I don't care if Chicagoans are considered mean

Last night, I was a mean Chicagoan.

NeoCon was at the Merchandise Mart. NeoCon is a huge office furniture/technology convention that brings folks in by the droves. It's a really cool show, but crowds the city of Chicago with know-nothings.

The Merchandise Mart has a spot on their second floor where you can board a train across the river and into the Loop.

The entrance area directly in front of all of the turnstiles was mobbed with people, seemingly those who had never ridden public transportation before.

There were people crowded around, making little to no attempt to form a line in front of the two ticket machines.

Those who tried to board via the turnstiles were either trying to use money, tapping their card incorrectly, or fiddling with their card, not knowing which direction it goes into the slot (despite a very descriptive picture directly next to the slot).

Once I was able to push my way through one of the turnstiles, after many passive aggressive sighs, I was once again confronted by the idiots.

There are 2 revolving doors leading to the train platform.

I could hear a train coming as I was going through the turnstile, and was in a bit of a rush to board because I was on my way to class.

People stopped directly in front of both revolving doors.

I'm talking stopped.

One person actually stepped into one of the doors and stopped there.

Are you effing kidding me?!

I ended up pushing past more idiots, racing toward the quickly-closing doors on the train. I almost missed the train.

I can understand being new to the city and not understanding how the public transportation works. I don't expect people from out of town to be expert transit riders. I do expect them to at least take a bit of time to educate themselves on the trains prior to arriving at the train. Would people just start driving toward an unfamiliar destination without at least looking at a map? I'd find that hard to believe. The other thing that annoyed me was everyone's complete lack of understanding that they were creating an issue for other people. It was complete obliviousness. This maddens me any time it happens.

I have since calmed down.