Tax Boy: Nogale: Perhaps if people could be troubled to wear actual shoes or sandals rather than shuffling around in flip-flops, this wouldn't be a problem.

I just don't get flip-flops. I wear them in the locker room and at the pool, and they're not particularly good shoes to walk around in.

You've got to wonder about the quality of these tourists' footwear if they're thinking "I'm going to walking several miles around DC to visit museums and memorials. I should wear my comfortable shoes for this."

/Fun fact: Did you know that DC is zombie apocalypse resistant because 90% of DC tourists leave their brains at home when they visit here?

A few years ago I went to Europe. Excited, I purchased some "walking in Europe" shoes which were Cole Haan Nike slingbacks. They were part Nike! They had to be comfortable!
Within 20 minutes of wearing those shoes I had to stop and put at least 4 bandaids on each foot. I wore my flip flops for the next few days after that. (I'd only had those two options on that leg of the trip).

Over the next few years I tried wearing those shoes on quick trips to the grocery store etc and had the same problem.

Anyway I think part of the problem in TFA is that the kid was wearing flip flops and the other part was that he was 14.

Flip-flops suck, Ray.

MythDragon: So the escators are now temporaily stairs?

Sorry for the convenience!

Endive Wombat: Prank Call of Cthulhu: I bet that stupid tourist motherfarker was standing on the left-hand side too. Fark him.

A few weeks ago I decided to metro into DC rather than drive, I saw a guy FREAK THE FARK OUT at this family of 4 that did not grasp escalator etiquette. Amused the hell out of me.

F those people.

DC is so proud that they figured out how escalators work, while they ignore the facts that they don't know you have to let people off a train before you can board it or that you should have your transit card out (with money on it) before you reach the exit gate.

lack of warmth: ComicBookGuy: Marcus Aurelius: I picked up a metal splinter from an escalator in the K of P mall back in '68. It was hell. Sheer hell. It was so bad I didn't have to go to Vietnam.

I didn't have to go to Vietnam in '68 because I was aged +/- 6 months that year. Damn Vietcong would have tormented me by playing "peek-a-boo!!" Or amused me. One of those.

My dad served in the Army back then and by pure luck was selected to go to Germany instead. The Vietcong never got a chance at me.

Yeah, well MY dad... enlisted in the Army in '69, 'cause he knew he was going to get drafted anyway. He was 3 weeks from graduating basic and getting his ass dropped off in 'Nam when suddenly got picked to go to West Point prep school, then got in to West Point the next year, and when he graduated in '74... the war was over for us. He is living proof that it's better to be lucky than good, because in '69 he was no-good cannon fodder. In '74, he was a freshly minted lieutenant in a peace-time Army. Life is weird.

//CSB, but it truly is. You should hear about his first day in basic training... it was like that famous scene in Full Metal Jacket.

Tax Boy: /Fun fact: Did you know that DC is zombie apocalypse resistant because 90% of DC tourists leave their brains at home when they visit here?

I, too, hate tourists.

bacongood: Endive Wombat: Prank Call of Cthulhu: I bet that stupid tourist motherfarker was standing on the left-hand side too. Fark him.

A few weeks ago I decided to metro into DC rather than drive, I saw a guy FREAK THE FARK OUT at this family of 4 that did not grasp escalator etiquette. Amused the hell out of me.

F those people.

DC is so proud that they figured out how escalators work, while they ignore the facts that they don't know you have to let people off a train before you can board it or that you should have your transit card out (with money on it) before you reach the exit gate.

I've only seen tourists not get their card out ahead of time, all the DC professionals either have it on a lanyard, bottom of the purse, or in the wallet and easily scannable.

Now if Maryland people could figure out to get the fark out of the left lane traffic in that city would be great

"It took about 40 minutes for fire and rescue personnel to free the teen from the escalator, who had four of his fingers trapped."

Okay. Sooooooo....
Was it one finger on one of his hands and three fingers from the other? Were they all on the same hand? How many fingers does he have total? If four fingers means "all of his fingers", that would be way worse. If he has an abundance of fingers, say twenty or thirty, it's no big deal. Are we supposed to assume that his fingers are on his hands or are they on some other part of his body, like his knees.
Nice reporting, Fox. Reeeaaal nice job.

bacongood: Endive Wombat: Prank Call of Cthulhu: I bet that stupid tourist motherfarker was standing on the left-hand side too. Fark him.

A few weeks ago I decided to metro into DC rather than drive, I saw a guy FREAK THE FARK OUT at this family of 4 that did not grasp escalator etiquette. Amused the hell out of me.

F those people.

DC is so proud that they figured out how escalators work, while they ignore the facts that they don't know you have to let people off a train before you can board it or that you should have your transit card out (with money on it) before you reach the exit gate.

I've lived in DC for two years (that's a long time resident for this city...) and the only people I've ever seen who did not understand the phrase "Step back to allow customers to exit" were tourists.

(Moving to the center of the car is another matter though...people just don't want to do that...)

Jon iz teh kewl: Trapper Keeper

Weird. I had the same one when I was a kid.

Flip-flops

Nogale: Perhaps if people could be troubled to wear actual shoes or sandals rather than shuffling around in flip-flops, this wouldn't be a problem.

I'm all for casual dress, but flip-flops in public are just too slovenly.

This.

The TSA has conditioned the public to dress like they're going to a garage beer bust every time they're in public.

In another thread we compared the dress of the public on home film/video at Disneyland from the 1950's to today. Back then, everyone was smartly dressed, almost if they had a modicum of self-respect; today, chock-full-o-schlubs in mismatched, wrinkled t-shirts and shorts and flip-flops -- and the higher ratio of obese land whales is shockingly obvious.

Pathetic.

Having worked in for an Escalator/Elevator company....Escalators are one of the most dangerous devices...

(however they do tend to find more dead repairmen in elevators pits than in escalators...)

They had a safety program they'd do to teach kids about escalator safety, They at least made the attempt at informing the public.

why would they have to learn? lawyers will make them come out ahead from it. it's not their fault that they're dumbasses - it's that of the company that once fixed the plumbing in the escalator company's branch sales office and eveybody else who will be sued.

So you're a tourist in D.C. Presumably you're going to do a lot of walking. Why flip-flops?

This dude doesn't know how to tie a pair of shoes. We're raising a whole generation of people confounded by shoelaces.

The First Noel: Having worked in for an Escalator/Elevator company....Escalators are one of the most dangerous devices...

(however they do tend to find more dead repairmen in elevators pits than in escalators...)

They had a safety program they'd do to teach kids about escalator safety, They at least made the attempt at informing the public.

I'd guess the dead repairmen are more from atmospheric conditions rather than an elevator killing them. A 4 gas meter isn't that expensive or hard to operate.

People need more confined space training.

Endive Wombat: A few weeks ago I decided to metro into DC rather than drive, I saw a guy FREAK THE FARK OUT at this family of 4 that did not grasp escalator etiquette. Amused the hell out of me.

I actually had a few people on Fark say that I was an unreasonable person for yelling ahead at a woman who was blocking the left side of an escalator (another Metro related thread of course). Woman wouldn't move, just gave me the stink eye. I hit the platform and try to hurry but the door slid closed and rolled out just as I reached it. Oh, and this was a Sunday. I had to wait over half an hour for the next train.

/she was wearing a Cherry Blossom tee shirt
//definitely an out of towner ass

It should be legal to shove escalefters. Or at least verbally assaulted until such time as: a) they farking move, b) they apologize, THEN move, c) they realize that the shame they have brought on their families and their country is too great to bear, and throw themselves from the movable walkway to the pavement below. An honorable death, and they've moved.

// seriously - the seat of farking government is here
// act like the people around you have better things to do than gawk with you at your pasty navel

The problem was Tooms didn't want to let go of his snack.

I had an escalator rip my pants off when I was a kid.

It would have been much better as an adult, I would have had a reason to be creepy instead of just being creepy.

bboy: So you're a tourist in D.C. Presumably you're going to do a lot of walking. Why flip-flops?

This dude doesn't know how to tie a pair of shoes. We're raising a whole generation of people confounded by shoelaces.

I just spent a day in Amsterdam followed by a week in Israel. 6 miles walking in AMS, and a farkton more in Jerusalem - all in flip flops, and I had no complaints. You need to be heartier.

// and I'm not in any sort of shape
// maybe don't walk so fast?

Bedstead Polisher:A few years ago I went to Europe. Excited, I purchased some "walking in Europe" shoes which were Cole Haan Nike slingbacks. They were part Nike! They had to be comfortable!
Within 20 minutes of wearing those shoes I had to stop and put at least 4 bandaids on each foot. I wore my flip flops for the next few days after that. (I'd only had those two options on that leg of the trip).

Over the next few years I tried wearing those shoes on quick trips to the grocery store etc and had the same problem.

Anyway I think part of the problem in TFA is that the kid was wearing flip flops and the other part was that he was 14.

Almost all of my shoes are Cole Haan Nike Air (and yes I wear them to Europe). They do have a break in period for the top half but after a few wears they are comfortable as all hell.

I hate wearing flip-flops or sandals but I needed something I could use as a water shoe to take my kids water sliding. I went barefoot last year and it killed my arches. So I got these, and so far they've been the best $40 I've ever spent on footwear:



/yes, I know I look like a complete moran wearing them

INeedAName: I wore flip flops yesterday with no great calamity. Wearing them again today!

I am sooo going to step on your toes today!

Girion47: I've only seen tourists not get their card out ahead of time, all the DC professionals either have it on a lanyard, bottom of the purse, or in the wallet and easily scannable.

I haven't worked in DC in three years and haven't been back to DC in two, and my fare card is still in the back of my wallet. There's still 10 bucks on it, too. Just in case.
/Commuting to DC took all the fun out of going to DC.
//CSB

*facepalm* If only tourists,like cicadas,showed up every 17 years.....

This?

lilacjive: Bedstead Polisher:A few years ago I went to Europe. Excited, I purchased some "walking in Europe" shoes which were Cole Haan Nike slingbacks. They were part Nike! They had to be comfortable!
Within 20 minutes of wearing those shoes I had to stop and put at least 4 bandaids on each foot. I wore my flip flops for the next few days after that. (I'd only had those two options on that leg of the trip).


Almost all of my shoes are Cole Haan Nike Air (and yes I wear them to Europe). They do have a break in period for the top half but after a few wears they are comfortable as all hell.

I don't believe you. I have another pair of Cole Haan flats that I wore the other day and they are the worst shoes I've ever put on my feet. I hate shoe shopping though, so until I get around to buying a new pair of black flats, I'll continue to torture myself.

INeedAName: I wore flip flops yesterday with no great calamity. Wearing them again today!

Or you could wear real shoes and pretend that you have any shred of dignity

So, how many of you bemoaning the slovenly nature of flip-flops also whinge about women having a zillion pairs of shoes?


/vaulted arches

As much as I don't care for flip-flops at least their not crocs. Apparently kids wearing those on the escalator is the biggest problem these days, not to mention apparently their really bad for growing feet. I'm surprised they're still allowed to be on the market.

I fell down an escalator when I was six, I refused to go on them for a few years because I was convinced that they wanted to eat me.

/I'm still a little apprehensive when I take the first step

robertus: Girion47: I've only seen tourists not get their card out ahead of time, all the DC professionals either have it on a lanyard, bottom of the purse, or in the wallet and easily scannable.

I haven't worked in DC in three years and haven't been back to DC in two, and my fare card is still in the back of my wallet. There's still 10 bucks on it, too. Just in case.
/Commuting to DC took all the fun out of going to DC.
//CSB

I moved away in january, my smarttrip is still in my wallet with money on it.

Of course my company has an office in DC and I may be back for work in the area, but still.

i took a full handtruck (6) totes of cake down a escalator approx.150 lbs it jammed on the base and i started to slide under the load I got a adrenal rush and pushed the load ahead of me and staggered to my feet. It took me about 1hour before my pulse rate returned to normal.

Maybe he should've used a scooter instead

or maybe not

I read this story every year and I've never figured out how it happens. There's like one tenth of an inch of clearance between the escalator stair and the metal teeth. You'd have to shove the flip flop in there to even partially eat it. I don't even know how you'd get one, let alone four, fingers in there after the flip flop. Are the Smithsonian escalators different than the rest of the orange line?

Also, tourists taking pictures of the Rosslyn escalator can EABOD. Where in America is so backwoods that an escalator is a photo op? I can imagine them showing the pictures to their friends. "Here is the Jefferson Memorial. Here is the WWII Memorial. Oh, and here's a huge farking escalator! It was farking amazing!"

KatjaMouse: Endive Wombat: A few weeks ago I decided to metro into DC rather than drive, I saw a guy FREAK THE FARK OUT at this family of 4 that did not grasp escalator etiquette. Amused the hell out of me.

I actually had a few people on Fark say that I was an unreasonable person for yelling ahead at a woman who was blocking the left side of an escalator (another Metro related thread of course). Woman wouldn't move, just gave me the stink eye. I hit the platform and try to hurry but the door slid closed and rolled out just as I reached it. Oh, and this was a Sunday. I had to wait over half an hour for the next train.

/she was wearing a Cherry Blossom tee shirt
//definitely an out of towner ass

If that woman is still breathing, you showed her more courtesy than she deserves.

Bleyo: Also, tourists taking pictures of the Rosslyn escalator can EABOD. Where in America is so backwoods that an escalator is a photo op? I can imagine them showing the pictures to their friends. "Here is the Jefferson Memorial. Here is the WWII Memorial. Oh, and here's a huge farking escalator! It was farking amazing!"

Tourists sure are stupid. Every local knows that if you want to see a photo-worthy metro escalator, go to Wheaton.

/sometimes it even works!

Bleyo: I read this story every year and I've never figured out how it happens. There's like one tenth of an inch of clearance between the escalator stair and the metal teeth. You'd have to shove the flip flop in there to even partially eat it. I don't even know how you'd get one, let alone four, fingers in there after the flip flop. Are the Smithsonian escalators different than the rest of the orange line?

Also, tourists taking pictures of the Rosslyn escalator can EABOD. Where in America is so backwoods that an escalator is a photo op? I can imagine them showing the pictures to their friends. "Here is the Jefferson Memorial. Here is the WWII Memorial. Oh, and here's a huge farking escalator! It was farking amazing!"

Those magical stairs was a movin' all by em selves--where did they go? Where did they go?

And then we went to the biggest Walmart in the whole world.

Flip-flops annoy me. They look like shiat. Meh. And get off my lawn, whippersnappers!

lohphat: Nogale: Perhaps if people could be troubled to wear actual shoes or sandals rather than shuffling around in flip-flops, this wouldn't be a problem.

I'm all for casual dress, but flip-flops in public are just too slovenly.

This.

The TSA has conditioned the public to dress like they're going to a garage beer bust every time they're in public.

In another thread we compared the dress of the public on home film/video at Disneyland from the 1950's to today. Back then, everyone was smartly dressed, almost if they had a modicum of self-respect; today, chock-full-o-schlubs in mismatched, wrinkled t-shirts and shorts and flip-flops -- and the higher ratio of obese land whales is shockingly obvious.

Pathetic.

How the hell do you mismatch t-shirts and shorts? It's a T-shirt. It's a pair of shorts. They match.

Girion47: bacongood: Endive Wombat: Prank Call of Cthulhu: I bet that stupid tourist motherfarker was standing on the left-hand side too. Fark him.

A few weeks ago I decided to metro into DC rather than drive, I saw a guy FREAK THE FARK OUT at this family of 4 that did not grasp escalator etiquette. Amused the hell out of me.

F those people.

DC is so proud that they figured out how escalators work, while they ignore the facts that they don't know you have to let people off a train before you can board it or that you should have your transit card out (with money on it) before you reach the exit gate.

I've only seen tourists not get their card out ahead of time, all the DC professionals either have it on a lanyard, bottom of the purse, or in the wallet and easily scannable.

Now if Maryland people could figure out to get the fark out of the left lane traffic in that city would be great

Every other day on my way home the line has to stop for someone to dig out their paper card and then act shocked when it is zero-ed out. These are not tourists, so I hope the new paper penalty stops this.

Airportmatt:
I've lived in DC for two years (that's a long time resident for this city...) and the only people I've ever seen who did not understand the phrase "Step back to allow customers to exit" were tourists.

(Moving to the center of the car is another matter though...people just don't want to do that...)

The morning commute is just a line of people trying to get in the door as soon as it opens. This is before the tourists are awake.

A working escalator!?!?? On the Metro?!?!? Jeez they should fine the kid for breaking it. If an escalator eats your shoe, let it go man its gone.

Work asked me a few times to transfer to a new office in DC. I told them I would for $3000 on top of what they offered just for the hassle of riding the metro cattle car in the morning. I could probably find a seat though since I live by the Shady Grove station

KatjaMouse: "... a few people on Fark say that I was an unreasonable person for yelling ahead at a woman who was blocking the left side of an escalator (another Metro related thread of course). Woman wouldn't move, just gave me the stink eye. I hit the platform and try to hurry but the door slid closed and rolled out just as I reached it. ... I had to wait over half an hour for the next train."

See, this is what a lot of folks just don't understand (including many non-DC area farkers). An escalefter isn't only a momentary annoyance; s/he is evil devil spawn from the black pit of hell, and their blocking everybody else's way adds up to much more than a minor delay of a few seconds. I've used Metro on and off for 30 years, and to commute to work and back for the past 7+ years. In that time, I have never seen the system more broken and dysfunctional than it is now. You miss a train, even on a weekday, it may take 20-30 minutes for the next one you need to come. That means you miss your bus transfer. The next thing you know, a trip that should be an hour or hour and 15 minutes is taking you twice that time to get to your destination, with at least a half-hour at the Pentagon, sweltering in the 100-degree humid heat that Washington is known for in the summer. The ridiculous fare increases are bad enough, but factor in the Metro employees who apparently delight in farking over their customers, and the infrastructure that's falling apart in front of your eyes, and you've got a recipe for real violence.

Death is too good for touristas and others who block the escalators. They need to have their fingernails and toenails pulled out with a pair of rusty pliars, one at a time.

\normally very easygoing; even went to a pacifist, Quaker high school.

FirstNationalBastard: [1.bp.blogspot.com image 400x252]

Done in one.

(Came here just to make sure this was posted.)

Tenatra: I fell down an escalator when I was six, I refused to go on them for a few years because I was convinced that they wanted to eat me.

/I'm still a little apprehensive when I take the first step

I've always wondered with the way the mechanism works, can it actually 'eat' a person? Assuming no one is there to hit the RED button won;t the escalator literally 'suck' the person into it like a grinder? or are there other safety thing built in to prevent that?

SuperNinjaToad: Tenatra: I fell down an escalator when I was six, I refused to go on them for a few years because I was convinced that they wanted to eat me.

/I'm still a little apprehensive when I take the first step

I've always wondered with the way the mechanism works, can it actually 'eat' a person? Assuming no one is there to hit the RED button won;t the escalator literally 'suck' the person into it like a grinder? or are there other safety thing built in to prevent that?

don't stick your PENIS in there!!

SuperNinjaToad: Tenatra: I fell down an escalator when I was six, I refused to go on them for a few years because I was convinced that they wanted to eat me.

/I'm still a little apprehensive when I take the first step

I've always wondered with the way the mechanism works, can it actually 'eat' a person? Assuming no one is there to hit the RED button won;t the escalator literally 'suck' the person into it like a grinder? or are there other safety thing built in to prevent that?


Um, yup, it can. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bc5_131 2420246

KatjaMouse: I actually had a few people on Fark say that I was an unreasonable person for yelling ahead at a woman who was blocking the left side of an escalator (another Metro related thread of course). Woman wouldn't move, just gave me the stink eye. I hit the platform and try to hurry but the door slid closed and rolled out just as I reached it. Oh, and this was a Sunday. I had to wait over half an hour for the next train.

/she was wearing a Cherry Blossom tee shirt
//definitely an out of towner ass


Oh that woman deserves the third rail.

Son, are you just holding on to the escalator?