Haydain Neale, 1970–2009
The Lee's Palace Mural is Dead! Long Live the Lee's Palace Mural!
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Polling Booth: "Kick a Ginger" Controversy
Third Floor, First Rate
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Added this week: "One" by U2 and "All I Wanna Do Is Have Some Fun" by Sheryl Crow
Raging Against The Machine
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When the streetcar breaks down a block away from the stop and I have to walk to the subway station!
When people ring the bell for the bus stop multiple times - as in, someone already rang the bell for the stop, so it's totally unnecessary for someone else to ring it again...I never understood why people did that.
I help people with strollers like it's my job... and it kind of is, along with every able-bodied young person out there riding transit. All you need to do is ask if they would like some help.
This comic will save us when m@b ends *prays*
yet another installation of the worst cartoon ever made.
- Door-charging at Bloor Station (or anywhere)
- People who leave their newspaper on the seat
- Feet on seats so others won't sit beside them
- Too much perfume for an enclosed space
- Please move back...thank you! No, really, MOVE BACK.
- Bus driver gas/brake foot pumping
- Farting in enclosed spaces (mostly in the morning, for some reason)
- Two people having a conversation sitting on opposite sides of the subway car
- Running frantically down the stairs to the platform
- Dirty, wet winter floors
- Booth ops who get crabby and snippy when you don't understand what they're saying out of that tiny speaker in a noisy subway station
My pet peeve about the TTC is people who walk right past you to the front of the line when you’re waiting for the streetcar and stand in front of the shelter. It’s like they think it’s not a line and we’re just waiting around in a big group but then they get on the streetcar first when I’ve been waiting longer. Grrr.
Love the strip!
fur coat guy is kind of my hero. i mean, it sucks for the pregnant lady and everything, but he's the kind of guy that could even give pretentious phone girl an existential dilema.
"- Bus driver gas/brake foot pumping"
Oh my god, that is the worst. I think the bus driver is just trying to be an asshole.
The other day I came across a woman who had put her groceries on the seat beside her. I asked her to move her groceries so I could sit down, and she reluctantly complied. When I got up to leave, she immediately put her groceries back down on the seat while there were many people standing, waiting for a seat. I wanted to smack her and ask her if her groceries were tired after a long day's work. How about some consideration for your fellow passengers?
...the half smoked cigarette is the worst. I always wonder if they are undercover ttc drivers to drive people away so they don't come back or something. SO NASTY! I know cigarettes are expensive but COME ON!
Great comic!
two things: if you had bags and bags of food in the dead of winter, would you want to be putting them all over that slushy, mucky streetcar/bus floor? no way.
also, most of the people with strollers these days have the SUV-sized versions. i have no sympathy there. you buy them, you deal with hauling them around. now, the people with the small, basic versions...they'll get my help.
Not to get all touchy-feely, but I actually enjoy everything you guys are talking about (that's a different word than like...)
My favourite part of riding on the TTC is the crush of people - people everywhere, doing their thing and using the TTC make it all happen for them. Yes, some of what humanity does can be annoying and downright inconsiderate, but in the end, have you truly never annoyed someone?
All that said, my least favourite thing on the TTC is those people who get annoyed by the actions of someone else on the vehicle and loudly proclam to no one in particular that people who commit the act in question have low intelligence, or are much like cattle that must be herded. That's my TTC pet peeve.
"I wanted to smack her and ask her if her groceries were tired after a long day's work. "
That line would've made you my personal hero for the day. :)
Outside seat sitters are the WORST. It's like they're announcing to everyone either "I hate people" or "I'm so important that I get two seats even though I only paid one fare."
Yep, I'm an outside sitter. If the car fills and someone needs to sit, I'll shuffle over with no complaint, but I'll delay it as long as I can because I just prefer the aisle and hate clambering over people's legs when I need to leave (and I leave through the rear doors as often as I can).
What about people who absolutely *refuse* to move down a streetcar? I can't count how many times I've gotten onto a streetcar into a crush only to squeeze through (backpack in hand) to discover not only ample standing room but at least half a dozen empty seats. Whaaaaa? Why?
You don't like clamoring over other people's legs to get out of the inside seat, but you don't mind people clamoring over yours to get in?
People who are outside sitters should angle their bodies outward 45º or so to indicate easy access to the inside, and to show that they're not selfish and actually give a shit about the people around them.
My pet peeve is the exact opposite of the previous commenter. I've often found myself on a streetcar that's packed all the way to the back when some bossy person gets on and starts yelling at us to "Move back!" Hey guess what, streetcar space is finite, and if people are already crowding the front stairs, you can bet there's no space at the back.
The most hilarious thing I've seen was this woman trying to hitch down King as streetcar after packed car/out of service car passed us. She was actually hauling open car doors as they were parked at the light. Take a cab already, cheapo!
Like I said, if someone needs to sit, I shuffle over, which, if unclear, frees my seat. I find this is the fastest way. I also get up and let people in, or angle if there's no room to get up. I never said I force people to clamber over me.
Andrea, I've seen situations like that too, and sometimes it's the driver himself who's telling people to move. But the majority of my experiences have been with empty backs.
I'm with you, Aric. That passive-aggressive Toronto behaviour (i.e. loudly exclaiming your annoyance at a person for everyone to hear vs. confronting the annoy-er) is our worst collective habit.
I'd also like to agree with you that indeed, we all take turns annoying one another. It's the trade-off for living with so many of us in a contained area, eh?
Isn`t the aisle seat technically the inside seat?
Wow, how'd we get to 20 comments without anyone mentioning door-blockers? "Ooh, I'm getting off in 8 stops so I better stand right smack in the doorway and make everyone who's getting off or on before that squeeze past me!"
Also, I totally call bullshit on Andrea's assertion that full at the front == full at the back. 9 times out of 10, it's not so much "packed all the way to the back" as "packed all the way to the back door, where a dense knot of dense riders prevents anyone from moving further back". I hereby condemn anyone who refuses to move back to an eternity of trying to board a westbound Carlton car at about Sherbourne in the morning rush in the dead of winter! See how many packed-at-the-front / empty-at-the-back streetcars you can watch pass you by before you learn some manners and/or become homicidal!
Pardon me, I have to go lie down with a wet towel on my head for a while :].
Actually, behaviours like not moving away from the door and to centre of the car, sitting on the outside seat, and ringing the bell insistently for a stop are all defensive practices.
They happen because too few people who enter the car after you will make any kind of effort to let you pass by when it's your stop.
And my right to get off at my stop trumps your right to force yourself onto an already-crowded car.
If the TTC could increase their capacity and lessen the crowding on public transit, these problems would all vanish.
The farting, I fear, will always be with us.
My peeve is the apparent army of illiterate people who don't know you either have to 1) Step down to open door (they lean over the stairwell and press on the doors) or 2) press the bar to make the doors open (they just step down and stand there, confused). The instructions are written right there, on the doors!
"also, most of the people with strollers these days have the SUV-sized versions. i have no sympathy there. you buy them, you deal with hauling them around. now, the people with the small, basic versions...they'll get my help."
-Um, Ryan, do you have a kid? Have you been stroller shopping? You can't use those tiny canvas ones for newborns, because they can't sit up. And they pretty much only make giant ones for newborns.
"People who are outside sitters should angle their bodies outward 45º or so to indicate easy access to the inside, and to show that they're not selfish and actually give a shit about the people around them."
-Thats what I do. Hey, I'm 6'4 and 250lbs. I don't fit on the inside.
I love that everyone here is complaining about the TTC passengers. Hello, my beef is with the TTC itself. How it will sit in a tunnel for no apparent reason and not tell anyone why. Surly and unhelpful employees. How I live at Bloor/Ossington station and work at Sherbourne station, give myself 45 minutes to get to work, and one I'm 30 minutes early, the next I'm 5 minutes late. Repeat 3 times a week. Thats ridiculous!
Awesome posts everyone. I agree with most... (1) The streetcar/bus is usually empty at the rear, although the new busses have the higher back-end I find very annoying - perhaps bcs I'm 6'3 - I think the old busses have a lot more room.
(2) Door rushers and blockers have no respect, its just like ppl who cut me off while driving then slam on the breaks... c'mon, you're saving about 10 seconds off your trip while managing to piss everyone else off.
(3) I'm also an outside sitter, as i am tall and cannot fit elsewhere, especially on the streetcar. If i was on the inside, i'd have to spread my legs so far appart that the person next to me would be using my shoulder as a backrest.
(4) Lastly, I must appologize (Aric and Roxanne) as I am one to preach to the world when someone pisses me off... perhaps because I am non-confrontational yet still want to vent. hmmm ..
I have to admit, I'm not 100% sure what "door rushing" is...Is it when you run for the door when you think it is going to close on you?
"Actually, behaviours like not moving away from the door and to centre of the car, sitting on the outside seat, and ringing the bell insistently for a stop are all defensive practices.
They happen because too few people who enter the car after you will make any kind of effort to let you pass by when it's your stop.
And my right to get off at my stop trumps your right to force yourself onto an already-crowded car."
If you choose to operate like this don't be surprised when I deliberately bowl you out of my way while exiting the train. I ride the TTC everyday, and the only time I stand by the door is when it's absolutely neccessary. In my experience lurking by the door is more trouble than it's worth; you're constantly shuffling and re-adjusting to allow other riders in and out of the train. I'd much rather move to the center and park myself than endure 10 stops of bodies slamming into me.
Also, if you rush the doors before people have finished unloading, I WILL INTENTIONALLY SLAM IN TO YOU. Man, woman, child; it makes no difference. People need to learn.
WATCH YOURSELVES.
Door rushing is when inconsiderate assholes sprint at the doors regardless if people are still exiting. I deliberately slam into them if I get the opportunity.
Door rushing can be charging the doors as they close, but I meant when the train stops and the flood of people start pushing in before the people on the train can exit. Arrggghhhh...so infuriating.
The forward-facing seats at the back of those raised-back buses are clearly only meant for double amputees.
"WATCH YOURSELVES."
Wow Egg, anger issues much? Grab the reins cowboy...
PS: If anyone "slams" into my wife or child, the only thing that will beat them to the hospital are the headlights of the ambulance carrying them. So, watch YOUR self. ;)
Egg, are you for real? Or are you simply channeling Dwight from The Office?
Calm down chief; it was a joke. Your offspring will be just fine.
Jeez. Parents are so high stung.
People who don't move to the back of a half-empty bus do suck, but so do those people who self-righteously push their way to the back when the bus is clearly packed and there's nowhere for them to go. The Bathurst bus is awful for this.
HAHA Egg, notice the wink emoticon. Parental Rage firmly in check, tongue firmly in cheek...
Escalators:
Walk LEFT. Stand RIGHT!
ColBalt: the TTC took those signs down because apparently they encourage "dangerous behaviour" - apparently it's hazardous to your health to walk up an escalator.....
So... I was taking the subway home from work today, and of course it was jam-packed because of some delay at eglinton west, and wouldn't you know it.. there was an outside sitter.
I didn't really want to sit, because I didn't feel like taking my backpack off, but I thought to myself wouldn't it be awesome to hand her a printout of this comic?
I think I might print a couple off at work on monday and carry them with me for a week. Being passive-aggressive is fun when it's funny.
ColBalt: Say Goodnight To "Walk Left, Stand Right." :(
I was once on the Bloor-Danforth subway line, sitting in a seat, when a middle-aged man stood way too close to me, shoving his crotch as close as possible into my face as he stared at me. I never know what to do in those kinds of TTC situations.
I think the thing to do is to address the situation in your loudest voice.
If you're wrong about his intentions, you come off looking "crazy", but either way I guarantee he'll be forced to stop.
Am I the only one who likes it when someone leave's their metro on the seat? Oftentimes there will be no free Metro's left to pickup at wherever I get on, and it's kind of nice to just pick one up on the train. I know a TTC worker has to pick them up at the end of the night, but it's kind of convenient.
Furthermore, I feel like I'm not taking another copy that's just going to be thrown away
Also, on the subject of running down the stairs to catch your train, well, sometimes you're just running late and need to be somewhere.
A newspaper on the seat eventually ends-up as a hundred pieces of paper on the floor. And that sucks. Some people think it's being considerate, but it usually ends up being inconsiderate, messy, and irritating.
What you should do when finishing Metro (or whatever paper) is return it to the rack on your way out.
Jeff: Yeah, I like that too - I especially love it on the GO Train (the few times I actually take it these days...) when I find a copy of the Star or Globe on a seat.
Perhaps the TTC should put a newspaper rack on it's vehicles to deposit unwanted papers for others to read?
I agree with Andrea. When I get on the streetcar at King and Bathurst, most of the time the car is already at the bursting point where it's three rows of people standing in the front and everyone is jam-packed in the back. Often times I have to let two or three streetcars go by before I can even fit. And yet we'll still get the drivers who say "I can't move until all of you move down."
At 9 am, there isn't space at the back, there isn't space anywhere, so where the hell are we supposed to go?
And yes, it's always at this point where I have about 4 people smushed up against me in one way or another that the streetcar driver decides it's time to pump the brakes, or just brake very hard very suddenly. I love losing my balance, no really. It's a great way to lose my dignity.
Oh the hilarity! And please be advised Torontonians, your little public transport quibbles are NOTHING! Please come to London! Ride the pride of Britain's Public Transport and see what French-kissing Satan is REALLY like! I come home for a few weeks every year and the TTC is like some sort of socialist paradise!
In England this month a memo got leaked that South West Trains ticket vendors had beeen instructed to "treat passengers like fare dodgers" and that they would be judged on the number of fines given and price of tickets (i.e., go for highest price ALWAYS). There's been a public outcry which will undoubtedly do nothing and quell within a few days...