well some people don't have obvious visable disabilities. I have scoliosis http://www.iscoliosis.com/ and though I am relatively young 33 yo female and only slightly overweight I have flare-ups from time to time that make me need to sit down.
If I'm fine I usually stand anyway unless there is a HUGE excess of seats. However if I'm having a flare-up (which is very painful experience) I will defend my seat and sometime get cranky because people don't know enough biology to tell what's going on and refuse to take me at my word eventhough my face shows obvious pain.
Yes, it is probably true
Yes, it is probably true that many people have disabilities of one sort or another that are not always readily apparent. Some people, for example, have chronic back problems and simply can't take the jostling that BART places on the back while standing for almost an hour. However, if you need a seat I think you should simply state that you need to sit and ask if someone could please let you have a seat. It's likely that someone who doesn't really need to sit will get up for you. If you are seated and feel that you need to justify your sitting then all you really need to do is state that you have a problem that requires that you have a seat. You don't have to do more than just validate that you need to sit which will usually be sufficient for just about anyone as most people aren't going to lie about this.
I have a similar predicament
I have a similar predicament as I am a young, fit, perfectly healthy looking early 20s white guy. But occasionally I'll grab a disabled seat or not stand up when a train gets crowded (I usually just stand up once there are only 2 or 3 seats left and not wait for someone who looks like they need to sit down) due to heart problems. The thing is that no one standing up around me actually ASKS to sit down (which is why I usually just stand up regardless), most of the time they just stare daggers at me. It's really embarrassing and I honestly feel like and idiot, but I can't help it.