Rule Following and the Lack Thereof

Singaporeans have many admirable attributes. Their ability to follow rules and basic standards of common decency on public transit is however not one of them. The MRT has such promise to be a pleasant experience. It is modern, fast, inexpensive and spotlessly clean. It is also the absolute bane of my existence. The 5-10 minutes that I am commuting each day are easily the worst minutes of my entire day thanks to the unbelievable demonstrations of ineptitude that plague the experience. Seriously, is it that difficult to understand that you cannot get ON the train, until the people on the train get OFF, and that its not a good idea to stand RIGHT in front of the doors when they open? Really, its confusing? It apparently is because despite impossible to misinterpret signs on the floor, the doors and audio announcements to get the f&c* out of the freaking way when the train comes, people simply cannot manage to do so.

I could write a novel about how much I hate riding the MRT. Instead I will do some cathartic blog ranting about it, complete with pictures of how dumb people can be. 

No, that amazingly large bright yellow line and arrow on the ground is not clear in its intention? Don't worry, it actually also comes with clear written instructions on the walls, in multiple languages, to stay the hell back behind the line. 

More demonstrations of incredible stupidity. Not a single person can follow the basic rules of mass transit. 

The woman ahead of me looked particularly stupid, so I got my blackberry camera ready to snap an action shot of her incredibly dumb but predictable decision to push her way on to the train while people were trying to get off. Cannot argue with cold hard evidence of lack of common sense. 

One thing I can be thankful for is that they no longer play the particularly nerve grating jingle sung by these lovely ladies about "the train is coming, the train is coming, please start queing- looooove your ride!" 

If I got to make a marketing jingle for the train it would say something like this "hey you !*&%@$@s, don't be a moron- stay behind the &^*@#! line when the #$&!^(*&^ train comes." 

Oh man, Singapore- you can be a pretty great place, but you also have that special way of absolutely destroying a girl's faith in the basic intelligence of the human race.