Sleeping Fee, $50

By Margaret Lyons in News on Sep 9, 2004 3:44PM

Looks like we're going to need those Dunkies on the L�you can get a ticket for falling asleep on the train. Guarav Bhatia was handed a $50 ticket for dozing off on the Orange Line on his way to Midway, but it's not totally clear exactly why. A CTA spokeswoman told everyone's favorite liberal propagandist John Kass that

Sleeping or dozing "where such activity may be hazardous to such persons or others, or where such activity may interfere with the operation of the CTA" is illegal.

The spokeswoman didn't seem too hung up on the legality and maintained that napping is "one of the advantages" of the CTA, which it most definitely is, even if it's a little awkward to sleep in public. We always wake up feeling a teensy bit sad and ashamed when we fall asleep on the bus or the L. Poor Bhatia is going to court to fight his ticket, and Kass has offered to pay the fine in exchange for interviews, so we bet this story isn't going away. We kind of wish the CTA would use its slogan more, like if you called to complain about something, or asked a bus driver what the hell was going on, and the he just looked at you, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Take it."

Kass also rails on (har har) the fact that you can buy a donut or coffee at the train station but you can't legally eat it on the train. We're with him on that one as being pretty ridiculous, but we don't want the train cars to get all gross. Maybe a "no messy eating" rule is in order? We'd be all about a "no gum-snapping" ordinance, too, or a "making out limited to a few minutes" rule. What rule would you instate if you became CTA czar?