T-Shaming: Everyone’s Doing It
When you’re jam-packed, shoulder-to-shoulder, with other passengers on the MBTA, it’s easy to get frustrated as they become unaware of their surroundings, carrying on with daily activities like eating offensive-smelling food or keeping up with their personal hygiene.
And since politely asking (or yelling) at someone to stop whatever annoying thing they’re doing is often too confrontational—come on, who wants to tell the guy blasting his music without headphones on to stop?—the next best thing is to take a photo of them and share it online.
That’s right, T-Shaming.
Since the MBTA itself started pushing for people to use their See/Say app to report what they see on the T, the rules on taking photos on the transit line have become more lax. And, of course, as more social media sites emerge, the ease of which one can call out a fellow rider has become a common occurrence—as evidenced by the photos below. And while privacy issues have been taken into account, with so many smartphones on board, it’s a bit hard to avoid, unfortunately.
So what is T-shaming? Take, for example, this call out by sarahazel_ on Instagram. Sarah was presumably just trying to get home, but had her commute interrupted by a woman who couldn’t wait to kick off her shoes after a long day, and decided to do so on the T:
Photo via sarahazel on Instagram
Then there is this guy, just living the dream with his two best friends, casually crawling around the Orange Line. Riders were likely more upset that his bag was taking up an empty seat.
On the slightly more awkward end of the MBTA-riding spectrum: PDA. @JSDwyer couldn’t stand being stuck next to this couple on the T. “MUST you f*** right in front on me on the Orange Line?” he tweeted:
Or, how about shaming the MBTA itself? Here’s one from Instagram user “dingie” that shows the aftermath of a run-in with a bus. “Thank you MBTA bus driver, you almost ripped my arm off my shoulder,” he said. For shame, MBTA, for shame.
Photo via dingie on Instagram
Then, of course, there’s this:
https://twitter.com/SamIAmntha/status/378569879710085120
