What Is "Weird" on the Commuter Rail?

Commuter Rail riders doing what they do: quietly minding their own business.

I had to take my cat on the #1 bus from Central Square to the vet. A man leaned in to look in the cat carrier and whispered, "I won't eat you."

- Reddit post from user comababy from 2014

One time I saw a guy at Malden station. He had a pecan pie, which was missing one slice. In the space where the slice was missing, he had cracked two raw eggs, and was eating it with a spoon.

- Reddit post from user bornahallac from 2015

I'm a serial mover. With the exception of the beloved studio+ I rented in East Watertown* from 2008 to 2012, I haven't lived in one residence for longer than 2 years since 2000. I won't say I've lived all over, but I've lived in enough locations to have used all different services of the T. Buses, subway lines, express bus routes, the silver line, the commuter rail, I've logged thousands of miles on each of them. Currently I'm laying my head in a nice sleepy suburb in the Neponset Valley and use the Franklin/Forge Park Commuter Rail line to get to work and play in the city. I've seen more than my share of weird stuff riding the T, but it never seems to be on the Commuter Rail. I ask you: does the Commuter Rail get weird?

One of these things is less weird than the others?

My fellow blogger Julin reminded us of the subjectivity of weirdness in his recent blog post. Perhaps a better question than the one previously posed would be: what does weirdness on the Commuter Rail look like? In order to be weird, you need to be do something outside of normative behavior and outside of popular expectation. It's an unfair and socially defined standard but it makes sense. The central city area transit just seems to present more opportunities to observe things that on the margins of behavior. But that doesn't mean the Commuter Rail doesn't have its own weird stuff. It may just seem a lot less weird to the seasoned bus and subway rider. Here's a few things I think are considered weird on the Commuter Rail?

1. Inaccurate announcements that seem to bother NO ONE
I've ridden many trains that announced the wrong station, wrong direction, and even the wrong line (I'm talking about the computerized announcements. The conductors are on the ball). Why does this happen and why does no one seem alarmed when it does?

2. Using the overhead storage area
I got nothin' clever to say here. I just don't get why this is so underused.

3. Doing nothing to occupy your time
I'll say this, CR riders know how to take advantage of someone else doing the driving for them. Email on your smartphone, read a book, chat with your coworkers or neighbors, and even sleeping, these are CR norms. Doing nothing isn't. That person sitting on the train for 55 minutes doing nothing but start at the seat in front of them. Very weird!

Have suggestions for others? I'll gladly add them to the list, attributing them to you of course.

*Take the 71 to The Town Deluxe Diner! You'll thank me.