The MBTA , the T , the subway system , the seventh circle of hell … our rail transit system has quite a reputation –some of it earn , some of it not . But love it or abhor it , the T is … an experience . Or , to put it another path : a series of outre , disparate experiences that sometimes make you wonder if / why we ’re the only metropolis that consider with this shucks . Here are some of the things that ’ll doubtless , most definitely , absolutely happen to you while drive the T in Boston .

1.The liothyronine will make you late because of a switching problem.2.The T will make you late because of a track fire.3.The T will make you late because of a gear attack . ( No , really.)4.We’re not even move to sing aboutrunaway , driverless trains.5.You will at last , one daytime , meet the subtle Spare Change guy cable – he of the gravelly “ Do you have any spaaaare change ? ” enquiry – and he will by all odds live up to the hype ( but still make you very nervous).6.Some guy will get on the train wear out a backpack the width of a human being and readily smack you with it.7.You’ll encounter air conditioning in February .

8.You’ll run across a lack of zephyr conditioning in July.9.You’ll have your foot run over by one of the many holidaymaker - deplume wheelie bag that embark at South Station.10.You’ll see someone with a non - service dog and wonder if non - service andiron are actually allowed on the T. You ’ll later Google it and come up out that they whole are ( during non - peak hours).11.You’ll then see someone with a serpent and feel reasonably confident that ’s not allowed.12.You’ll attempt a sneak picture of the manspreading in front of you because it ’s just that epic . Then the manspreader will catch you and give you a death stare.13.You’ll mentally coin the idiom “ bagspreading ” for the dude who puts his messenger on the sought after place next to him during rush hour.14.You’ll eavesdrop on a couple of MIT bookman attempting to out - mansplain each other .

MBTA

Stephen Orsillo/Shutterstock

21.The first metre you take the Silver Line , you ’ll be disappointed it ’s a omnibus ( even though you knew it was a bus).22.Your late - night train will fill with the scent of late - night Burger King.23.You’ll take the stairs at pretty much every Blue Line stop , because it ’s better to be safe than chopped up by one of those escalators.24.You’ll get knocked over by the guy who does n’t realize " thyroxine - surfboarding " – travel in the middle of the geartrain without hanging onto a pole – is synonymous with “ keep your correspondence . ”25.You’ll vigil as a Commonwealth Ave walker pass your B Line train.26.You’ll go through the gate , forget something outside , then have to wait 20 hour for your monthly pass to reset before you go through again.27.Etiquette demands that all disembarking passengers be let off before boarding passengers get on . You will see this etiquette rule violated about 1,436 time a day.28.You’ll get stick in the be adrift middle piece between Green Line cars and nearly get nobble every prison term it goes around a corner.29.Unexpected shuttle Robert William Service between stations – thanks , unheralded weekend repairs – on the coldest day of the year.30.Unexpected shuttle service between stations on the day you have a can’t - girl meeting.31.You’ll miss your gearing by five seconds . The next caravan will contain for an extra three minutes at every plosive for a " schedule accommodation . "

32.The prerecorded Red Line messages will make you yearn for the day of pissed - off operators shout about delays.33.Then you ’ll get shout at by a Green Line operator and wish well for automation.34.Funyun smells at 9 am.35.Booze fume at 9 am.36.You’ll apply a real - metre app to hear and time your commute perfectly , only to encounter that the real - time app is not at all tethered to the world of the T.37.You’ll Benjamin Rush to catch the last train of the night and then reek as it sits there for 25 minutes.38.Friends will tell you all about the tough cat who lives under the track at [ BLANK ] station , but you ’ll never see any shred of evidence of its existence.39.You’ll totally see some black eye though . ( severely , they should get a cat to take maintenance of that.)40.You’ll observance that shadowboxing is more common than you think.41.As are costume rider .

42.Including many Freedom Trail go guides.43.The " No Pants Subway Ride " Clarence Shepard Day Jr. wo n’t seem that weird to you . ( Does n’t every third T - rider wear short pants in January?)44.You will watch a passenger board the train and then stand in good order in front of the door rather than move to the back.45.You’ll read a paper clause about MBTA delays while waiting out an MBTA delay.46.You’ll see something , but you wo n’t say something .

Boston T train

Flickr/Alan Light

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Dunkin Donuts

Flickr/Connie Ma

Boston silver line

Flickr/jinjian liang

MBTA

Flickr/Shinya Suzuki

freedom trail guide

Flickr/Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism