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MTA Gives Up Asking Subway Riders To "Please Be Patient"
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 9, 2011
Modified Nov 9, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 9, 2011
Modified Nov 9, 2011
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After a decade of scolding customers to "please be patient" during a delay, the MTA has finally changed its tune. No more will pre-recorded announcements and human subway conductors hector straphangers to indulge incompetence with their "patience." We've seethed for years about this subtly discourteous message, which not only presumes passengers are impatient, but also offers no apology for the problem. How about thank you for your patience, and we're sorry? Is that so hard? And while we're at it, must the "stand clear of the closing doors" guy sound so goofy?
"Over the years, we have received some complaints from customers, who interpreted the messages as an admonishment," MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz tells the Post. In fact, there's even a Facebook page called "NYC Subway Conductor: Stop telling me to be patient. Start being competent" which states that "For minutes on end, you are told nothing, then finally the conductor comes on with broken English through a weak speaker and announces, 'Ladies and gentlemen. We are being held temporarily. Please be patient.' If that last sentences enrages you, this is your group." We only wish we'd known about this group sooner, because now we're late to the rage party just as it's breaking up.
The new automated announcements will come with an actual apology from the MTA (which makes up for everything!). Ortiz says, "This has been implemented systemwide, although there are probably a few scattered trains that don't have it." In other words, please be patient.
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patience is its own reward
please be patient
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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