{"id":84,"date":"2015-10-30T08:51:24","date_gmt":"2015-10-30T08:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/?p=84"},"modified":"2016-02-28T16:25:50","modified_gmt":"2016-02-28T16:25:50","slug":"straphanging-the-good-the-bad-the-craze-eee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/straphanging-the-good-the-bad-the-craze-eee\/","title":{"rendered":"Straphanging: The Good, The Bad, The Craze-eee"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sanya-Kay Johnson on Jun 04, 2011<\/p>\n

\u201cCommuting is like a chronic stressor. Every day is another stress \u2013 messed up trains, the dirty rat-infested train tracks, smelly homeless people, people always begging, crowded platforms with hardly any space to walk.\u201d<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

\"crowded-medium\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So said Ruth Guiness, a Queens resident who commutes on the E<\/a> from Jamaica Avenue. \u201cThere are always a lot of people on the \u2018Ave,\u2019 especially guys walking with their drawers exposed or smoking,\u201d said 22-year-old Guiness. \u201cIt\u2019s such a turn off, one of the most frustrating things about commuting, especially when they try to hit on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The multitude of college students who can\u2019t dorm<\/a> nor live close to campus commute via mass transmit. \u201cCommuting by bus and train can be hectic,\u201d said Anthony Roberts, 18, \u201cbut since it\u2019s my only option, I try to deal with it as best I can. When I\u2019m on the train I just put in my music and mainly ignore everything going on around me but I get annoyed not only by train delays but when the train is packed and people have no respect in putting all their body parts in your face and rubbing up against you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts, a computer science major, said the lack of personal space is frustrating. \u201cI\u2019ve seen people start arguments and fights over that,\u201d said Roberts, a Canarsie resident. Indeed, said, 20-year-old Magna Blemur, \u201cI see arguments on the train almost every week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blemur, who hails from Brownsville, which she described as a \u201cdangerous area, where a lot of people get robbed over there,\u201d said she hated people who bump into her. \u201cPeople on the trains are so rude, they bump into you and don\u2019t say excuse me or sorry,\u201d said Blemur. \u201cSometimes I just want to curse them out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Train delays are a big issue for straphanging students. \u201cOnce, I left home in perfect time to get to class for an exam but the 6<\/a> train was delayed and I got to class half way through the exam,\u201d said 23-year-old Brooklyn resident Jodine Jackson. \u201cI was so upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"judgementday-small\"<\/a>Blemur shared a similar experience. \u201cOne of my worst commuting was a delay so bad that it caused me to be over 30 minutes late, when I had left my house about 20 minutes early than I usually do,\u201d said Blemur. \u201cI was livid, thinking about the sleep I missed out on and the fact that I was late.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a good day, it takes about an hour to get to school, but usually it\u2019s about an hour and 15 to 30 minutes,\u201d said Guiness. \u201cThe waiting between transfers and train traffic is what makes the difference.\u201d She also said, \u201cThe train always keeps me on my toes when it comes to timing. If I oversleep for five minutes, I have to worry whether I\u2019ll make it or not. It really bothers me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe delays are terrible,\u201d Blemur, a media studies major, said. \u201cThey make you late for class and the professor don\u2019t care, even if they are ever late themselves. It pisses me off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leidy Ramos, 21, offered another perspective. \u201cit\u2019s time of day that usually determines train delays. \u201cThe train I normally get on is pretty efficient. However, the select busses <\/a>are barely on time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy commuting experience overall is not so bad but not great either,\u201d said Ramos, who commutes 40 minutes to campus via walking, bus and train, and was sporting a basic tee, jeans and sneakers when interviewed on the Hunter West sixth-floor lounge. \u201cI have few bad commuting experience, one of my worst experience being having to wait to take the train uptown to the last stop in order to head downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guiness, a chemistry major, and Jackson and Ramos, psychology majors, spend more than a $100 a month on commuting, they said. \u201cI buy the monthly metro card,\u201d said Guiness. \u201cIt use to cost like $89 and now it\u2019s $104. I might have to stop buying it because I can\u2019t keep up with all the increases, and I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m planning my schedule, I sometimes try to get as many days off as possible because commuting is getting increasingly expensive and a day off is money saved in my pocket,\u201d said Blemur, who was stylish in her a yellow striped blouse, black vest, and white skinny jeans ensemble when interviewed on the fifth floor of Hunter North.
\nNevertheless, the expense and the nuisances sometimes porvide entertainment. \u201cI always see performers when I am taking the train,\u201d said Jackson, who was wearing jean shorts, a tank top and sandals when she was interviewed on the tenth floor of Hunter North. \u201cI often enjoy the singing and dancing I get to see when I\u2019m commuting,\u201d said Ramos, who commutes from Fordham Road in the Bronx. \u201cThe performers I usually see are really talented.\u201d<\/p>\n