Morris rides the red line from Shady Grove to downtown D.C. every weekday morning. "I hate getting on a train after 7 [am] 'cause you have to deal with the 'bus people'." The Shady Grove station is an important bus terminal for Montgomery County. "They go to the turnstiles as one mass of humanity and I have no shot at a seat. Such arrogance." Morris' claim that they smell, get caught in doors, and are "lame" were unfounded by NOTM.
"If I'm really running late and catch a train around 8 [am], I not only deal with a greater concentration of bus people, but also the older folks who don't move quickly." Morris, not one to shy from ageism, is not a fan of any demographic other than the one he's in.
Morris doesn't discriminate. Bus people of all kinds are obstacles to his Metro ride.
When NOTM caught up with Morris this morning, he was on the train at 8:17. Having ran through the tunnel to beat the latest wave of bus people up the escalators, he grabbed the last empty seat - a seat for the disabled and elderly when necessary. He sat next to a man in a full leg cast and across from a blind woman and a man with a walking cane.
Morris read his Washington Post Express without issue until the White Flint stop. It was there that 78-year-old Beth Steinkatz, one month removed from her second broken hip surgery in the last year, boarded the train. Unable to maneuver herself into one of the row seats many had offered her, she assumed the least disabled and elderly rider sitting in the four special seats would offer her a place to rest.
Never one to be kind, generous, and charitable, Morris buried his head in the newspaper. "The moment I saw granny weeble-wobbling her way aboard, I kept reading. I kept my eyes low enough because keeping my seat mattered."
This is a NOTM reenactment of Ms. Steinkatz and her cane if she was a he.
Ms. Steinkatz continued staring down Morris, but to no avail. Pleas from passengers to "standup and don't be a douche" and "stop being a jerk, we know you hear us" had no effect. Ms. Steinkatz had no choice, but to stand the rest of the way.
Finally, Morris neared his stop, well rested to be sure, and got into position for his station. "I'm at the door one station before mine so I can easily beat the bus people and everyone else out to my station's exit. Nobody wants to be behind the stench of those weirdos."
The door opening chime rang as Morris stood by the door. Ms. Steinkatz took her cane and jammed it into his back, not-ever-so politely pushing him out the door - one stop early. Amid clapping and cheers, she took Morris' seat and waved goodbye to him and his sullen face on the platform.
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