This morning, I turned into a fascist fucking cop for like two seconds.
I got off the train at the Clark/Lake stop. This particular station is underground, and so everyone needs to take the stairs/escalator to get above ground. Fine. I get in line for the escalator and stay to the right, understanding full well that the left side is reserved for those who wish to walk up the escalator.
Ahead of me, I notice a few people who are just standing on the left side.
To myself, I thought – how hard is it to learn which side of the escalator to stand on? To me, it’s a matter of courtesy. Stay in the right lane, pass on the left. After only a few times riding an escalator downtown, I figured out this was generally an unspoken rule.
In my mind, something like this isn’t a transgression because of rules or obsessive compulsiveness (at least, I hope not). It’s simply a matter of consideration. People who flagrantly violate an unspoken public rule are simply not thinking about others, and that sort of thing bugs the hell out of me. I try to be aware of myself with respect to others, and try to assess how my actions may impact others. I guess it pisses me off when others don’t follow suit.
I was tempted to walk up the escalator, not because I wanted to, but because I wanted to demonstrate to these people the "unspoken law" that I considered a universal. I wanted to interrupt them, and pull a "this is how it is" move on them.
Gah. By the time I got to the top of the escalator, I felt terrible. I had been overcome with a desire to impose my sense of righteousness on others… how fucking nasty is that?
