Question

[jmc_bks]

First, I like the new photo of Nora on the back of Memory in Death. She looked a little vampire-ish in the old photo, but this one is pretty cool. She's standing at Times Square it looks like, and there are lights from the billboards and the passing cars. Still in black, but a little less posed.

And second, a survey question for anyone willing to answer. Are there unwritten, usually unspoken rules about public transportation in your city/town/neighborhood? For instance, walking on escalators, holding elevators, baggage on trains and buses? There are some unwritten rules here in DC that seem to be totally alien to a lot of tourists, so I'm wondering what the rules are elsewhere. Inquiring minds want to know.

Comments

Re: Question

[rosario001.livejournal.com]

Oh, hey, the new picture's pretty cool! (saw it here) Some of her older photos have been pretty horrible, especially her clothing. I still shudder every time I think of the silver suit thing with green squiggles she has on in some book covers!

Unwritten rules for public transportation... hmm, all I can think of is that, in the Montevideo buses, there's usually a button you can press above the back door in order to warn the driver you want to go down in the next stop and he'll need to open the door for you. Some old buses -and here's the unwritten rule- don't have those buttons, so you need to do a kind of loud "chssst" sound to warn the driver. Not just any sound, or say "Driver, please open the door", everyone does that same "chssst.

Re: Question

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

There are some heinous, older photos floating around, aren't there? I have an old copy of an early single title that shows NR with badly permed blonde hair that did not suit her. She probably thought it was an excellent shot at the time. [I don't mean that in a harsh way; don't we all look at old photos and wonder, "What was I thinking? I left the house looking like that? And I let someone take a photo of me?"]

I think most buses in the metro area have stop signal buttons...the question is whether they work. If not, then you end up with people shouting, "Next stop! Next stop!" Nothing as interesting as the "chssst."

[(Anonymous)]

unwritten rules? You mean more than "Stay the hell out of my way?" (can you tell I'm a New Yorker?)

Seriously though, there's the if you wanna ride, stay to the right, if you wanna walk stay left rule for escalators, but I thought that was universal. I also tend not to hold elevators for people because I don't want to have to make the extra stop to your floor, but I think that's just me.

I work two blocks from Times Square so my personal tourist/transportation pet peeve are the people who walk with no purpose. I understand you want to soak up the atmosphere that is Times Square, but dammit, I have a bus to catch. MOVE!!

~Jay, who's not as mean as she sounds ;)

escalators

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

The escalator rule is the same here, although it tends to be relaxed on weekends. Woe betide anyone who stands on the left of a crowded escalator during rush hour; the commuters below start screaming, "Walk on the left! Walk on the left!" I thought it was universal, too, but I've discovered otherwise.

I work near Union Station in DC, and one of my pet peeves is people who stop sudden in the middle of the concourse for no apparent reason. Maybe they are lost, maybe they are looking for the bathroom, I don't know. But stopping in the middle of the walk way and plunking luggage down in the way of other pedestrians is a bad idea, especially when there are thousands of commuters heading for the Metro or the trains.