Htgo, left, and Amy Mullen show off their MBTA bingo game.
Credit: NICOLAUS CZARNECKI/METRO
Metro recently caught up with Buzzfeed user Htgo, a proudly disgruntled Orange Line rider who, upon opening a Metro Tuesday, was surprised to spot an open online letter she wrote to the MBTA earlier this month.
“I sat down, and there it was on Page 3, which was awesome,” said the 26-year-old, who asked that her name not be used. “My first reaction was to tell everybody that I wrote (the letter in the story), but the car was empty. I wanted to tell the guy giving out Metros, but he’d left the station. So I texted a friend.”
She later changed her Twitter bio to this:
Courtesy of @htgoyfe
Htgo’sletter pleaded with the transit agency to “get its sh— together” and make progress on the Assembly Square project, which regularly disrupts her travels with construction-related service shut-downs. The T responded by saying construction is on schedule, and that officials don’t like inconveniencing customers.
An excerpt from Htgo’sletter, posted on Buzzfeed, states:
Seriously, MBTA, what the sh— is taking so long? I don’t know when this nonsense started before I moved up — but 19 months? I could have made not one, but two babies in this time. I could have conceived, gestated, and bore out of my business a living being TWICE in the time it’s taking you to throw some steel, concrete, and electrodes together.
“I think the best part of the whole thing is that the MBTA actually read my letter,” Htgo’s said, adding that the note wasn’t so much meant for the T’s eyes as it was a way to release frustration.
To further cope with the pains of commuting, Htgo recently created “Bad Experience MBTA Bingo,” which she plays with friends.
Instead of numbers, the game’s 25 boxes include grueling T scenarios, such as out-of-service trains, redundant conductor announcements and failed Charlie Card swipes.
“Of course now that I’ve been looking for these situations all my rides have been so smooth,” said Htgo’s pal, Amy Mullen, a Somerville resident who takes the Red Line. To her surprise, she was able to cross off an unusual spot on the board – “get a bruise” – but nobody has been able to score a Bingo.
Other “Bad Experience MBTA” Bingo slots include:
Your butt got touched
You missed your stop
A bus drives by you
A train is held indefinitely
A loud cell phone conversation
Security demands to check your bag
Someone unapologetically has a bag on the last remaining seat
A glimpse at the “Bad Experience MBTA Bingo” board. Photo via Htgo
Although Hgto has had her fair share of headaches and internal outbursts on the T, Mullen said she couldn’t be happier with the transit agency.
“I love the MBTA, especially the Red Line. I don’t have a car, so it gets me everywhere I’m going. I think that compared to other cities, it is a really reliable system. The game is just a good way to have a little fun,” said Mullen.
“The winner gets ice cream,” she said. “I think all it will take is one bad week on the T, and we’ll have a winner.”
Follow Morgan Rousseau on Twitter: @MetroMorgan
Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBOS
