Not Misanthropic for a Day

I’ve been letting my co-blogger do all the heavy lifting, so it’s about time that I stepped up (especially since my Chicago counterpart seems to have given up on me).  I now live in New York City, but contrary to the inspiration for this blog, I’m not going to go off on everything irritating about NYC…at least, not immediately.  I had the good fortune to score a couple tickets to the premiere of the Sex and the City movie (no, I’m not connected…just a lucky recipient by way of a generous friend who couldn’t go).  Like nothing else, the SATC franchise makes the place seem like a wonderland of fun and opportunity. Plus, it always looks so uncharacteristically clean on screen!  The adrenaline from attending this uniquely New York event has enabled me to ignore the constant aggressive jockeying for space, the bored and put-upon attitude of most customer service, and, yes, even the overly loud cell phone conversations on the MTA.  I’ve even been able to walk by the smelly garbage bags piled on curbs without flinching.  So, the city has a little sparkly sheen…at least, for the next day or two. 

I have a question

Yesterday, my roommate and I were talking (or was it just me babbling? can’t recall), and it got me thinking about acceptable and unacceptable rider-generated noise on public transportation.

For example, on CTA buses and trains, we’ve all seen signs warning us to keep the volume of our cell-phone conversations down. And people do seem to get irritated when someone is speaking on their phone even just loudly enough for the people in his/her general vicinity to hear.

What I want to know is this: Why does this rule not also apply to conversations between two riders? How is it any less annoying to hear both sides of a given conversation? In theory, the amount of noise pollution is actually reduced when you’re able to hear only one person involved, rather than two.

And then what about people playing their iPods loudly enough for other people to hear? This behavior, too, has CTA signs warning people against it, and people are irritated by it—but the volume is almost always lower than that of a conversation between two riders, especially on a loud bus or train.

Personally, cranky person that I am, it all irritates me. I’m generally trying to read, and all the above noise makes that impossible for me. If I ruled the universe, people would be socially pressured to treat a bus or train a lot like a library. Hmm… Let me pause for a moment and envision how fantastic that would be…

I’d throw this question out there for general discussion if I thought anyone (including my co-blogger) were reading it…

Saturday night’s all right

Maybe I’m just getting old and overly preoccupied with nostalgia, but last night was truly my ideal Saturday night. The roommates were out, so I had the big TV all to myself, to watch—well, yes, what else? {Svengoolie}. Classic horror movies presented to me by the same guy I watched as a kid, when my brother and I would bogart the TV on Saturday afternoons (and, on one very memorable occasion, on a Thursday night to watch Revenge of the Creature in 3-D). I think my mad love of horror movies—even (especially?) bad ones—must have started with Rich Koz, aka “Son of Svengoolie,” as he was called back then (I still catch myself calling him that on a regular basis). One of the few things about Chicago that still makes me happy in a real, uncomplicated way is the fact that this show is on the air and I’m able to watch it when I’m home on Saturday nights. And it doesn’t hurt that what he shows these days are classic Universal monster movies. Frankly, I get a little sad if I’m out on a Saturday night and have to miss it.

Chicagoland children of my generation, are you even now able to refer to the city of Berwyn without snickering?

Earthquake!

{IS THIS THE END OF DAYS???}

I have a feeling people from the Bay Area are going to be scoffing at us today, in much the same way we scoff at people down South who freak out when they get a couple of inches of snow. We’re talking nonstop news coverage here.

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel a thing. (I was even awake, too!)

I recommend spreading it on waffles

I truly hope the security personnel at LaGuardia enjoy the apple butter I bought at the Union Square Greenmarket. You know, I should have given them my number—I want to know if it was as good as it looked!