Friends

i've been an MRT girl all my life because my family believes in staying near MRT stations for convenience sake. but god knows how much i hate taking the MRT and i wish everyday my dad will come to his senses and buy me a car. everyone has their own reasons for hating public transport. for me, it's not about the long time taken to reach my destination. in fact, i rather like listening to my ipod on long rides. it's about seats.

i have a confession: i'm a lazy bitch and i absolutely detest sitting on long train rides without a seat. in fact, it's rather rare that i do not get a seat on trains. the world of rush-hour MRT is also survival of the fittest. if you are a train commuter, you would also would term me as a "seat predator". 15 years of taking MRT has taught me how to grab a seat before everyone else:

1) stand the nearest to the train door when the train arrives.
2) run the fastest when the train door opens, especially if there're few empty seats and many passengers waiting.
3) if you still can't get a seat, stalk people. stand in the middle of the two rows and constantly watch them. you can always tell if they're ready to alight if they start clutching their belongings as soon as the next station is announced.
4) open up your senses especially at the interchanges because many people will alight e.g. raffles place, dhoby ghaut.

what i cannot stand is how the other commuters react towards me. hey, i'm VERY ethical. if you want to give up your seat for an elderly or pregnant woman, i would NEVER jump at that oppurtunity. if the person you "stalked" gets up to leave, the seat goes to you and i would NEVER fight with you for it (except perhaps give you envious gazes) 

but come on. don't give me an ugly stare when i rush to sit at a seat i spotted. just the other day, someone stood up to leave in a crowded MRT. there was an auntie beside her and amazingly, she didn't want to sit (even after 3 minutes) so i just walked over to take the seat instead, plugged on my ipod and enjoyed the train ride. but she started shooting me glares for the entire ride. hell, if she wanted to sit, she should've done it before me.

by the way, the middle-aged and elderly in singapore can be such divas on MRTs. sometimes i suspect they want to be asked to sit down by kind young people. but i'm no such person. if you're not taking it, i will. i'm also a pragmatic, practical and hate-beating-about-the-bush girl and i will not  "read" your mind (like how i do for stupid lit books for the past few years)

seriously, i'm not sorry for my kiasu behaviour. MRTs are PUBLIC GOODS so anyone can have it if they get it first. i don't even mind long train rides and sardine-squashed passengers at peak hours.  all i ask for is a seat. if i worked for it with streetwise skills i've picked up over 15 years, then i deserve it. period.