[nagdu] Dirty Busses

Tue Nov 9 17:53:26 UTC 2010

I'm very familiar with Boston's MBTA!  Rode it for YEARS!

I found it not too bad in terms of being too dirty. But my dog did get lots 
of coffee and soda - or "tonic" as the Bostonians say - on their fur while 
under the seats.  And, of course, the discarded chewing gum that would get 
stuck to my dog's coat and I had to take the scissors to the gum.

Even though we have rules about not eating and drinking on our buses and 
trolleys, people still think the rules are for someone else and 
occassionally Landon gets gum on him or the remnants of a drink on him.

Lyn and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark J. Cadigan" <kramc11 at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 8:56 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Dirty Busses

> You have got to love the MBTA. You can eat on the trains, but, they are 
> far cleaner than some other places I have been. It really depends on which 
> line you are on. Some are dingier than others. It just feels dirty to eat 
> on the train. The only thing I have ever eaten on the train is a candy 
> bar, something I don't have to touch with my hands that have been touching 
> the grab bars with. And, holding on is a must on the T. They perform 
> frequent testing of the brakes and the passenger's reflexes by starting 
> and stopping quite quickly.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Lyn Gwizdak" <linda.gwizdak at cox.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 12:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Dirty Busses
>
>
>> Hey Elizabeth,
>> Ahhhh, the ahem - joys of bus riding! LOL!!  I have to say this was quite 
>> the experience of riding Boston transit where they don't care if you eat 
>> and drink on the bus.  Here in San Diego, our transit company does not 
>> allow eating and drinking on the buses or trolleys.  People are pretty 
>> good at following this rule as it has been in effect for many, many 
>> years. But, you do get the few who think the rules are for someone else 
>> and not them.
>>
>> When I ride the bus and sit in the aisle facing seats, I scoot Landon's 
>> butt under the seat with his head between my feet.  that way, he can't 
>> snarf anything under the seat.
>>
>> What is a "pencil skirt"?  Is it a miniskirt the girls wore in the 1960s? 
>> Most women I know who like skirts don't wear that kind - they wear a 
>> longer, loose type of skirt or the just wear pants when they have to ride 
>> public transit.
>>
>> Lyn and Landon
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Elizabeth Rene" <emrene at earthlink.net>
>> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 12:22 PM
>> Subject: [nagdu] Dirty Busses
>>
>>
>>> Has anyone encountered this situation?:
>>>
>>> You board the bus and sit on the isle-facing, pull-down bench designated 
>>> for passengers with wheelchairs, guide dogs, strollers, etc.  Your guide 
>>> dog kennels under the bench per your direction, keeping his paws and 
>>> tail out of the path of passengers' feet.
>>>
>>> Then you hear him chomping away at some trashy goody tossed there by the 
>>> last passenger.  Or he dives under the seat, rump to the world, with his 
>>> nose wildly sniffing unknown substances under the bench, with his collar 
>>> and leash at an angle   no leash correction can counteract without 
>>> drama. Or your nicely groomed dog emerges from the bus with something 
>>> gross stuck to his haunch.  Or someone at work asks you if your dog has 
>>> cut himself, and you discover a wad of stickiness the shape of a slash 
>>> along his leg that cleans off with no underlying wound.  Or your dog's 
>>> jaws are working eagerly when you check on him under that bus bench and 
>>> you correct him, reach in, and pull out something ghastly.  Or you rise 
>>> from that bus bench to disembark only to realize that the back thigh of 
>>> one of your pant legs where you've sat has become, er, moist!
>>>
>>> All of this has happened to Alvin and me during the past few months, on 
>>> a busline that originates in my very nice neighborhood, then goes across 
>>> town and back.
>>>
>>> Never before in Seattle or in other cities have I encountered such dirty 
>>> busses.  Never have I had to worry about my dog getting into trouble, or 
>>> my being grossed out, because passengers threw their garbage under the 
>>> seats or the busses weren't cleaned .
>>>
>>> I keep Alvin under the bus seat because Seattle's  electrified busses 
>>> lurch all the time, go up and down steep hills, and are hazardous for a 
>>> sitting guide not clamped firmly between his handler's knees (hard to do 
>>> in a pencil skirt!).  Alvin's too big to squeeze into the space between 
>>> the front-facing seats, or I'd have him sit there with me, next to the 
>>> window.
>>>
>>> I shudder to think about having to sweep the bus seat with my hand 
>>> before sitting to make sure it's dry!
>>>
>>> I'm about to write to Metro Transit about this situation, but don't 
>>> expect much more than sympathy, owing to budget cuts county-wide that 
>>> have probably caused Metro to cut corners on cleaning.
>>>
>>> Anyone have the same beef?
>>>
>>> Taxi, please,
>>>
>>> Elizabeth
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
>
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