"Riding the LRT: Like A Rat In A Cage..."

"Riding the LRT: Like A Rat In A Cage..."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

"Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage..."

-  Smashing Pumpkins  , from Bullet with Butterfly wings

On my way to the clinic where I work at I found myself humming this particular song from my youth. Nope no lame ass Justin Biebers or One Directions back in my day(I sound so old!). Just really awesome bands that you could bang your head to. I think the reason why I was humming this tune was that I realized that I was being herded like some sort of lab rat in a maze that was supposed to be the LRT.

Don't get me wrong I am happy that they now have a great system of stop and flow in the LRT platforms so that people are not too crowded on any given stage. What they do is they cordon off areas with rope , from the line at the bottom to the stairs to the platform itself. When a train arrives and the platform is empty there is a systemic cascade of ropes being pulled down simultaneously and allowing people to move forward.

I guess there have been too many complaints of guys mashing into women and pickpockets having their way with a lot of peoples wallets. This way the manyaks and the pickpockets are easier to spot and the forward flow discourages these people because there is literally no way of escape and a handful of guards are always visible to clobber them just in case they try to make a run for it.

Yes it is a great system that makes sure that there are fewer people to rub sweaty skins with you or fewer people who could cough on you on demand but it does kind of feel like being pushed through some sort of maze and despite the fact that you are fuming( raging?) because of numerous delays due to skip trains and the like you are trapped in this cage of ropes that perpetually moves you forward.

Yup...all you could do is hum the song and hope to get a good spot to stand on or an actual seat. Just another day for us rats on the way to work.