Ladies Only

Ladies Only!

Anyone who follows my Facebook status updates knows the problems I have getting on and off BART at the 24th St. stop. Some of the men there do not behave so gentlemanly. More than once, I have dreamt of ladies-only cars, or at least entrances/exits.

A friend of mine just returned from a trip to Japan. Apparently there, the trains do have such “ladies only” train cars as some men are known not to keep their hands to themselves. I commented on her picture on Facebook saying I wish we had these, the follow-ups were as follows:

Former college calculus tutor:  Apparently this was tried on the Hudson & Manhattan Trains (now PATH) back in 1909. The public ridiculed the idea and it didn’t last.

Me:  Yeah, I don’t imagine it going over so well in ultra liberal SF, but I so wish it would.

College friend:  And I imagine that a good number of San Franciscans would welcome a single-sex BART car!

Me:  Hahahh…yeah! 🙂 That is true. But then wouldn’t we need a “gender-optional” car too?

I just feel that Ladies of *any* sexual-orientation wouldn’t be so grope-y or stalky.

The Ukrainian has suggested, in a very un-Russian way (he is, after all, a huge fan of the devushka look), that maybe I should start dressing dowdy to avoid attracting attention. But I don’t think that would work. Dowdy dress leads to dowdy feelings and my resulting depression would probably invite some creep to “cheer” me by touching or leering at me. Some men are just creeps. There is nothing to be done. Except, maybe, do as the Japanese do and have some “Ladies Only” cars.