With every five bad Metro stories comes a good one, so I'll share my good one.
One the second of three crowded Metro trains this morning, I noticed a fine young gentleman (think Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel Air) anticipating people needing a seat, and he moved his large suitcase onto his lap. After scanning to make sure there weren't any pregnant, elderly, disabled or blind people who might need to seat, I took it and thanked him.
I'm just amazed at the different experience that is Metro vs. VRE. One time I got on a nearly empty VRE car and absentmindedly put my backpack on the seat next to me. Soon thereafter a VRE conductor approached me and insisted that I put th backpack on the ground because:
a. potential patrons might want that seat
b. I should NEVER put my backpack on a seat because it could "potentially get dirt on a seat that a patron might sit down in."
I wish THAT guy had been working on the Metro train when I had my encounter with Precious.
Another oddity is that Metro doesn't allow food on the train whereas VRE does (MARC even lets you consume your own alcohol (!), and yet there seem to be much more good spills on Metro.
