Why didn't anybody tell us this was Bring Your Big Stuff on the T Week? As if Comfy Chair Guy, Bowl of Pasta with Grated Parmesan Guy and Motor Scooter Guy weren't enough, let us introduce you to Shopping Cart Guys. Paul Nutting spotted this duo on the Red Line earlier this week with a shopping cart full of tools. They got on at Downtown Crossing and off at South Station. He adds:
You should have seen the look an off duty T employees was giving them.
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Comments
ugh
By cybah
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 1:59pm
*facepalm*
The Pasta and Parm Guy
By whyaduck
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:39pm
is looking pretty reasonable at this point.
What is next? A baby elephant?
But on the other hand, if you have to transport materials and don't have any other way...
He at least had an empty
By tk
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:20pm
He at least had an empty train.
Basil
By peanut
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 3:34pm
Last month there was a lady on the Orange Line with a basil plant taking the seat next to her, during rush hour. It was the largest basil plant I've ever seen. At least it smelled nice, though.
Imagine- using public transportation instead of driving
By Markk02474
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:07pm
How dare they! They are supposed to drive to job sites in their gas guzzling pickup truck or van, get stuck in traffic, and then pay a fortune in parking every day.
If the MBTA continues to allows people to bring tools and materials with them, the risk is more people might take the T.
I think the issue was the
By anon
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:09pm
I think the issue was the shopping cart, not the tools.
I don't know many construction sites that move their tools around with shopping carts.
Pretty popular option, actually
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:15pm
I see a lot of people who do physical work with their tools on the T. Some have done some pretty impressive work to fit out various luggage and other devices to carry their stuff, including bolted-on thermos holders and tupperware-like organizers marked "drill bits" and "small hex".
Seems to have picked up since the Giant Hole has been employing workers, but it isn't new.
It's not the tools
By Waquiot
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:25pm
It's the bulk.
As Swirls notes, there are guys (yes, guys) on the T all the time with wheely thing full of tools, just not in a shopping cart. I would imagine that shopping carts on the T are seen as worse than SUV strollers (I recuse myself since I have taken the jogging stroller on the T, but never in rush hour. I do have sympathy for parents with strollers on the T going to/from work, even though as a commuter it annoys me.)
The guy just needs a better device for transport, as the means (the T) is not a bad one.
Just today, a guy was on the
By bibliotequetress
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 4:53pm
Just today, a guy was on the Orange Line with a largish rolling Snap-On tool thing (not really a tool box, and "tool luggage" just sounds weird)
Found a pic! http://img2.wfrcdn.com/lf/79/hash/16950/5209225/1/...
SUV strollers are oversized for what they're carrying
By Arborway
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 9:48pm
A shopping cart full of tools - not so much.
Really
By Nothing
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:28pm
Nice sentiment. Too bad they're using a stolen shopping cart.
The contractor who redid our
By Hyde_Parker
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:35pm
The contractor who redid our apartment doesn't have a truck. He stored his tools at our place while he was working, had things delivered here, and took the bus or rode his bike every day. Occasionally, if he needed to bring something to or from our place, he took a cab.
With the way parking is, I think his way of transporting himself and his equipment made a lot of sense.
Some people don't have access
By anon
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:07pm
Some people don't have access to cars and need to transport stuff. How is a cart any worse than a wheelchair?
As someone previously noted,
By anon
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 3:05pm
As someone previously noted, the shopping carriage is stolen.
You know this for a fact?
By J
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 4:06pm
You know this for a fact?
Unless these guys own a
By Scratchie
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 4:08pm
Unless these guys own a supermarket, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet.
maybe, maybe not
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 4:16pm
Places like ULine and other industrial supply places do sell them for this sort of "moving random things around" a shop, warehouse, manufacturing place, etc.. Since they are a pretty standard design, they are relatively cheap to get without all the markings on them.
There isn't a law that only grocery stores can buy them.
Yeah, I'm still going to put
By Scratchie
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 4:57pm
Yeah, I'm still going to put my money on "found it in a parking lot" rather than "mail-ordered it from ULine for $170 with a minimum order of four carts."
If you see something, say
By Ishmael Jones
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:15pm
If you see something, say something.
big stuff on the T
By rs
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 2:50pm
...saw a guy moving a sofa once on the Washington, DC Metro - at Eastern Mkt. - their subway cars are more spacious
This photo has been making
By Hyde_Parker
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 4:17pm
This photo has been making the rounds in NYC:
http://www.wnyc.org/story/may-be-largest-item-ever...
"You should have seen the look an off duty T employee..."
By bob barker
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 3:12pm
"You should have seen the look an off duty T employees was giving them."
Boston in a nutshell. The T employee glared his disapproval but didn't make the effort to actually get up and SAY SOMETHING. Why didn't he tell Mr. Shopping Cart Guy to get his crap off the train?
As a group, we like to complain a lot. But, we rarely make an effort to actually speak up when something is obviously wrong.
Care to cite the rule?
By J
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 4:05pm
Care to cite the rule?
welcome to boston
By Sharon
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 4:10pm
<<< As a group, we like to complain a lot. But, we rarely make an effort to actually speak up when something is obviously wrong.>>>
yep. it's called "welcome to Boston" although it's become worse in the last 6 years or so.
and sometimes when I've spoken up, especially when it comes to behavior of kids on the T, I've had what must've been parents with children the same age, jump down my throat.
Sparky
By bulgingbuick
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 3:28pm
and his tubing bender?
Those might actually be on
By anon
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 3:43pm
Those might actually be on duty MBTA workers. There is a storage room for fare gate maintenance and equipment underground at Downtown Crossing, and it looks like one of the items in the bag are the orange and yellow reflective vests that MBTA workers wear if working near the tracks.They are also just wearing short sleeve shirts, and if you worked underground and were traveling from one underground work location to another, you might not being wearing a jacket despite the cooler temps.
MBTA VS MASSPORT
By anon
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 4:30pm
If I try to board a plane at Logan with nail clippers I will be pummeled by state troopers. On the MBTA I can ride a motorcycle on subway cars, bring my own booze,machetes,spray cans and no one bats an eyelash including the Transit Police who are watching the surveillance cameras.
Apples to Deer Meat
By thetrainmon
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 10:17pm
The TSA sets the rules for what you can bring on a plane--not MassPort. MassPort's influence basically stops at the security gates. Note I didn't say "jurisdiction" since, yes, it's still their property.
And how big are these nail clippers--big enough to cut Sasquatch's toenails?!
Might disassemble train!
By markK02474atRents
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 11:21pm
FAA regulations seem to ban any tool like devices that could allow someone to disassemble a plane in flight. MBTA not so much. Lots of contraptions that people don't understand end up as possible bomb threats. Just not on the MBTA, so far.
Tools!
By BPlusPlayer
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 4:54pm
Maybe he's just prepared in case the Red Line breaks down.
If public transit is supposed
By anon
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 6:07pm
If public transit is supposed to be the primary way of getting around, we have to be flexible about what you're allowed to bring with you.
As long as this guy didn't force himself onto a sardine-packed rush hour train, I don't see what the problem is.
True shopping cart at JFK recently
By anon
Fri, 09/19/2014 - 6:29pm
Saw a visitor or immigrant try to bring a grocer-loaded cart on at JFK. It was after rush hour and she seemed clueless. Wasn't hurting anyone.
Unfortunately for her she entered front of train and driver somehow got wind. Driver really took offense. No way was a shopping cart getting on her train.
Certainly can't compare these to wheelchairs and strollers which are transporting passengers.
Also hate to see one of those go out of control after an emergency train stop.
but its perfectly fine for
By Thomas
Sat, 09/20/2014 - 9:25pm
but its perfectly fine for people to bring baby strollers the size of hummers on the bus and train every day so you have to climb over them to get off !!!
The difference is
By Waquiot
Sun, 09/21/2014 - 12:03am
There's a little human being in the hummer stroller.
As I state above, I'm torn on the ginormous strollers, but I can rap my head around them. The parents should have consideration for other commuters, but they gotta do what they gotta do.
You are supposed to collapse them
By Chris Rich
Sun, 09/21/2014 - 5:50am
..and hold the child. Assuming they are collapse-able. It's just an extra element to usage.
Some people actually will but most are.. guess what.. self absorbed ditzes.
My favorites are the idiots who simply must do this at rush hour.
We just don't attend to nuances of a social contract very well.
Some prepare for each oncoming moment as they go through life and some just spazz their way through it, leaving a trail of the disgruntled cursing them in their wake.
They used to enforce it
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 09/21/2014 - 10:46am
Not sure when they stopped. Most parents do use the little umbrella strollers - the giant ones seem to be "visiting the aquarium"or "visiting the Children's Museum". They are a nuisance on city sidewalks and small doorways, and areas like the Congress St. Bridge, in particular.
There are double strollers that take up the same space as a small umbrella stroller, as they are over/under. I think there should be some guidance by the MBTA about "if it doesn't fit in a 3' x 3' box on the ground, it doesn't get on a bus or a train". (or some other umbrella stroller and over/under stroller metric).
We've been enfeebled
By Chris Rich
Sun, 09/21/2014 - 11:54am
..by what Riesman called 'the cult of effortlessness' summed up in the 'It's so easy when you use Lestoil' jingle. http://youtu.be/6AxZoE7XCWc
The 50s baby buggy that no doubt contained me was built like a tank and was not collapsible.
Industry now turns out Jetsons contraptions that can practically be folded to fit in a day pack, by comparison, and people still make a hash of it.
Was this pic surreptitiously taken?
By anon
Sun, 09/21/2014 - 2:02pm
If so, I find that much more obnoxious and rude than these two dudes and their cart. Where the fuck do so many people get the idea it's OK to snap people's pics surrupticiously with their phone on trains, buses, etc. ? It's not. And if it was done to me, and I discovered what was happening, I would definitely make a scene.
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