LIRR - An Exercise in Patience

I used to commute into the city everyday. I was part of the rat race taking the Railroad to work each day. Spending three hours or more commuting. I may have to do it again some day, but for now I'm safe from the hustle and bustle of the LIRR.

When I did travel through the MTA system, I was always struck by the dehumanizing experience it is. Commuters are often treated as cattle, in fact with the overcrowding of some train, I would dare say worse than cattle. Seriously, if you shoved so many heads of cattle into a railroad car heading to the slaughterhouse, the ASPCA and every other Animal Rights group would be on the case protesting and, rightly so. Therefore my question is why do we recognize these atrocious conditions when forced on animals but accept it when it is forced upon us?

What can we do about it? I realize it is tough. After all, we want to get home on Friday evening after work and don;t want to wait another 90 minutes for the next train. It is understandable. But, why not stand up for ourselves through letter writing, making phone calls of protests, even blogging about it. Why do we accept MTA's treatment of ourselves even when we know it is wrong. Have you ever noticed, that when the Railroad really messes up, is running late and the train is overcrowded, often you will never see the conductor coming through for tickets. They know that tempers are high and really don't want to get into conversations about subjects they can't do anything about. We are upset but as soon as we get home, we shrug the whole incident off as just another day in the rat race.

I would suggest that the next time you're stuck on a delayed train and being treated unfairly, that you get out your Blackberry or Android or iPhone and start writing to the LIRR and MTA and get your voices heard. Why do you think that there are so many trains running on the Port Washington line during rush hour? The commuters on that line have made a very strong campaign and are not afraid to be heard.

Oyster Bay trains are typically an hour apart so when they cancel one of our trains there is a long wait. During a bad day in Penn Station I once saw someone complaining loudly that they canceled his Great Neck train and forcing him to take a Port Washington train instead that was five minutes later. As a rider on the Oyster Bay line, I was totally mystified by the man's outrage. But, my point is that the riders on the Port Washington branch are not afraid to have their voice heard. I would encourage everyone out there to do the same.

Let's stop commuting like sheep and stand up for our own rights. If your train is overcrowded, too hot, too cold, running late or any other bad service, let them know. However, I would also suggest that when they do something good that you also let them know that as well. If a conductor was especially nice (an many of them are) or the train had a good record of being on time, don't be afraid to send a compliment. This gives good managers a chance to praise good employees and hold them up as an example for others to follow. If you're going to criticize the dark side, don't forget to compliment those on the side of good as well.