I lowered to the Metrorail platform after a concert one night and stared blankly forward for several minutes, until my friend's horrified gaze penetrated my fatigue. After a long pause post-eye contact she quietly said, "My friends pee on the platform."
Oh. Oh. Oh, gross. Ew. I mean, I heard over the platform (bzzzzt!) but...really? Well, I guess that makes sense. Very good friend, what do your pals do inside the train?
...They whiz there too? Well that is simply unacceptable.
Wizzing in public: it's a no brainer that you shouldn't do it. Right? (Before we wage another no holds barred war, let's first recognize that public urination is against the law. You probably won't get arrested, but it's not allowed.)
Unless you're drunk. Unless you're riding the train in New York (or Chicago, though my trains are disturbingly clean, CTA Tattler has more evidence than I do).
New York Times writer Mireya Navarro experienced the unfortunate situation herself earlier this month riding the 2 on Superbowl Sunday:
I said I would be getting off the train soon and would report the man’s actions to the proper authorities. They should remove him, I argued, before other unsuspecting riders walked into the car and had to deal with him and the mess.
The consensus seemed to be that this was a bad idea.
“All they’ll do is take the train out of service, and we’ll all be stuck,” a woman said.
“Yeah, it’s not worth it,” a man said. Others nodded.
I wavered. I worried about other riders, and about the man, so out of it that he had no clue where he was or what he had done. Someone should take care of him and the mess. What would any normal person do?
Sometimes Metro riders befall the same fate. So far, I've been saved from the disturbing display of relief, but my sister hasn't, and many Metro riders haven't either.
I know it's "hard" to "behave" under the influence, but is it too much to ask to see the train as more than a large, moving urinal? I know it's hard not having restrooms inside Metro stations, but hold it in until you find a public restroom, okay?
To answer Navarro's question, I think it's generally noble when someone see a gross violation and works to have it fixed. I wonder how Metro would handle the situation. Does WMATA shut down the train, too? Has anyone been involved in this situation on Metro? How did it end?
Strangers on a No. 2 Train, in a Debate, via NYT
Subway Commute Club, Rule 1: Keep The Train In Service via Gothamist
If you pee on the train and they find out, it's out of service via The Perils of Public Transportation, my transit blog
Comments
Urinating in the station or on the train is an angry, ignorant, drunkard thing to do. Loser comes to mind, as well. It's worse than littering in my opinion, as the residual is most foul and unsanitary.
My brother was riding the red line inbound a few weeks ago on a saturday night when someone dropped a deuce on the train. He notified the operator by way of the intercom and they shut the train down, someone came in, and cleaned it up, and the train resumed service. the guy was kicked out of the station. if I remember the train stopped at white flint after the notification, where a police officer escorted the guy out and after like 20 minutes someone came in and cleaned/disenfected the area. train was good to go, all in all, in a half an hour...
Metrorail riders are allowed to use the station restrooms!!!
I am the activist who fought a long battle to make sure that metrorail riders could use the station restrooms. Please don't tell people they can not.
See www.americanrestroom.org/metrorail for more info
Robert Brubaker
American Restroom Association
Oh, no Robert! I didn't mean that riders aren't allowed to use the restrooms in the stations, I meant that they can't use the station as a restroom. And that when a restroom can't be found, to "hold it."
Thanks for fighting for restrooms! I'm the kind of person benefiting from Google Maps plotting public restrooms in major cities. :)
<i>I know it's hard not having restrooms inside Metro stations...</i>
except there ARE restrooms inside the metro stations. you just have to ask the station manager where they are.
Is there a restroom in every station? Maybe Metro is only coy with me. To which my bladder cries foul.
Isn't the point here that you need to refrain from using the station and car as a restroom?
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