Vent: The Ignorance of People

peekaboo2011 · February 2013

I didn't want to bury this in the gripes thread, because I'm insanely shocked and appalled with what happened.

This morning on the metro I fell asleep and had to jump off and turn around. This is the first time in months I've missed my stop. On my way back, a woman on the car came running to the front and said "There is something seriously wrong with that man." The man in question was a man in a yellow jacket, who appeared to just be wandering around the little opening space, banging on the glass, and more or less acting completely harmless. Turned out he was mentally challenged. They stopped the train, the driver came back to investigate, told central there wasn't a problem, and that woman must have complained to someone else, because they pulled the train completely out of service. At this point, the rest of us who witnessed this are pretty upset. It's obvious to us that he's not harming himself or anyone else, he's just listening to his music and trying to get wherever.

We offloaded from the train, asked about 5 metro employees why the train was out of service, and they said central had decided, they weren't sure. They got on board the car we had been in, poked around (I assume they were looking for fluids), and then got off and were looking for the man she had complained about. Off the walkie talkies, someone was saying he looked dirty. About 7 metro employees talked to him, and then they let us back on the train and we went off to our next stops.

I'm completely shocked and appalled that in 2013 this behavior is still happening. This woman obstructed thousands of people commuting this morning because she was uncomfortable being around someone who had a mental handicap. BFD. If you're uncomfortable, switch cars. I've done it plenty of times, and for less than what this man was doing. I feel like if you're going to halt the train for a sick customer, they need to be vomiting, have lost control of their bowels/bladder, be spewing blood, or non-responsive. Not enjoying their music and smacking a couple of windows.

Fortunately for her, this woman did not get back on our car. A bunch of people, myself included, probably would have smacked her.

/vent

buddysmom80 · February 2013

That woman is a bltch. I would've smacked her too if I saw her. Wow. That really annoys me. He wasn't harming anyone. It was no reason to shut down the train.

Peaseblossom55 · February 2013

How awful, people are so ignorant and stupid sometimes.

rahrah82 · February 2013

That is horrible, some people are just so ignorant. That kind of stuff really irritates me, especially since I work with people who have brain injuries. Ugh, the nerve of some people!

[Deleted User] · February 2013

Unfortunately I think there are a lot of people who do not have experience with mental illness and are quick to judge. Noticing "strange behavior" this day in age, most people would rather be overly cautious than simply look the other way. I'm not trying to make excuses for the woman and I agree there wasn't really a good reason to have the train stopped, but perhaps she's not a frequent train rider and she was genuinely concerned.

Personally I would fault RTD before I would fault the woman. There's no way to know what she saw that concerned her since no one actually witnessed her interaction with the man, but I do think RTD took her complaint/concern a little too far since the staff operating the train clearly didn't see an issue once investigated.

peekaboo2011 · February 2013

Allusive, that's the thing. She had no actual interaction with him, she just didn't like him being there. I've been on trains with more erratic people than he was - he was calm and stayed to himself, he was just enjoying his music - and it's never been an issue.

There were lots of witnesses - a full car of them. She had to be a relatively frequent rider to know exactly what would happen when she pushed the button, and exactly where the button is (they don't exactly put them in plain sight on these trains). And my assumption regarding why it was taken so far by WMATA (I'm not sure what RTD is) is that when the driver told her she was being ridiculous and he was fine, is that she called central and complained further.

[Deleted User] · February 2013

RTD = Regional Transportation District. They are generally the governing body for city trains/busses/etc.

ETA - I thought this was a nationwide acronym...but apparently it is a Denver thing. Sorry!

peekaboo2011 · February 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_vent-the-ignorance-of-people?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:16644672-4882-4384-be32-6ea0552d4c29Post:30216b53-358a-410e-93df-fc6583230b93">Re: Vent: The Ignorance of People</a>:
[QUOTE]RTD = Regional Transportation District. They are generally the governing body for city trains/busses/etc. ETA - I thought this was a nationwide acronym...but apparently it is a Denver thing. Sorry!
Posted by allusive007[/QUOTE]

<div>Here we have WMATA, which runs DC transport, and then each county has it's own thing as well. I don't understand most of it, I just know where I'm supposed to stand when I'm half awake, which car I need to be on to make my walk down the platform the shortest possible to get to my exit, and exactly which seat I need to sit in (last car, second row from the back, window seat, facing the opposite direction of travel), so I can get the best 20 minute nap ever.</div>

Hummingbird125 · February 2013

That's ridiculous. I took the subway to work in NYC for the past 3 years, and if they stopped those trains because there were mentally challenged individuals acting strangely...no one would get to work on time. Ever.