Remember back in grade school your teachers will always have you line-up in single-files along with the other kids. This happened before recess, before lunch, before the school day ends.
Now, we’re all grown up. We’re adults. We don’t line-up single-file anymore. Nope! We found a better way…
The TTC subway pulls up, with a sea of people crowding in front of the tracks. The door opens, and it’s everyone for themselves. Pushing, shoving, anything goes!
This morning on my commute to work, the subway was delayed at Yonge station (yet again). And there were maybe 3-4 times the normal number of people at the station. Let me just say it wasn’t pretty. When the train finally came and the door opened, people were trying to get on when the other passengers were still trying to get off! All I heard was one lady shouting in a very frustrated voice, “Let the other people off first! Geez!” Finally, one decent person among the zombies.
Why does Toronto, and probably all of North American, suck so much? Why can’t we be like the Japanese and line-up for the trains. The most efficient way to board a train is to line-up. It should be first-in-first-out queue so it’s fair. I hate when you get there first but some punk pushes his/her way in front of you.
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Maybe it’s because of the different social values each society has. In Canada and the U.S. we are all about individualism and in Japan they still have hierarchies of respect based on age and gender. They tend to be more polite about a lot of things too. I mean to think that blowing your nose in public is rude and to also pocket your litter until you find a garbage can says something.