Since moving to Atlanta a little over six years ago, I have been a rider of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s trains and buses. Since joining Twitter a little over four years ago, I have been making occasional observations about MARTA.
I recently downloaded my tweet archive, and it occurred to me I could sort out my MARTA tweets and present them as a little slice of my history on the system.
Some observations: Many of my tweets are complaints. I try, however, to remark upon most of the odd, unusual, and beautiful things I observe in my rides.
Also, I apparently like the smell of cookies. A lot.
Wow, does the heat work on this train. Twenty minutes, and my leg beside the vent is nicely toasted. #marta
A fellow train rider (a security guard by appearance) is drawing what appears to be a magazine cover for “Creepy Tales.” #marta
Jan-11-2011
Call from my boss — safety first; another snow day tomorrow. (I can’t argue otherwise; our road is iced and the buses aren’t running.)
If the buses were running, I’d have to walk over ice to get to one. As you may have heard, I don’t do well walking over ice.
No snow day tomorrow. Officially. Practically speaking, it depends on the status of the roads (and buses) in our neighborhood. #dubious
No bus, no work. The sun is out, though. Maybe we’ll have enough melting to get free before the day’s out.
Jan-12-2011
Working. From the office, no less. The buses still won’t come near us, but our street melted enough yesterday that I was able to drive out.
Wow. It is like July inside this bus. I get it. It’s cold outside. That does not mean set the thermostat to hellfire. #marta
March-12-2011
Home to kendo, by car: ~30 mins. Home to kendo, by bus: ~2 hrs. #samuraicommute #nodirectroute #argh
Waiting on my connecting bus, I just watched guy at the stop across the street puke. Three times. Glad he’s headed west, not east. #ew #whew
Still waiting on bus, which is 20 mins. late. Meanwhile, puking man wandered off, and smoking chick arrived on my side of the street. #whee
I stood up, triggering an apology from smoking chick, who left after finishing. Apparently she just wanted a smoke break, not a bus. #rude
No, I really don’t have anything better to do right now than tweet my Saturday night bus (mis)adventure. #bored #alsohungry #mostlybored
Finally a bus appeared, a mere 40 mins. behind schedule. Or 10 mins., if I assume the first one was simply a no-show. #lessbored #morehungry
Home. Showered. And wife made cake. #allswellthatendswell
Dear singer in Five Points Station: You are not as good as you think you are. Also, “Bohemian Rhapsody” has more than one verse. #ouch
I periodically see soldiers on MARTA, typically low-ranking enlisted and occasionally company-grade officers. Today, a first: a major.
March-23-2011
10 p.m. bus left on time, as five of us were exiting the fare gates and headed toward it. 10:30 p.m. bus? Still here, no rush. #expletive
I appreciate transit … but somehow I always seem to have bus issues while tired/hungry. Tired/hungry + time to kill = grumpy tweets. #robble
My top tweet topics (lately): beer, travel, and bus grumbles. #timetodiversify
Dammit, woman, you’re supposed to dab on perfume with your fingertip, not swab it on with a sponge. #marta #hack #cough #wheeze
April-12-2011
Seen this morning: man wearing a medium grey pinstripe business suit and an electric blue do-rag. #odd #fashion #marta
Regular rest last night. Normal work day. Extra caffeine, though. Result? I fell asleep on the bus home. Caffeine’s a stimulant, right? #zzz
Mmm … cookies. #marta #candlerpark
April-14-2011
Seen on train: Woman with one of those cosmetology heads, brushing its hair. Either she’s studying cosmetology, or she’s very weird. #marta
April-21-2011
I saw a battered Gran Torino in the MARTA parking lot this afternoon. It made me smile. #daysgoneby
July-13-2011
My love for humanity wavers in sync with my proximity to actual humans. In other news, this train is waaay overcrowded. #marta #rageface
Aug-19-2011
Someone on this bus smells like a wet dog. #marta
Ah. The woman sitting next to me moved, confirming suspicions: a) she was the wet-dog-smelly one b) she was reading over my shoulder. #marta
March-17-2012
On the train now, headed downtown. RT @CleanAirGA: Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Looking for things to turn green today? How about your #commute?
Guy in front of me on the train this morning is reading a D&D 3E book, looks like the GM’s Manual. #oneofmypeople #martamoment
July-31-2012
The intercom is playing a soft, steel-drum version of “What a Wonderful World.” Odd. Also, relaxing. #MARTAmoment
Aug-10-2012
Sometimes I take the green line train just so I can smell cookies baking near Candler Park Station. #MARTAmoment
Aug-16-2012
Ah, a nice, non-crowded eight-car train to carry me home. #MARTAmoment
Aug-16-2012
At least once a week, walking to my car in the train station lot, I have a panicky moment wherein I think I left my keys in my desk.
I have never actually left my keys behind, but I dread the hour-plus round-trip to get them upon the day I do.
Noisy street preacher passing out flyers on the train. I’m surprised to see more than half the passengers accept. #MARTAmoment
Aug-30-2012
Some asshole ran onto the rail tracks, so now a couple hundred people are stuck in this train station. #MARTAmoment #blarg
MARTA promised a “bus bridge” to another station 20 minutes ago. No buses yet. #MARTAmoment #blarg
At least this is happening at the station near the bakery, so there is the smell of cookies to console us. #MARTAmoment
Guy just offered to buy my hat. #MARTAmoment #nosale
Aug-31-2012
Small graffiti on a train platform wall: Happy skull is happy. #MARTAmoment
Sep-19-2012
First cool day of September. Unprepared young men huddle, arms inside their T-shirts. #MARTAmoment
Sep-21-2012
There are logistical reasons why trains drive through a station without stopping, but I still think of them as fuck-off trains.
Just as I tap my transit pass to enter the train station — the point of no return — I realize I left my hat in my office. #MARTAmoment
Nov-09-2012
I have bad bus karma. The bus I just missed left on time. The bus I caught is still idling 10 minutes past time to leave.
Tweet from @zigged: @lastgreypoet Sounds like my luck with choosing checkout lanes.
@zigged This happens to me all the time — MARTA’s most punctual bus driver is always behind the wheel whenever I’m slightly behind.
@zigged The corollary, of course, is that MARTA’s most laid-back, “we’ll get there eventually” driver is running the next bus that pulls up.
Dec-19-2012
Pigeon excrement. Lots of pigeon excrement. #MARTAmoment
Dec-20-2012
Rainbow over my train station this morning. #MARTAmoment #weather #pretty
Jan-04-2013
My train has been boarded by pirates!
Okay, it’s just one pirate.
Selling DVDs.
#MARTAmoment
Jan-07-2013
Cold morning. The trains have increased heating. Result: People sweating in their heavy winter clothes. #MARTAmoment
Tweet by @zigged: @lastgreypoet I would rather ride for an hour than drive for half.
@zigged Likewise. Mind you, in Atlanta rush hour traffic, my train ride would take about the same amount of time by car. Screw that.
Double-parked and unattended MARTA vehicle in the Kiss Ride area at Doraville Station. Great example, @MARTASERVICE.
July-16-2013
Panhandling harmonica player has rhythm. #MARTAmoment
Aug-14-2013
(1/2) Conductor: “Ladies and gentlemen, I do apologize, we are running approximately two minutes behind.” #MARTAmoment
(2/2) Conductor: “I will be attempting to make up the time at this time, so sit back, relax, and hold on.” #MARTAmoment
Aug-28-2013
A puddle of shit, at the bottom of a staircase. #MARTAmoment
Sept-09-2013
No station in all MARTA smells as nice as Edgewood-Candler Park when the wind is blowing from the nearby bakery. #cookies #MARTAmoment
I don’t even need to take the MARTA Green Line, but sometimes I do, anyway. #stopandsmellthecookies #MARTAmoment
Sept-10-2013
Decent service intervals again? Yes, please. RT @RedAndria MARTA planning more rush hour and weekend train service. http://t.co/Ip0xy5i3LB
Man begs for food, receives food, eats, pulls knife, uses knife to sharpen pencil, uses pencil to fill out lottery ticket. #MARTAmoment #wtf
lastgreypoet 