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What “Dude It’s Rude” Complaints Tell Us About SEPTA, and Each Other


When SEPTA created its “Dude It’s Rude” riding etiquette campaign last year, it did not do so in a vacuum. Cities like Boston and New York had already unveiled similar poster campaigns, depicting annoying things people do on the train. All three cities had used their resources to send a message to riders: Stop being annoying.

“The new program attempts to reform customer travel habits that have continuously been reported as big problems for specific service modes including taking your trash with you, watching your language and blocking the front aisle,” the Authority put in their press release last September.

Around the same time, people around North America complained that New York’s “Courtesy Counts” campaign was sexist because it singled out men’s behavior on public transportation. This came to a head in Toronto, where a men’s rights group actually created a petition against complaining about manspreading, which is the practice of sitting down on a bus/subway/train with legs wide apart, thereby covering more than one seat.

“People are complaining men spread their legs too much,” wrote Geoff Stone, of the men’s rights group Canadian Association for Equality. “We all have testicles between our legs, so there’s a reason why we don’t cross our legs as much. It’s sexist. It’s male-bashing.”

And Stone wasn’t alone. According to a Bitch Media story, Boston’s courtesy campaign received complaints of anti-male sexism. Many of the complaints contended women actually take up more space than men.

So, when Philadelphia unveiled their own anti-manspreading (and other things) campaign, they knew what was happening by using the word “Dude” in it. They likely knew there would be complaints, and they came out front saying “Dude” did not necessarily mean “Male.”

“Dude is one of those terms that people use to refer to each other similar to the phrase ‘You guys,’” SEPTA Public Information manager Kristin Geiger told me last year, in a story I wrote about the campaign for Philadelphia Weekly. “In this campaign, messages are phrased as if it’s one rider talking to another and we are taking what some people might say in their heads and wish they could say out loud in response to observed behavior and putting it onto a poster. We also wanted to capture customer attention to get them thinking about their own personal travel habits.”

So, a year later, are Philadelphians complaining to SEPTA about the apparent sexism of the campaign the way Bostonians and Torontonians are? Hardly.

According to all feedback, emails and phone call summaries obtained by The Spirit, the campaign has mostly been met with agreement on behalf of SEPTA’s customers — and a tool to reiterate complaints about the people who work on and frequent the city’s trains and buses.

Of the 23 comments SEPTA received through their website, Twitter and via phone, only one called out the supposed sexism of “Dude It’s Rude.” But, there were still problems. Here are some of the complaints lodged by SEPTA users:

On SEPTA employees and service:

“The driver slammed the door in my face. I knocked. She didn’t open. Here’s a new Dude – it’s Rude line to post in your office. Dude, it’s Rude! Slam the door in a rider’s face? Really?!”

“DUDE IT’S RUDE… to provide the worst service ever and make everyone late ON A TUESDAY.”

“why do I have to listen to this gang [5 SEPTA employees, according to the description provided] curse all the time riding the train and ironically sitting under the dude it’s rude watch your language sign.”

“What ever overpaid Septa worker thought of this [Dude it’s Rude] should be fined. As you have the worst record of ANY major transportation provider in the U S you really do have a lot of nerve criticising your riders with your asinine slogans… the crummy drivers and never on time service you provide should be re-educating your drivers on better customer relations instead of the riding public who actually pays these morons with double digit IQs and triple-digit salaries.”

“Why is it rude to eat on the train? I could see if someone was eating something pungent, like Indian cuisine or something. But is it really rude to have a snack on the way to work, like a granola bar or something?”

On other SEPTA riders:

“A guy was standing the whole entire way to the Neshaminy Mall running his mouth off to the bus driver. He is in total disregard to everyone’s safety. Either he needs to sit down or get off the bus. I’m getting sick and tired of this.”

“This morning I caught the 8:05 express from Ambler and sat in the quiet car. I had a mad keyboard typist to my left and one sitting two or three seats behind me. Usually these people have their earphones on blasting music oblivious that their typing is an annoyance. Typing is not quiet. Why don’t you ban people from doing this or add it to your Dude it’s rude campaign?”

“A teenage student holding a bag of chips and a bottled drink… sat down in front of the [Dude it’s Rude] sign. The sign was right in front of his eyes. But no matter, he in defiance, of the sign, proceeded to eat his bag of chips and drink his bottled drink. Nothing was said to him by the two Septa employees the whole trip. Why do they post the signs on trolleys and buses?… They did spray insecticide on these vehicles, because of the insects that were crawling in them. Look out!”

On the campaign:

“When I first saw the poster on the train, it caught my eye as well as the message and it’s perfect. Great job.”

“With the earlier darkness outside and with the large Dude posters blanking out the windows they cover, I’ve observed riders reacting more claustrophobically and with more oppressed, boxed in, unhappy expressions.”

“Most of the posters are well designed, but the one for “Don’t Block the Front Aisle” is not. The background image is just too dark and makes it very difficult to read the lettering.”

“Your slogan, DUDE IT’S RUDE, is a clever one and gets to the point. However, it should be DUDE, IT’S RUDE..with a comma after DUDE. In this way it would read DUDE (pause) IT’S RUDE. Also, artistically, the comma will compliment the apostrophe and maybe an ! or a few dots… and then add what is rude.”

Just goes to show: When Philadelphians are given the chance to give feedback, we rarely do so under the guise of the niche “Men’s Rights” movement, or the apparent sexism that went into an ad campaign. Rather, we do what we do best: Bash our city’s public services, and each other.

Randy LoBasso is the communications manager at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

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