Slugging is really a funny concept at times. It has specific protocol and etiquette attached to the system that you only know about if you participate. It really makes me laugh sometimes when I step back and look at the system I'm participating in. But other times, I'm 100% slugger and get absorbed in it, and if something is out of whack or someone isn't doing things the way they're supposed to at the slug line, I can get mildly irritated. Especially if it's a day where I've been waiting longer than usual.
The esoteric protocol and etiqutte of slugging bonds particpants as a community. And it's amazing to me how little people who have never slugged before know about the sys
tem. But I never knew about it either, until my coworker mentioned it to me as a commuting alternative. It's not like the metro. People who don't use the metro still know about the system. Slugging is unique in that it's like an underground system and the rules are implicitly understood. There's no one enforcing anything and the only formal declaration of the process is a website. And it's 100% free. Yet there are still very specific rules and patterns of slugging, both with individuals that you begin to recognize and with the different slug lines or lots.
Rule # 1:
The most basic rule of the slug line is that when you walk up, you must go to the end of the line. Ok, I think we all learned that in preschool. But once you're at the end of the line, you need to pay attention to the person at the beginnnig of the line, the caller. They'll be the one asking the drivers where they're going. The information asked for by the caller and given by the driver will be in the format of what cross-streets or metro station they're going to, and how many riders they can take (2-3 because they need at least 2 besides themselves to get on the HOV lane). The people in the front of the line get first pick on the car, and if they aren't going, then people farther back in the line can go. Pretty simple.
The thing that can get to me in this part of the system is when you have one of the two following situations.
1. There is an overeager person behind you who doesn't give you half a second to process that the car is going to your destination, and starts running ahead of you like a madman.
2. The caller yells out your destination for one of the cars that pulled up. You hesitate to see if any of the people in front of you move towards that car, but no one does. You've waited a couple of seconds, but you don't want the people behind you to take the car either, so you start inching that way, doublechecking that the people in front of you aren't going. THEN, someone in front of you says, "Hey, I'm going there, too!"
In situation 1, when I first started slugging, I would slink back and let them take it, and just be mad at myself for not moving faster. Or I'd wait until someone else in line who knew I was going there would speak up for me. Now...now I don't hestitate to call them out. If they're sprinting towards the car I'll call out to them that I'm going there as well. And then they're the ones who have to slink back to the line. My social skills and bluntness has definitely been honed by my slugging experiences.
Regarding situation 2, my technique to counter this situation is if I hear the street I'm going to, I'll stick my foot out to the right as if I'm about to step towards it, testing the waters. I'll gradually lean over it and if I see no movement from the people in front of me then I'll walk towards it.
But I recall one time this man came forward after I was already getting in the car and said in a brusque, rude manner that he was actually going there, too. I kind of stared at him in disbelief, because really? He waited until I was getting in the car to say something? Then I did the polite thing and said "Ok, you can take it then," and I started to go back to the line. He said "No, it's ok. Just take it." I tried to insist again, but he insisted in return. I got in the car in disbelief and the other riders agreed with me that it was odd. I felt half bad, but I took on theperspective that if you're going to wait that long to decide if you're getting in the car to go to that destination, then that's your problem.
The esoteric protocol and etiqutte of slugging bonds particpants as a community. And it's amazing to me how little people who have never slugged before know about the sys
tem. But I never knew about it either, until my coworker mentioned it to me as a commuting alternative. It's not like the metro. People who don't use the metro still know about the system. Slugging is unique in that it's like an underground system and the rules are implicitly understood. There's no one enforcing anything and the only formal declaration of the process is a website. And it's 100% free. Yet there are still very specific rules and patterns of slugging, both with individuals that you begin to recognize and with the different slug lines or lots.Rule # 1:
The most basic rule of the slug line is that when you walk up, you must go to the end of the line. Ok, I think we all learned that in preschool. But once you're at the end of the line, you need to pay attention to the person at the beginnnig of the line, the caller. They'll be the one asking the drivers where they're going. The information asked for by the caller and given by the driver will be in the format of what cross-streets or metro station they're going to, and how many riders they can take (2-3 because they need at least 2 besides themselves to get on the HOV lane). The people in the front of the line get first pick on the car, and if they aren't going, then people farther back in the line can go. Pretty simple.
The thing that can get to me in this part of the system is when you have one of the two following situations.
1. There is an overeager person behind you who doesn't give you half a second to process that the car is going to your destination, and starts running ahead of you like a madman.
2. The caller yells out your destination for one of the cars that pulled up. You hesitate to see if any of the people in front of you move towards that car, but no one does. You've waited a couple of seconds, but you don't want the people behind you to take the car either, so you start inching that way, doublechecking that the people in front of you aren't going. THEN, someone in front of you says, "Hey, I'm going there, too!"
In situation 1, when I first started slugging, I would slink back and let them take it, and just be mad at myself for not moving faster. Or I'd wait until someone else in line who knew I was going there would speak up for me. Now...now I don't hestitate to call them out. If they're sprinting towards the car I'll call out to them that I'm going there as well. And then they're the ones who have to slink back to the line. My social skills and bluntness has definitely been honed by my slugging experiences.
Regarding situation 2, my technique to counter this situation is if I hear the street I'm going to, I'll stick my foot out to the right as if I'm about to step towards it, testing the waters. I'll gradually lean over it and if I see no movement from the people in front of me then I'll walk towards it.
But I recall one time this man came forward after I was already getting in the car and said in a brusque, rude manner that he was actually going there, too. I kind of stared at him in disbelief, because really? He waited until I was getting in the car to say something? Then I did the polite thing and said "Ok, you can take it then," and I started to go back to the line. He said "No, it's ok. Just take it." I tried to insist again, but he insisted in return. I got in the car in disbelief and the other riders agreed with me that it was odd. I felt half bad, but I took on the
No comments:
Post a Comment