Boston - Starting today, the MBTA’s “Quiet Car” program will be extended to all 13 Massachusetts commuter rail lines. The cars, where passengers are asked to refrain from cellphone use or conversations above a whisper, received rave reviews from commuter rail passengers during a three-month trial on the Fitchburg and Franklin lines this spring. The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co. runs the commuter lines for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. When the MBTA surveyed commuters during the trial run, 90 percent said they hoped the program would become permanent. Mimes hired by the MBCR will make an appearance at North and South stations this evening to distribute cards listing the dos and don’ts of quiet car decorum. Each train’s quiet zone is located on the car nearest the locomotive. The mandatory quiet on those cars will only be imposed during peak commuting hours, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays.
This has disaster written all over it. I mean can you imagine the first time some Mime or Conductor lady in a pantsuit hands a "please be quiet" card to an obnoxiously loud passenger? I'd pay upwards of $50 to watch that go down. Just have a flip-cam ready to capture the whole youtube-worthy scene go down, gauranteed a million hits...because if there is one thing that outrages people more than loud and obnoxious neighbors in public places, it's being told you're being too loud.
It's just about the worst thing you can say to someone from what I can tell. I'm not sure why, but it sets people off like you wouldn't believe, you'd think someone just insinuated that they'd been fornicating their grandmother 3 nights a week or something. Just an irrational trigger, a force of nature.
