I’m sick of the snow.
I’m sick of walking in it. I’m sick of dressing for it. I’m sick of talking about how much of it there is. I’m sick of feeling bad for public school kids who could lose their April vacations because of it. Strangely, I’m not sick of cleaning off my car, but that’s probably because I live in a totally walkable city that also has public transportation.
I’ve got some theories about Blizzard of ’78 post-traumatic stress disorder — specifically, that if you were an adult in ’78 and were snowed in somewhere is directly proportional to the number of phone calls you make to people who weren’t around in ’78 to warn them of an impending storm and the needs for bread, milk, and eggs. I’m looking at you, Harvey Leonard. (And my mother. Seriously, I live right next to a convenience store and a Starbucks. I won’t perish in a snowstorm just because I have an empty fridge.)
2011 isn’t about that one big storm, though. At least, not yet. Or at all. I hope. 2011 is the year of the never-ending storms, one after another, that make it impossible to ever REALLY clear your driveway or plow your street or wear normal shoes to work instead of snowboots.
For Boston commuters, though, 2011 is the year that they finally lost patience with the MBTA.
Full disclosure: I don’t have to take the T to work — I live one mile from my office. But I’ve been on Twitter. I hear (read) your cries. Every morning, it’s the same darn thing. Your bus is late. Your train is delayed. Your train is stuck. There’s a fire at DTX. You’re late for work. Again.
It’s frustrating, I’m sure. I’m not going to defend the MBTA here, beyond pointing out that 1) it isn’t JUST the MBTA getting messed up — when you were getting bused from Riverside to Kenmore last week, the MetroNorth was cancelled or stuck with open doors; 2) Richard Davey’s team has some serious twitter skills; and 3) Davey said “I’m sorry,” which was cool of him. But enough defending.
Instead, I want to try to be a little more positive. What do we LOVE about the MBTA?
Here; I’ll start.
I love the view from Charles/MGH to Kendall.
I love that the Silver Line is a line, and not a bus route, even though it’s a bus.
I love explaining Inbound/Outbound to out-of-towners.
I have a friend who loves the voice of the woman on the Blue Line who does her announcements with a “gooood morning” in a Maine-like accent.
I love when Paul Pierce tells me courtesy counts (and that’s the truth).
None of this made your commutes any less frustrating, but I just wanted to acknowledge that it isn’t all bad. Just mostly bad. What do you love about the T? What’s your favorite T station, for either the location and the station itself? Who is your favorite personali-T*? Tell us in the comments, tweet at us, share it on Facebook. We want to hear from you!
*Stole that from a friend; it could mean bus driver, train conductor, T stop regular, or celeb spokesperson. Whatever works for you!
