CTA Tattler

I've seen her on the 78 and the 151. Unless there's more than one of them.

Imagine if fewer of us had censors.

I believe that no one has a given right to speak abusively about others, but hopefully people on her bus were able to acknowledge a mental condition and were able to be patient until she was out of their presence.

I'm a black guy and even *I* catch hell from people who speak that way.

Some days i'm inches from spewing incredibly tart venom back, but after counting to ten, TURNING UP MY IPOD, I realize that I can get through it.

So you see why so many of us have things stuck in our ears when we're in/on/near the CTA? :)

I'm not a Jewel spokesperson or anything, but the one at Broadway and Berwyn has every sort of person you might care to see.

That bus stop always, always, always has crazy folks standing at it. It's also always late (I usually see two or three or even FOUR buses all come at once), and doesn't save me very much time. Yeah, I don't ride that one often...

Mentally ill people sure are inconvenient.

So are overly self-righteous people, bets.

By your qualification "overly" I assume there is some degree of self-righteousness you do find acceptable. Or perhaps any degree of compassion is inconvenient.

I would find some perspective on the inconvenience of smellly people vs. what it's like to be mentally ill and living on the CTA most refreshing. Why not direct your frustration to the source of the problem rather than those suffering? Deepkid, you got it right.

Feeling inconvenienced does not equal having a lack of compassion. Certainly, I'm not without compassion for people with mental illnesses, and I'm damned sure that having one is plenty more inconvenient than just encountering someone who does. However, having to put up with someone who is obnoxious, whether because of a mental illness that causes them to spout random profanities, or any other reason (say... being smelly), is certainly inconvenient. The definition of the word is "not suited to one's comfort, purpose, or needs". When I am trying to have a pleasant ride home, yes, the mentally ill AND the particularly odorous are all sorts of inconvenient. It's just the truth.

I dunno... Unless someone can explain to me a situation where being subjected against one's will to racist profanity would NOT be inconvenient. Doesn't mean I can't feel for the person, doesn't mean I can't try to understand their situation. But doing so doesn't suddenly make the situation any more enjoyable for anyone, does it.

I guess the general feeling I got from the orginal post was, "It was crucial that I make the connection. The lady with the bags made me miss it." I also felt that the original post was more of an interesting story piece than a rant.

Candice, you bring up some interesting thoughts regarding inconvenience. In response, I would say that many posts on this site, including yours, have more to do with entitlement than convenience. Which begs the question, "What exactly is a CTA passenger entitled to?" I am not so sure that the list would include a ride free from noise, foul smell, or people that generally annoy or disgust you.

I don't think that I'm entitled to any of those things, except for possibly the removal of foul smells that aren't directly related to any of the passengers (I definitely think they need to figure out a way to clean the cars on the red line more often). Anyone that is being unnecessarily annoying or disgusting... they need to be considered case by case. Someone who is just being an asshole should certainly be kicked off of the bus, but as I said, I tolerate others who can't help their situation. I don't like it, and I might complain sometimes, but I deal with it.

hi.
i'm not a spokesperson for jewel or anything, but i work at a jewel, and if a person like that woman comes into our store, ruins our bathroom (we're not one of the big, new jewels, so the restrooms are shared by customers and employees, and of course the homeless non-customers), verbally harasses employees and customers, "samples" our produce, etc., we're not allowed to do anything about it. unless there's a physical threat to people, we can't do anything. so any mistreatment at a jewel that this woman is talking about is either imagined, or she just brought it on herself.

also, have you ever noticed how at irving park and sheridan, the westbound buses will just all stack up at the end of the block (i think broadway, by the hospital?) and just sit there forever? it's just one of the most irritating things, especially when i was still commuting to wright college from rogers park and being late for classes all the time because they won't just move their buses. sometimes it's 15, 20, even 45 minutes until they decide to start up a bus and go, and you can usually see them over at the beginning of the route the whole time.

Everyone is too polite to say it but my guess is that we are talking about a Black mentally ill homeless woman, right? If she has been dealing with racist Chicago all her life, the redlining, slum schools, substandard housing, crappy jobs, etc. it couldn't be surprising that these issues have something to do with her current state of illness and unhappiness. Umm, it's White people that are behind that shit for the most part - always has been, always will be - I can't blame her for having a rant against White people. It's good for you to experience pure unfettered verbal abuse because of your skin color - puts you in their shoes for a moment - they dealt with that shit all their lives. I know some of you young white yuppie kids didn't live here when Chicago was much more savagely open with its racism than it is now, but I tell you, it was a terrible, terrible thing to behold, and these poor dears had to live through it. Poor thing - I always think of these things and it makes it much easier to cut them slack when they start calling me names - just think of all the names she endured - it broke her mind.

The richest country in the world in one of the richest cities in the world cannot supply the most basic affordable housing needs - hence your people living on the trains. God knows Daley has tried his utmost to hide these people - we don't want to offend the tourists, don't you know, but they exist and I'm glad they ruin your life, because they are there and they are hurting and you should be helping them. But for the grace of God it could be you; a couple of missed paychecks, no healthcare, a serious illness, and there you are. Cut some slack - you will find this in any large city, and you consider yourself a slick metropolitan now, don't you?

Well said Essie :D