Tunnel Vision

Commuters heading home at the end of the day

Just one of the other black and white photos I had to choose from for this past Sunday's Two Things Challenge. This is the tunnel that leads from the platform elevator at the Takoma Metro station to the buses and parking lots.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 10/08

Etiquette

Red Line train to Glenmont arrives at the Farragut North Station.
Getting to the platform level on Metro can be tricky for out-of-towners and requires
a working knowledge of escalator etiquette.

If you've ever visited Washington, D.C., you've likely ridden the Metro at least once during your trip. One of the constant complaints from locals--i.e. those of us who live and work here at least 50 of the 52 weeks out of every year--who use Metro is the lack of common sense exhibited by business travelers and tourists, particularly when it comes to escalator etiquette.

Yes, you read that correctly. Escalator etiquette. So, to ensure you don't get yelled at--and believe me, you will if you commit this infraction--let me give you a crucial pointer on how to use escalators on Metro. To access most stations and/or their platforms, you have to use escalators. When boarding an escalator, if you're too tired to walk or escalators scare you and you want to stand, that's okay. If you're going to do that, though, please stand to the right.

Stand to the right, walk on the left. Easy peasy.
Or so you'd think. But alas, no.

Too often tourons, as we call them (tourist + moron = touron), think the escalator constitutes an amusement ride and they stand on the left, on the right, in the middle, wherever. If you do this, I promise you will get yelled at. Most of us will yell something polite like "Stand to the right, please!", but it's also possible you'll get yelled at in ways that could leave you thinking D.C. is a mean, nasty town full of mean, nasty people. It certainly can be mean and nasty in its own uniquely political, partisan way, but in the case of Metro most of the people who want to get past you have somewhere to be and they're in a hurry.

So, let's review. When using Metro in Washington, D.C., stand to the right, walk on the left? Just like the picture above.

Everyone got it? Good. Now, no excuses! If I find any of you City Daily Photo bloggers violating escalator etiquette, I'm gonna bean you with my tripod--permit or no! :-)

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 10/08

Two Things Challenge: Black / White

Farragut North Metro Station

This week's Two Things Challenge was Black / White. I really had a hard time choosing which pictures to use for this challenge. In the end I settled on one people watching/structural architecture combination, a nature photo, and a slice of urban decay. I had a number of others I wanted to use, but that would have been going overboard. However, in the next week or so, I'll post one or two of the other pictures from which I had to choose.

The first photo (above) is the fare gate level and train platform at the Farragut North Metro station on the Red Line (Glenmont to Shady Grove.)

Morning glory in the morning sun

This second shot is one I grabbed a few mornings ago on my walk. The sun had just come up and caught this morning glory at the right angle, making it almost transparent.

Not just closed on Sunday. Closed every day.

Finally, on a different walk a few days ago, I wandered along 3rd Street NW between Kennedy Street and Missouri Avenue and stumbled on this sign in the window of what was once a Chinese carry-out place. The place is now vacant except for a note on the door announcing the store's closure due to an illness in the family, a few chairs, and lots of dust. Oh, and this sign, of course!

To see the other participants in this week's challenge, go here.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 10/08

P.S. If you want to see these photos in color, go to Standing Room Only.

Portrait of a Train by a Middle-Aged Photographer

Portrait of a Train
(Click image to enlarge.)

Whenever I have to meet with clients downtown, I usually take advantage of Metro rather than driving. It's cheap, I don't have to find and pay for parking, and someone else gets to do the driving. The other day while I was on the train, I noticed this mirror at the Brookland-CUA station. On the return trip home, I disembarked at this station just to be able to take pictures of Metro trains reflected in this convex mirror. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to get a picture of the train without factoring myself in the scene.

This isn't a flattering picture of me, obviously--no one looks good convex--but it's a good picture of the Metro train and the direction it's heading, which is downtown and then into the Maryland suburbs to Shady Grove.

As an aside, I'm wearing my pink windowpane Brooks' Brothers shirt and my pair of typewriter key cufflinks!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 10/08