…on the MBTA, but you’re wrong.
Well, you can bounce to a beat, if you don’t mind the funny looks, which I don’t.
And you can sit. Well, that is if you strike a reasonable balance of seat-picking strategy, optimism, and luck.
When I first considered the topic of this entry, I thought I would be able to offer helpful strategies for seat picking and seat-partner picking to all who dare to travel the MBTA but unfortunately I’ve come to realize that is impossible. There are no reliable trends that I’ve found so far because seat-picking and seat-partner picking involve an interesting combination of personal choice interacting with accompanying travelers’ demographics. (There is something worthy of serious study here, and perhaps it’s been done–how people choose or avoid sitting with people whom they perceive to be of similar or dissimilar race/ethnicity/age/class/gender/marital status/sexual orientation/etc– oh social constructs of difference, you are fascinating. But, not really something I’m going to undertake at the moment). So I will leave you with a few general tips for commuter-rail riding that are helpful for all:
1. Notice where the train bathrooms are. Do not use them except in case of emergency. Sit at least three rows away from them.
2. While you’re at it, move in from the doorways toward the center of the car. This way you can avoid the comings and goings drafts and also the not-so-lucky standers who will totally hoover in your space. You know how I feel about that.
3. In the morning you can usually safely sit in a 2-seater or 3-seater with only one partner. In the afternoon, make sure you go for the 2-seater.
4. If you are choosing an empty seat, slide in. Well, you don’ thave to. But it makes it so you don’t have to deal with the akward stand up move around blah blah.
5. In all scenarios sit quickly. People are ruthless. They want to see you stand.
6. If the car already looks full, sit even more quickly. If it’s super full, don’t fall for the idea that if you keep walking a car ahead will be less full. That is almost never true and you will still have to join the middle of a 3-seater. But it’s more frustrating that way than if you just decided to suck it up in the first place. Besides, sometimes when you get lucky and just decide to sit in a 3-seater the guy on the outside slides in and spends the whole ride showing you (after you stop pretending to not be interested) and the other seat partner how to use an Amazon Kindle while the train continues to get further and further behind schedule.
I’m not often in the situation of having someone choose ME to sit with because I get on the train after most people. Besides, that whole scene is a horse of a different color.
So to wrap things up here… lessons learned: the basics for successful seat-finding are speed, endurance, and hope. Good qualities for just about anything I suppose.
