A roving UHub photographer reports he watched young dude sitting on a D trolley between Kenmore and Hynes tonight as an old guy with a cane stood and struggled to stay upright:
Unbelievable. Man was clearly having trouble maintaining his balance while the trolley moved. The man even said: "I really need to sit down."
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Comments
Actually, the government DOES
By anon
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 4:32pm
Actually, the government DOES have a greater right to photograph a private citizen, in order to assist with law enforcement, as well as the security and monitoring of its installations. A private citizen snapping a photo of another private citizen for self-perceived reasons, with the intent to do harm, and without their consent or knowledge is a violation of privacy, and appealing to "but they're out in public" as a counterpoint is a fallacy. It's even less valid since the private citizen who took the photo handed it off to another private citizen to spread around.
Teachable moment
By Kathode
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 1:10pm
I showed the photo to my 10 year old son and explained as much as I understood, and said, "We don't really know why no one got out of their seat so this man could sit down but I expect you to give up your seat in this situation." So, Adam, thanks for that.
Photo taker responds
By adamg
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 1:35pm
One person?
By Aethelbee
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 1:43pm
"There was one person in a position to help this man...and he chose not to."
One person? I count at least two. I missed the part where the still-anonymous jackass asked the man to give up his seat.
The whole point of a hidden disability...
By Kaz
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 2:05pm
Is that it's hidden. As in, you don't get to just look at their shoes to see it and they can still fold their knee and they might even be able to spring up and walk off the train...but remaining upright could be extremely difficult when not moving.
My brother's MS gives him a sometimes unstable gait, but you might not know it unless you know how he used to walk before it developed. He can sit and fold his legs like any other person...but if you ask him to stand on a moving train, he could easily sprain his ankle trying because the fine motor skills for balance just aren't there like they used to be. It's also extremely transient. Some days, he could walk a mile. Other days, he can't get off the couch safely without crutches. It all depends on relapse state.
He gets a handicapped plate/hanger and parks up front. Some days he gets out without his crutches and knows there are people giving him dirty looks as if he stole a parking space from the elderly. Same difference here.
Now, I'm not saying this guy has MS or even has a likelihood of having MS. I'm just saying you have no idea...and your followup doesn't expose any greater truth even if you want to think it does.
MS and the T
By anon
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 2:51pm
I have MS. You wouldn't know it to look at me, but if I had to stand on a crowded green line train, you'd think I was drunk/a drug addict/crazy because I cannot keep my balance while standing on a moving vehicle.
Sometimes, I walk with a cane.
Even then, I have been verbally abused by people who thought they were doing "the right thing" by telling me that I didn't really "need" to use the cane.
I don't know what's worse, having an incurable neurodegenerative disease or the way I get treated by total strangers as a result of it.
Exactly. The meddling by strangers.
By eeka
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 6:22pm
Even if someone finds this kid and he says he doesn't have a disability, that still doesn't make it right to judge. Because if someone's approach is that it's OK to say something to a person in a seat, then they're inevitably going to happen upon our anon friend with MS, who has just said that it's obnoxious to be on the receiving end of people's misguided comments all day. Even if the comments aren't intended to be harmful, no one wants to hear misguided meddling all day. Most people just want to go about their business.
FWIW, my preschooler has a neurological condition that makes movements look strange and uncoordinated but doesn't affect functional motor skills. Several times per week when we are out in public, someone will tell me that my child might fall and should be carried or shouldn't be on stairs or playground equipment or walking unaided down the aisle of a bus. Strangers will touch my child to "help" when I'm right there, being attentive, and obviously know my own child and wouldn't even think of intervening with long-ago mastered skills. These things people say are all well-intentioned, but they're ignorant and based on false assumptions about what someone can or can't do based on briefly seeing the person, and on not trusting that people know their own bodies and needs better than a stranger does.
No one should have to deal with constant messages about what they are and aren't capable of, or with debating whether they (or their parent) should tell a complete stranger about their personal business because "sorry, I need to sit" or "stop touching my child" wasn't effective when the interaction shouldn't have even happened in the first place.
what about the seat across from this kid?
By anon
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 2:27pm
Was someone sitting there? Why not ask him/her to move and then help the guy to the seat?
Why is this game is still being played?
By RhoninFire
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 3:13pm
Arguing on speculation that "maybe he's also disabled", "maybe he didn't heard him", "maybe someone strapped a bomb on his baby sister that will blow up if he gets up or tells anymore before his destination" is pointless. Speculative and doesn't accomplish anything.
What we know at the moment is what we see in the picture. A old man who looks like he can use a seat didn't get a seat. A young man didn't gave up his seat. By that information, it looks bad, but does that mean broadcasting across the internet as the worst human being in the world?
And note "worst human being". When the internet takes something seriously, it operates on that line. Proportional reaction is rarely possible as thousands to millions of eyes are exposed to an incident. Yet and ironically the person pictured would only hear about it if it gets exposed on that level.
C'mon adamg, take the picture down. While it is true that once something is out on the internet, it is next to impossible to remove, leaving it on is public shaming on a scaled that I don't see it called for. Because in the end, it is still trying to spark an angry internet mob rather than teach any lesson.
Where's the usual tagline...
By anon
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 3:30pm
Innocent, etc.
So who is
By anon
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 3:19pm
the photographer? Or can anyone start posting photos of random people on Universal Hub and make up terrible stories about them?
I'm not saying that this story is made up, but without knowing who reported it and being able to ask them directly we have no way to know.
No, really, Adam, you know better than this
By eeka
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 5:56pm
Your friend may well be a decent person, but he can't tell from how someone sits on the T whether the person has vertigo, panic attacks, poor stamina, inability to maintain grasp on a pole, poor balance, nerve damage, or any number of things that aren't any of our business but that warrant him sitting down for long transit rides.
I don't know about you.....
By Brian Riccio
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 9:01pm
But I have a whole basket of told ya so's I'd like to start handing out.
This kid sitting down was probably like......
By Pete Nice
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 2:14pm
"Do I get up and let this elderly man sit down, or is this wierdo taking photos of me going to try something funny like rob me or grab my bum or do something else wierd...."
Why . . .
By Whit
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 3:26pm
. . . is this picture still here? There is no excuse for it.
I try to be a thoughtful T
By pierce
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 5:55pm
I try to be a thoughtful T citizen but I will admit that there have been times where I've been spaced out, or engrossed in a book, and snapped back to earth to embarrassingly see a pregnant woman or an elderly person standing in front of me. Not often but it has happened, more than once. So I have to cut this kid a break.
However, nothing grinds my gears more than the rubes who stand right at the doorway instead of moving into a car. I don't think I've ever spaced on that. I see plenty of footspace that this nosy, cowardly TMZ wannabe could be filing in towards.
And then shaming this kid while hiding behind a pseudonym? Roving photographer 2, space cadet 1.
Tally my vote for pulling the photo down unless the coward reveals himself/herself
For What It's Worth
By anon
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 6:35pm
On the Orange Line today I watched a high-school-aged kid carrying a lacrosse stick get up and offer his seat to a middle-aged woman (not even elderly!)
So I guess the world isn't ending after all.
y'all are making me afraid to
By misterbrick
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 6:40pm
y'all are making me afraid to take the T, more for fear of getting shot by an anonymous roving Uhub photog than by a gangbanger.
Why the heck couldn't the
By anon
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 9:47pm
Why the heck couldn't the photog politely say to the young guy: 'if you're able to would you mind giving up your seat for this elderly gentleman, thanks.' Why automatically assume the guy is an asshole? If he does have an invisible disability then he can politely reply that he is unable to. Perhaps he was zoned out and had the photog let him know the elderly gentleman would appreciate his seat, he may have gotten right up and apologized. The photog does nothing to help the elderly man with the cane and instead presumes the guilt of the younger guy and promptly forwards his photo accompanied by incriminating story for online bashing. No credibility.
kudos to the photographer
By anon
Thu, 03/28/2013 - 9:52am
if this shameful young man learns a lesson from this episode, then the T will be a better place for senior citizens
public shaming...
By bandit
Sun, 03/31/2013 - 9:20am
i have no idea if this kid should have, or could have, gotten up to give someone else his seat. i don't know him. he's not my kid.
but what sticks in my craw with all of this is the villagers standing around with pitchforks, lighted torches, and iphones. everybody seems to delight with public shaming. and this is KID. he's a kid who probably has a lot of life lessons to learn, but he shouldn't need to learn them in a public forum on the internet.
this whole thing, from start to finish, is just so unkind and cringeworthy. it is some sort of public endorsement of bullying, and we should be better than this.
does the T need to be better for senior citizens? absolutely! and there are a bunch of things we can, and should to, to advocate that. but harassing a random child on the internet is not one of those ways.
One vote for keeping the picture up
By Michael Kerpan
Wed, 03/27/2013 - 11:21pm
One, it is visually compelling. Two, it is educational. Three ... (deleted, but generally reflecting a sense of surprise and disappointment at the majority of responses here).
Lets just say for sake of
By CJ
Mon, 04/08/2013 - 11:12am
Lets just say for sake of argument, the kid had a disability..who more likely to withstand the pain of standing? I mean if the elderly gentleman is enduring it, you think this piss stain can?
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