1 post tagged “bart stop macarthur station stereotypes”
So I'm riding on the Richmond BART line tonight (around 6:20p), heading home from work (Oakland) and we roll up to MacArthur station. It's a big transfer point, so hella people are getting on and off....on and off...on..and off...I've only been on for one station but it's crowded. I've been sitting all day, but don't quite feeling like balancing my azz the whole way home so am hoping/praying someone gets off so I can snag they seat. (ghetto, I know).
A woman gets on and wheels in her bike (from North Face) which, at that point, ends up taking up a good part of the doorway. She was very courteous and polite which is always cool, but I'm looking at her and she has an old Oscar the Grouch green sweater on (over two layers of white T's), worn-in jeans, and some, uh, very used cross trainers. Her hair is blonde and braided down both sides, but frayed every which way, probably cuz she's been husslin' all over town in the fog on her North Face bike. No makeup and lots of bags (looks like she's been out shopping) hanging on anything it can hang on to.
My question is: is it bad for me to blame her for the sudden smell of patchouli and guess that she's getting off at Ashby so she can bike over to Berkeley Bowl to pick up some soy pasta, summer squash and organic lentils? Or what about the dude in the black suit, with gold twist cufflinks and grey knit scarf that's so fashionably thrown around his neck, who's holding the matching Coach briefcase and trying to catch up on his Economist subscription? I'd almost bet the last 60 cents on my BART ticket that he's getting out at El Cerrito Plaza or del Norte at the farthest cuz you know his BMW wouldn't last the whole day unscarred in the lot at the *end* of the line--he'd at least have a 60% chance at one of the El Cerrito stations.
I know...it's bad. It perpetuates people stereotyping and all that other bad stuff we can't seem to quit doing---but come on, you know you do it. I mean, how else would we know when to pack up our junk so we can shift over in time to let someone out from a window seat? :-)
