CTA Tattler

Dog-gone utility bills!

Demon Dogs under the Fullerton EL stop may soon be passing the mustard AND the hat to help defray the cost of 14 years of utility bills they were ordered to pay last week.

The Illinois Court of Appeals overturned a judge's previous decision that the rock-and-roll-themed restaurant was not responsible for utility bills over the last 14 years. The owners claimed they had a verbal agreement with the CTA that the CTA would pay utilities.

But that claim didn't hold up a second time in court, according the Sun-Times report.

B.O. confrontation; the articulate insane

Today we feature a guest post from Jeff. Thanks Jeff!

"I saw two recently that would be Tattler worthy. First of all on the Red Line southbound the car I got on at Argyle reeked of B.O. There was no doubt about it, but I wasn't interested in changing cars, so I just sat down and started reading.

"So this trashy looking woman gets on at the next stop and sits in the seats across from me then immediatly jumps up. She screams, "I AIN'T SITTING HERE! IT F***ING STINKS! I KNOW WHO IT IS, IT'S YOU! (Pointing to the lady directly infront of us both.) YOU F***ING CRACK WHORE, YOU CAN F***ING GO TO HELL, I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE. AND BOOZE ON TOP OF THAT! She then preceded to change cars.

"Then on the way back northbound, it was too crowded to sit and hot and miserable, so I was standing by the door, to at least get some fresh air.

"A skinny girl with very nappy dreads was talking quietly to herself the entire time that I was on there, but a few stops before Argyle, she got up and starting talking to the people around here. She was quite well spoken, despite being totally crazy: "Trevor, you have to use that, I don't think it will work, but you have to use it. I can't tell if it's an angle or a side, but you have to use it." Then a few moments later, "You know, I can't grab the bars, because everyone on this subway is f***ing disgusting. No I changed my mind, I'm staying right here."

"She then stumbled and fell down. Got up after a few seconds and then started spitting. Sadly my stop was next, so I didn't get to see the show continue."

Body odor and altered states

Today we feature a guest post from Jeff. Thanks Jeff!

"I saw two recently that would be Tattler worthy. First of all on the Red Line southbound the car I got on at Argyle reeked of B.O. There was no doubt about it, but I wasn't interested in changing cars, so I just sat down and started reading.

"So this trashy looking woman gets on at the next stop and sits in the seats across from me then immediatly jumps up. She screams, "I AIN'T SITTING HERE! IT F***ING STINKS! I KNOW WHO IT IS, IT'S YOU! (Pointing to the lady directly infront of us both.) YOU F***ING CRACK WHORE, YOU CAN F***ING GO TO HELL, I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE. AND BOOZE ON TOP OF THAT! She then preceded to change cars.

"Then on the way back northbound, it was too crowded to sit and hot and miserable, so I was standing by the door, to at least get some fresh air.

"A skinny girl with very nappy dreads was talking quietly to herself the entire time that I was on there, but a few stops before Argyle, she got up and starting talking to the people around here. She was quite well spoken, despite being totally crazy: "Trevor, you have to use that, I don't think it will work, but you have to use it. I can't tell if it's an angle or a side, but you have to use it." Then a few moments later, "You know, I can't grab the bars, because everyone on this subway is f***ing disgusting. No I changed my mind, I'm staying right here."

"She then stumbled and fell down. Got up after a few seconds and then started spitting. Sadly my stop was next, so I didn't get to see the show continue."

From the Lost and Found Dept.

I left work a little early yesterday. I heard a train pulling out and saw the passengers streaming out the exits as I punched my Smart Card at the recalcitrant pad in the front of the turnstile. (Don’t get me started on how Smart that Card really is.)

Much to my surprise, another train was just a minute or so behind, so I boarded a fairly empty car. When I entered I spied a little pile of papers and used transit cards on one of the seats facing each other by the doors. Just more trash abandoned by yet another inconsiderate passenger, I thought.

Thirty minutes later, I got up to leave at my stop, and I impulsively bent down and picked up the two used transit cards and the neatly folded paper beneath it.

In all CAPS, the single sheet announced:

CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT

COURT 701 * BRANCH 60

You must present yourself between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. in person within 72 hours (3 days) of your court date with a copy of your court order and order of protection (if one has been issued to you) at: blah blah, (26th and California).

One transit card was empty; another had 25 cents on it with two transfers good for another 20 minutes.

I kept the transit card with a quarter on it.

And wondered about the circumstances of the poor person who needed the order of protection.

Rants at cellers

Monday I wrote about the one of the most amazing rants I ever witnessed.

The following was shared by a friend. And Gladys, notice how it starts with a celler carrying on in her own little world.

It was about 10:30 p.m. on the Red Line heading north out of Belmont.

A young white college woman is talking loudly on her phone. She has a blue mohawk and lots of facial piercings.

Not far away sits a middle-aged black woman, looking increasingly agitated. She has reddish brown hair with weave extension. She appears to be very drunk.

"Shit! Turn that f***ing cell phone off! Shit! I don't want to hear that garbage! Shit! You should read a book or do a crossword puzzle. No convesation is important enough to have on the train."

Blue-hair finally figures out red-hair is talking about her. "Well excuse me. I'm a college student. I live 500 miles from home and I'm trying to talk to my dad about getting an apartment."

"Shit! Who cares! Just turn it off!"

They continue bickering, while others on the train are snickering.

The story behind the fire story

Riders of the Red, Brown and Purple Lines since February have gawked at the back of a home gutted by fire in the 2600 block of Wilton Ave., hard by the El tracks.

Last week the home suffered another fire and had to be razed. Both the Sun-Times and the Tribune printed short reports about the fire disrupting train traffic from about 6:30 till 8:30 p.m.

But it struck me as odd that neither story reported that the original fire in February was caused by CTA ironworkers working on the tracks who didn't follow proper safety procedures.

Two of them were later fired and four disciplined by the CTA, a fact that was, strangely enough, trumpeted on its Web site.

I wonder when that lawsuit will be settled?

Early-morning rantings

It's a Monday morning. Heads are hanging low on the Red line, either buried in reading material or on various chests, napping.

But the collective back-to-work silence is broken by one of the most amazing rants I've ever witnessed.

Apparently the guy saw the page 1 Sun-Times story about the continuing dispute between the Tribune-owned Cubs and the city over Wrigely Field.

The loud rant shook us all:

"F***ing yuppies. I can't afford a ticket to Wrigley. Costs $5 for a hot dog. They should shut the place down. They can kiss my f***ing ass. F***ing yuppies."

Another rider piped up and asked for quiet.

"Who said that!" he demanded. The brave soul said: "Why don't you just deal with it and stop swearing. There are kids on the train."

"What!! I was here before you! I'm not a f***ing terrorist, but I'll tell you what...." But his voice drifted off without finishing that sentence."

Sleepy dads, sons

This summer I've seen way more Dads with kids than Moms with kids.

What's up with that?

Are Dads finally taking a greater role in sharing child care responsibilities? Are Moms making a stand and taking separate vacations from Dad and son?

As a father with one kid, I do think it's great, and certainly don't wish to perpetuate any sexual stereotypes. I'm just calling 'em as I see 'em.

Yesterday, I saw bookend sets of sleeping dads with sleeping son -- both to and from work.

It was kinda cute.

Nice gesture of the day

Nice things DO happen on the Red Line, despite the wild stuff I often report here.

This morning, folks were boarding the Red Line going south at Belmont at about 7:40. A young couple were getting on the train, with another young woman. The man in the couple spied two open seats and quickly maneuvered to grab the window seat. The other woman got ahead of his girl friend and took the aisle seat.

The guy looked up at his girl friend and shrugged, like, "Oh, well, I tried." The woman seated noticed right away and immediately got up and offered the seat to the guy's girl friend.

And everyone (including myself) got warm and fuzzy feelings about the experience.

So, nice going, pretty young lady in mid-to-late-20s, wearing a dark pink dress, black sweater and reading Michael Crichton's "Disclosure."

More smooth-talking conductors

A few of you fondly remember the "Love Train" conductor, judging from reminiscent comments on an earlier post.

Mike recalls how the Love Train conductor would comment about the stops as he traversed the city: "DePaul - the Blue Demons", "Bellllllllllllmont ..... fun city." Also there were these demographic utterances: "I remember the conductor saying after the Belmont stop, "now it's just the folks going home from work...it's the going home train."

And Merrie shared these memories:

"Maybe this wasn't the same love train conductor, but he had a smooth baritone voice, somehow missing his calling at a "smooth jazz" station. Little comments about the stops, telling people to be good to one another, etc. Around about 4 or 5 years ago.

"He was the first thing I thought about when the CTA transferred over to the automated voice.

"On rainy nights, he told people not to forget their umbrellas. It was a nice moment to see someone turn back around after he'd said that, grabbing their umbrella from beneath their vacated seat, smiling and shaking their head."