Life Watch l Glass Eaters on the MRT Station

Since my work place is far from my home, and I don't have a car or motorcycle, the MRT is my main means of transportation to travel around the city. After working for nearly a year, I have also been a MRT commuter for almost a year. In the process of taking the MRT, I often want to go crazy, especially when I encounter "glass eaters" during the rush hour to and from get off work.

The so-called "glass eaters" is a term I came up with, referring to those who block the way of others, not because of physical limitations and illnesses. The name is inspired by the Cantonese word for "eating glass to grow up". "Growing up by eating glass" describes the behavior of people who block the view of others while they are watching TV or a movie. "Glass" is transparent, which means that those who block the sight of others, think that they are transparent and block them in front of others.

Five types of "glass eaters"

I encounter "glass eaters" almost every day. After my observation and sorting during this period of time, I divided this group into five categories.

Category 1: Sudden braking type

This type of person will suddenly stop in the process of walking. The person behind may be too close to the brake and hit it directly, causing a "man-made accident". Not only that, during the peak hours of commuting to get off work, it is likely to cause problems such as "can't get on the bus" or "crowded congestion".

I have often encountered a situation where the person walking in front will suddenly stop at the door and look around when they enter the carriage in order to find a seat, or the moment they step into the door of the carriage, their movement speed drops sharply. Especially when the warning sound of the car closing sounded, and I was approaching the door, but I was blocked by such people to continue to move forward, which made me super worried that I would not be caught by the door.

As for the problem that I found that it would cause crowd congestion, it was because I took the MRT to get off work a few days ago. When I got to the station and was about to go up the stairs to the exit, a woman in front suddenly stopped when she was going forward. It was rush hour after get off work, and many people were queuing up to take the stairs. And the width of the stairs is not wide, and the other side is the crowd moving downward. One of his "sudden brakes" caused the long line of people behind to stop, or he could only drill a passage from the gap between the crowds on the stairs, causing the situation to be blocked instantly by the crowds.

What annoyed me even more was that the woman braked suddenly, not because of a physical condition that made it difficult to move, but to swipe her phone.

The second category: sudden turn around

This type of person has the same effect as the "sudden brake type". This type will suddenly move back in the process of moving forward. In addition to causing the person behind you to accidentally bump into it, if you are lucky, there may also be a romantic kiss.

This type of people, I rarely encounter, but they will cause more lethality. Because the movement of turning back came so suddenly, the people in the back had no time to react and continued to move forward, which multiplied the reaction forces caused by both sides, and the lethality should be stronger than that of the first type.

The third category: leisure walking type

This type of people should account for the bulk. Refers to those who move very slowly and use the MRT station as a park for a walk. When in a hurry, this type of person can really make you want to roll your eyes.

I ran into this type of person on my way to work this morning on the MRT. I need to switch from the green line to the blue line on my way to work. But the car I transfer to is some distance away from the car I get off from, I need to take the escalator and walk quickly to the blue line car, otherwise it is easy to miss and have to wait for the next bus. Although the wait for the next bus is only a few minutes, it is enough to make me the key to getting to the office on time.

Just this morning, as usual, I walked quickly to the escalator, ready to transfer. I already saw the blue line train waiting from the escalator. As everyone knows, an uncle in front is walking in the middle of the escalator, moving forward at a very leisurely and slow speed, and I can't find a gap to drill forward. In the end, I could only watch the train drive away.

Fortunately, I wasn't late because of this, but if he wanted to walk slowly and lean on one side, he wouldn't block the way for those behind him who wanted to move fast, would he?

Category 4: Unwilling to move

This category refers to those who are already in the MRT cars, but have been concentrated in the area by the door. This leads to crowding in the area near the door, but there is still a lot of space in the middle section between the door and the door of the carriage.

Although the killing caused by such people is not more direct than the above three types of people, but when you are in a hurry, this kind of people will really make people popular.

Sometimes I have an appointment with a friend after get off work and need to rush. When I was queuing up to enter the MRT, because there were a lot of people queuing in front of me, after the person standing in front of me got into the carriage, and before it was my turn, I could no longer squeeze into anyone from the door of the carriage. people. But when I moved my eyes slightly and looked at the position of the middle section of the carriage, I found that the area was actually very empty. As long as someone was willing to move to the middle section, I should be able to enter the carriage without having to wait for the next bus.

Category 5: Hybrid

This type has two or more of the above type characteristics. For example, a person who bows his head and walks slowly is likely to walk slowly while sliding his phone. At a certain moment, the upper body of the "sudden turning type" soul made a sharp turn around.

Some of my thoughts on "glass eaters": angry but powerless

Although the "glass eaters" did not commit any heinous crimes, I believe that most of the "glass eaters" did not maliciously try to obstruct the way of others. Strictly speaking, their impact on the world, in addition to the possible collisions mentioned above, probably directly affects the moving speed of other MRT passengers, and indirectly affects the efficiency of the world's operation, right?

However, every time I meet someone who "eats glass", I instantly get angry. Not only angry with each other, but also angry with yourself.

How can you be so mad at the other party? Why do you lower your head and slide your phone in the MRT, or you have to turn back temporarily, but you can't observe the people next to you? Or when you are in the car, you can't move your position a little so that passengers waiting Squeeze into the car. Especially when you are in a hurry, when you meet these people, your anger value will be doubled.

I'm also angry that I can't swear at these people, I can only be silently scolded by me in my heart. At most, there is a squinting that is a bit cowardly with unpleasant emotions. After all, they did not make any unforgivable mistakes, and maybe they are now. There's a reason for having to slow down, but it's just not being seen. And it is really unreasonable to require everyone to be sensitive to changes happening around the environment. For the "glass eaters", I just lack tolerance and patience. To a certain extent, it is also my own lack of self-cultivation. I should not add the anger generated by my impatience to the other party.

Therefore, under the pull of reason and sensibility, at the moment when something happens, in just a few seconds, one will subconsciously choose to cater to social expectations and norms, and want to be a good person instead of a "just devil". In the end, he could only dare to speak out.

Since you can't scold in person, write an article to express it! Although such expectations are unreasonable, I still hope that the number of "glass eaters" will be greatly reduced in the future. Every passenger walking in the MRT station in the world can pay attention to the movements around them. Maybe the world will run more smoothly. Be more efficient!

Finished on 2022.01.28