A Rider Off the Rails
1 | The Long Island Rail Road’s etiquette | hell.” | ||||
bully has walked - again. John | 5 | It is true that many people have | ||||
Clifford, notorious for loudly and | forgotten how to interact respectfully | |||||
aggressively harassing fellow riders to | with strangers and carry their self- | |||||
make them behave better, was | absorbed behavior into public places. | |||||
acquitted of assault, disorderly | On commuter trains, where random | |||||
conduct and other charges. Judge | strangers are forced to tolerate one | |||||
Larry Stephen of Manhattan Criminal | another in close quarters for long | |||||
Court said most of the witnesses had | stretches, cellphone jabberers are a | |||||
“an axe to grind,” and threw the case | particularly obnoxious life-form. None | |||||
out. | of this excuses Mr Clifford’s behavior. | |||||
2 | And so Mr Clifford - despite years | 6 | The railroad has many problems, | |||
of complaints, arrests and summonses, | including keeping its trains running | |||||
none of which have stuck - is free to | and helping riders hurdle the gap | |||||
keep doing what he does: abusing | between cars and platforms. It needs to | |||||
fellow commuters in the name of | do a lot more to instill a culture of | |||||
peace, quiet and civility. | decency and respect on board. | |||||
3 | “Do I admit to being | Whether this means adding “quiet | ||||
domineering?” he said in court. “Yeah.” | cars,” where cellphones are forbidden, | |||||
Actually, he admits a lot worse: | or enforcing existing rules about loud | |||||
pouring coffee on people, cursing and | conversations, feet on the seats and | |||||
berating them, slapping them for | eating, it is important. | |||||
talking too loudly on cellphones and | 7 | The judicial system also needs to | ||||
other sins. | recognize that harassing and | |||||
4 | He is a large (6-foot-4) former | threatening behavior like that | ||||
police officer, so it is easy to see why | repeatedly displayed by Mr Clifford is | |||||
someone might be frightened when he | not only wrong, it could be downright | |||||
comes after them, especially when he | dangerous. That isn’t an axe to grind; | |||||
says - as he did to Donna DeCurtis - | it is just common sense. | |||||
that he knows their names and where | ||||||
they live, and that “I can make your life | The New York Times, 2008 |