This had to embarrassing:
Because she is the mother, just before I get to the turnstiles, I give her the stroller to push through the little gate (which requires the action of a guard to open), while I go through and pay my transit fee. She always just goes through, is never charged, and until yesterday she was never given any trouble for this. Anyway, yesterday, at Ewha Station… one of the ajosshis refused to let her go through with the stroller. He then took her card, read it, and told her her last points when she had used it some time before, essentially suggesting that he knew she was trying to cheat (which was not true). He then debited it for the 800 Won trip.
The city could fix this problem by having scanners at the gates.
15 Comments
Hah! Hi Andy, I never expected to make the pages of the Marmot’s Hole for that one. I completely agree with you: there should be a scanner at the gates, or those that use it should go free. I don’t think one should have to push a baby in a stroller through the gate, close the gate, leave the baby unattended for even the ten seconds or so it might take to reach the nearest gate through which one may enter or exit, and then come back to the baby again. The odd thing is that at our station, the guards know my wife, and they always push the button quickly; they’ve never asked her to pay. She has also never been given any trouble at any other station until what happened at Idae. I guess it’s a one-off. Of course, I will continue to always pay, as I have always done.
Anyway, it was good to meet you the other day–a fortuitous coincidence!
let me get this straight. you think she shouldn’t pay because 1.) she has to push a baby, and 2.) no one has charged her before.
pay the money-it’s got to be one of the best and least expensive subways in the world. as far as i know, every person is required to pay, whether they have a baby or not (excluding the elderly-who have to still use a ticket).
One way to handle it would be to scan the card at a turnstile and then go through the gate.
“Judge Judy”: read my comment again. I’m not opposed to paying for a transportation that I have gone on the record many times as admiring; I’m only opposed to the lack of a safe and efficient means for mothers pushing baby-strollers to pay with the current system.
Andy, I think the best thing would be to put an automatic card-reader at the gates. This would also have the benefit of cutting down the wait times for people who press the assistance button. Of course, we would all still be subsidizing the many people who cheat by going either over or under the turnstiles every day. I remember being shocked at how I would see this multiple times daily when I used to use the City Hall station. Now that I work in a different place, I see it less often, although still frequently when I have occasion to ride the #2.
this is your comment on your website. i think it’s pretty clear you want the gate to be free for anyone carrying anything. i often require the gate with luggage, but i certainly wouldn’t expect it to be free because of that.
as for safety, i don’t think that is much of an issue. go through the gate and then scan your card on the turnstile-preferably the one next to the gate.
as for a card reader at the gate, i think you’re missing the functionality of the turnstile which is to let in just one person. if there were a scanner at the gate, multiple people would go through on one scan.
as your wife is korean, i’m surprised she didn’t just ask. living on your assumptions is a risky endeavour.
I certainly still think as I have written, the unspoken provisio being given the current situation as it is. It would be perfectly easy for the subway system to install a card-reader without turnstiles at the gate. There could then be no objections to paying. You say that people could go through without paying, but this is what they are already doing.
As for carrying things, I have often carried heavy boxes over the turnstiles. I would not expect to travel free in such circumstances.
The safety issue still must be addressed. In a busy station, for example, Sinchon station, there can be many people packed into a very small space. The turnstiles do not always allow people to exit immediately adjacent to the gate. During busy periods, it there is certainly enough time for someone to snatch a baby or a purse. If the mother is traveling alone, it may be very difficult for her to hold both baby and purse (which must hold things like bottles, a thermos (perhaps), water, formula powder, etc.) as she goes through the turnstiles. The fact that Korea fortunately has a very low crime rate does not quite allay these concerns.
I’m glad the nuclear crisis has eased off enough to allow debates like this.
NathanB,
Welcome to the Marmot’s Hole, were you don’t have to pay to get an argument.
Slim,
Thanks for reminding me.
In the event of a nuclear attack, I expect that nobody will pay at the suburban underground stations being used as fallout shelters. Of course, those who choose to flee to the downtown stations are simply making the choice of being baked rather than grilled.
A card reader/scanner should be installed on the larger gates. Even if it is Korea, no way would I expect someone to leave a baby, even for a moment, or try to pay at one scanner and then go over to the gate during, for example, rush hour. If the DC Metro system folks figured out that readers are needed at the larger gates that all entrances have, Seoul should have been doing it for years before that.
This would especially be true during a nuclear attack, when folks are rushing to get into the subway tunnels. (sorry, couldn’t resist)
Yes, Richardson, I agree for one could also use it if they had a baggage dolly in the subway. It would also help if DC Metro would keep their trains from breaking down as much too considering how expensive they are now.
We often travel with a stroller on the subways and it’s really very simple. We just scan the card on the turnstile, then walk through the gate.
We can expect to see a lot more of this in the weeks to come. Usually about 10-12 empty taxis pass me before one finally picks me up. This past Friday night it was about 20-25. Usually I only average 1 racist incident per night on the town. This past outing it was 3, and this was even with a band of gyopos rather than fellow whiteys.
The Coreans are out to get us now…time to face the music.
Not a comment on the OP, but a couple of weeks ago I was in Tokyo, where the subway costs about three times as much as Seoul to go the same distance. Either Korea pays heavy subsidies or the subway just flat-out loses money and it’s written off, dunno.
So you get the impression it’s getting worse all of a sudden, Mark? Hmm…Wonder what’s riling them up.
Montclaire, when you peel back all the smelly kimchi onion layers, it comes down to blaming us for everything…prostitution, bad English teachers, the nuke, crime, economic woes…every goddamn thing is the fault of foreigners now.
Our attempts to spoil South Korea’s little tryst with North Korea are the icing on the cake which is riling them up.
After decades of wearing the face mask of politeness towards foreigners, their true nature will become more preeminent as the gloves start to come off.
Pay attention to the small things in the weeks to come…nothing is trivial.