Notes to various people.

[saxikath]

Note to the woman behind me on the stairs this morning:

I'm sorry I was going slowly. You might have noticed the cane in my hand and the fact that I wasn't bending one leg? I hope the few extra seconds of standing on the Green Line platform you got by pushing by me and bonking your bag into the back of my leg were fulfilling and terribly important to you. (I know you didn't get an earlier train because of it, because no train arrived between when you got up the stairs and when I did.)

Note to the MBTA:

The above situation would not have occurred if there were any kind of clear labeling as to how to get from the Red Line platform to the westbound Green Line platform by elevator. Your stations are miserable for people with mobility impairments, people with strollers, or people with luggage.

Note to subway riders:

It's really just common courtesy to offer a seat to someone who has a visible mobility impairment, you know?

Note to the driver of the bus I was on this morning:

Thank you for noticing and commenting on the fact that I'd "graduated," as you put it, from crutches to a cane, and for hoping I was doing better. It's nice to have a cheery word like that in the morning, and it's nice that you pay enough attention to your customers to notice things like that. People like you keep me from getting completely grumpy about the MBTA.

Comments

[otherwise-nyc.livejournal.com]

When I've had to use a cane (which I did for a quite long time), my strategy was to stand in front of people and say "Excuse me," until someone looked up. Once someone's made eye contact, cheerily wave your cane at them, or glower, or however you prefer to handle it, but that always got me a seat.

It's totally true that when you just stand there with a cane? People will often not offer a seat. Sucks. Pffffft.

In NYC we have designated handicap seating on the train, so I always tried to get on the subway car at one that end of the car; I don't remember if the trains in Boston have that. It also helped for shaming people.

Good luck! I'm also glad you've graduated to a cane -- crutches are the absolute worst!

[meranthi.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I had similar problems when I was pregnant. Standing is tiring when you are off balance like that. It's not any better when you need to favor your knee...*sigh*

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

I think you should actually send notes 1 and 4 to the MBTA. They actually do seem to respond to feedback.

[mixedborder.livejournal.com]

>Your stations are miserable for people with mobility impairments, people with strollers, or people with luggage.

That is for sure. I noticed it painfully when I moved last summer and was horribly footsore from going up and down 3 flights of stairs hundreds of times. You have to limp around for what seems like miles to find an elevator, and when you DO find it, it's often broken. Escalators aren't running a lot of the time. It sucks rotten eggs!