Parody Of Transit Service Alerts — Amusing Excuse Generator

A parody of MBTA transit updates (service alerts) is an amusing Excuse Generator that wants you to lighten up if you’re delayed in Boston.

Most of us don’t like interruptions to our work or play. If interrupted, we must adjust our attitude. Stay flexible. Stay peaceful. Maybe laugh. It may not get you where you want to be faster, but you are sure to arrive healthier. Laughing is good for the heart. That’s the purpose of the lighthearted website:

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If your train isn’t moving fast enough, think of some creative thing you can do. I wrote a story waiting on a train for six hours in San Jose once. I am still grateful I waited for that train — it provided one of the most beautiful trips of my life. 

Bostonglobe.com reports that’s what two locals did. The two are also loyal T riders. They decided to mimic the service alerts (overhead speakers at stations and posted by the T on its website) in fun ways. Delays happen, and Boston Globe quotes some of the fake MBTA responses and the story behind them.

“You‘ll hear some excuse like, ‘Signal problems at Downtown Crossing,’ but no ever knows what that means,” said Todd Ching, a co-creator of the website www.mbtaexcuses.com. “So we thought it would be funny to be able to pull up a site where you can get some random, sarcastic excuses instead. We were trying to make people laugh.”

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free-loveAnother consideration in a delay of transit is to pull your bicycle off the train, and thank MBTA that you can take your bike on the train in the first place. And thank bicycles for being able to get in and out of tight spots easily.

Click on “Again!” to see the excuses go on. Here are more examples:

  • “#MBTA: #GreenLine: Severe residual delays due to an earlier Tom Brady suspension hearing at Reservoir. We are pretty sure this makes us a World Class City.”
  • “#MBTA: #OrangeLine: Minor residual delays due to an earlier runaway train, but, like, that Soul Asylum song, not an actual runaway train at North Station. We hope you don’t have any personal space issues, ‘cause the next train gonna be packed.”
  • “#MBTA: #RedLine: Major residual delays due to an earlier Debt Service Power Hour at Central. We will keep this up until morale improves.”
  • “#MBTA: #OrangeLine: Moderate residual delays due to an earlier lack of passengers at Oak Grove. If you wish to dispute that, please send in a self-addressed stamped envelope with your rambling nonsense and allow us 6-8 weeks to forget all about any of this.”

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Images: Screenshots of Excuse Generator; bicyclist boarding MBTA with a folding bike via MBTA.com

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