John Kelly's Washington: Riding Metro Now, Radical Civility Campaign, More

Post Metro columnist John Kelly was online Friday, June 26, at Noon ET to chat about riding Metro in the wake of Monday's crash, the start of his Radical Civility campaign and anything else that's on your mind.

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John Kelly: When the histories of Radical Civility are written, this little chat will have a special place. For here is where the movement was incubated. Here is where it took its first tentative steps. The steps are still tentative--like a fawn, rising to its feet--but we get stronger with every step. I can barely keep up with the e-mail I'm getting.

My blog, "John Kelly's Commons," is where we're chipping away at the rockface of rudeness. I encourage people to vent there (and here, of course). I think it's too early to tell whether any of this is doing any good. I'm probably preaching to the choir, but I hope that with the heft of The Post behind me, plus Washingtonians who are sufficiently fed up, we can convince movie theaters to mandate better behavior among their customers.

And so the King is dead. I never would have called him that. Michael Jackson was great and everything, but I never like the way the media bought into his publicists' narrative. He was a compelling story, of course, or stories. There was the musician, the entertainer (those are often two different things), the defendant and the human plastic surgery experiment. Still, I think the press is going a little overboard. I

predicted earlier this morning that the British press would outstrip the U.S. press in its Jackomania but now I'm not so sure. I counted 13 different MJ-related elements on The Post's homepage and "only" 12 on the Daily Mail's. Of course, the Mail has a few stories The Post doesn't, including "Did Michael Jackson want to be cryogenically frozen? Why it's already too late

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Too much?

For anyone who rides Metro, Monday's crash was frightening. We've all been there, dozing away, expecting to arrive at our destination safely. This is a lot worse than a broken escalator. Should humans be riding herd on computers? Has no one at Metro seen any of the "Terminator" movies? Why is it worse to have humans driving the trains? Is it just a matter of efficiency--of being able to slot as many trains into stations as possible--or are computers safer?

And what about this guy, fired for sending inappropriate Tweets? Remember, Twitter doesn't kill people's careers. People kill their own careers.

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Arlington, Va.: Just an observation: a number of local live theaters, in addition to the usual before-the-show announcement about turning off cell phones, beeping watches, etc., have started asking patrons to refrain from texting during the show -- the LIVE SHOW, with actual living actors performing in front of them! Doesn't seem like they should have to ask, but apparently it's become a problem.

John Kelly: My two reactions to that are:

1. It's sad that they have to make such an announcement.

2. I'm glad they do.

Making an announcement like that puts the audience on notice, it informs audience members who haven't really thought about it that, that's right, texting is not allowed.

Reader Marie Birnbaum reported this experience at the Tom Stoppard play "Rock 'n' Roll" at the Studio Theatre: "A man to my left wielded a lighted device. After about ten minutes, I leaned toward him and said, 'Please turn that off.' He complied, but a few minutes later, he was wielding not one, but two lighted devices. Meanwhile, a man to my right was also lighting up with another little screen. But that was nothing compared to the ringing of a cell phone whose owner appeared not to recognize it. When she did, she rushed out of the theater to take her call. She returned after finishing her conversation, practically colliding with an actor who was headed for the stage."

These people should be spoken to -- and possibly even removed -- by the theater management.

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Rockville, Md.: John, I'm not sure where or when you were riding Metro this week, but on my rush hour rides on the Red Line on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I was in the front or back cars (as always), and there were plenty of other regular riders there with me. On Wednesday and Thursday mornings, in fact, I had to stand on completely packed front cars from Twinbrook into Union Station.

We know that Metro needs updates, which require significant amounts money. But we also know this was a once in 20 + years event. It's still safer than driving from Rockville to the Hill every day.

John Kelly: I was riding the Red Line from Silver Spring to downtown. There was a noticeable drop off in the number of people in the front cars. But even in trains where there wasn't, it was something on people's minds. Surely it crossed yours, even as you decided to stand in the front, knowing that you were more likely to be killed on the highway than the subway.

Having said that, in the crash that happened on Monday the front of the striking train was a bad place to be. It may not be rational for (some) people to decide after that that they will never sit in the front again, but it's certainly understandable. I mean, how horrible is that, to be in the front as the train hurtles toward another one, the driver futilely pressing on the brake? I'm not saying that's exactly what happened--investigators are still investigating--but that certainly MIGHT have happened, and I'm not surprised some riders decided they'd be safer in the middle of the train.

Of course, as a few people pointed out, in some derailments, the middle cars are the ones that usually jump the tracks. You've probably seen those photos where the first car is fine and the ones behind are accordioned off the track. Where are you safest? At home in the bath. Just don't drown.

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Li, NE: Please add to your civility program that people should not create lines that block sidewalks and travel paths. If you're waiting to buy your beer at the Nats park, line up along the side of the vendor, not straight back blocking the pathway. If you're in line for your ATM, line up along the building, not into the sidewalk. People look at me as though I'm crazy when I line up this way, but it makes sense to me. John, am I nuts?

John Kelly: The beer example works better for me than the ATM example. Many ATMs have more than one machine and thus more than one line. Do you overlap the two lines, having people stand side-by-side? Or do you send people against the bank, half going to the left of one machine, the other half going to the right of the other machine?

I agree that we have poor queue etiquette, but our customs are fairly ingrained. I remember going to a McDonald's once where, for a brief moment, no one was in line. A bunch of people, myself included, arrived at the same time. The first couple of people lined up not in front of each individual cashier, but to the side, to make one line that would then feed, person by person, to the next available cashier. It was weird. It sort of made sense, but that's Not How You Do It at McDonald's.

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Alexandria, Va.: This might be a weird place to request more advertising, but I thought you might be sympathetic, especially with your recent columns about movie theatres.

I recently realized that half of the movie theatres in the area have not closed after all, but instead the AMC chain no longer advertises in the Post. Since movie display ads are no longer a daily feature, and even in the Weekend section often fail to mention where a movie is playing, we seem to be forced to the Internet (or to the telephone, how retro!) to find out basic information.

Since AMC is also in the advertisement-selling business (pre-movie), couldn't the Post and AMC work out some sort of barter deal? It seems the Post would be reaching a desirable demographic (the young movie going public), and AMC might get us to attend their theatres rather than Regal chain.

John Kelly: I hadn't noticed that. That's not good for The Post, and for people who like to skim through the paper to see what's playing where. The problem with barter, like you're suggesting, is that companies tend to like cold, hard cash. But so many things are being rethought these days, business model-wise, that maybe that's one that ought to get some serious study. Take it to its logical extreme, though, and I wonder how I would get paid. In movie passes and popcorn?

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speaking of texting: Did you see the last sentence of this review?

How rude. And why waste money on concert tix, front row at that, when you might as well be watching at home on a video replay?

John Kelly: Here are a few sentences from that review of Beyonce's performance:

"For the finale, 'Halo,' the star worked the line at the lip of the stage, coming face-to-face with several fans too busy texting or tweeting or video-phoning the moment to seize the royal hand she offered. Maybe they just didn't believe she could exist in unmediated, unplugged reality."

I worry that we're filtering out reality. I'm on Twitter (@JohnKelly) and most of what I see there are weblinks to other stories about social media. Are we heading toward a point where all we have is social media and we don't have any actual social interaction?

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Burke, Va.: I always donate modest amounts to your Send a Kid to Camp drive, all I can afford, but I did increase my donation by $5 this year.

Your column on the little boy who's going to Maret in the fall, both of whose parents work at what seem to be decent jobs, raised a question I've had for some time: do all campers get a free ride? Or is there some sort of sliding scale under which those parents who can afford to do so are required to contribute towards the cost of the camp? My kids never came close to going to Maret and I'd prefer that my money go to help the more truly disadvantaged. Thanks.

John Kelly: That's a fair question, and I pondered about writing about Peydon. To answer your basic question: There is a sliding scale for Moss Hollow's fees. If your family has a good income you pay more than a kid whose family doesn't. Many kids don't contribute a penny. The contributions of Post readers help both with those kids and with keeping the camp itself running, a huge undertaking for a 400-acre place that 1,000 kids will visit in a summer.

It's always a challenge writing about the Moss Hollow campers. Many don't want their details aired. Others are in foster care and can't be written about. I worry sometimes that readers will tire of one dire family after another. I wanted to show that some families have it together. I also think it's nice that kids like Peydon are alongside less fortunate kids; both can benefit. As you may know, schools like Maret try to diversify their student body with scholarship kids from around Washington.

Please be assured that your donation went to a good cause, to a kid who hasn't been as blessed as Peydon. And thank you for participating.

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Bethesda, Md.: "Where are you safest? At home in the bath. Just don't drown."

Actually, aren't falls in the bathroom a (the?) leading cause of accidental deaths at home? So, yeah, you're pretty much screwed wherever you are. Happy Friday!

John Kelly: I meant in your front yard. In your soft Nerf bathtub. Filled with lukewarm water. Wearing an aqualung. Safety first!

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Silver Spring, Md.: This isn't funny, sorry, but from all the coverage of the Metro accident, I still do not understand: how many people were on the stopped train? How many people on the stopped train were treated for injuries? Was anyone from the stopped train among the deceased? Thanks, this would really help me to understand what happened.

John Kelly: I just asked Lena Sun, Metro's Metro reporter, and she said she doesn't know, that it's part of the investigation. I suppose it's possible people in the back of the struck train could have been killed (I'm pretty sure some were injured), but it sure looked to me like the striking train took the brunt of the damage.

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ATM Li, NE: Which ATMs do you use? I've never been to an ATM where there are more than one when there is not just one line. I like the idea of having lines not block the sidewalks.

John Kelly: Chevy Chase Bank, L Street between Connecticut and 17th. Two ATMs side by side. Two distinct lines form. I've never seen one line form. Perhaps it's an anomaly.

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I need a consistent handle: I don't go to movies (not worth my money, poor ability to plan in advance to go with friends) so I can't participate in your civility campaign. However, I wanted to share an amazing thing I saw a few months ago -- a group of school kids on a field trip whose chaperones were consistently reminding them to "stay to the right, there are people trying to get to work." Wow.

John Kelly: Those chaperones should get some kind of award. I blogged earlier this week about those social behavior educational films of the 1950s. They strike us as laughable now -- so corny and earnest and controlling. But I wonder if they worked. I wonder if we're poorer for not having some modern version of that sort of thing. I bet a lot of the people who complain about uncivil behavior now are grown-ups who were raised on the celluloid exploits of various "Susies" and "Jimmys."

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Where are you safest? At home in the bath. : You mean at home in the bathTUB? You're not in England any more, John. Do you still go on holiday rather than vacation?

John Kelly: Yes, and I'm treated at hospital.

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Reston, Va.: I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm absolutely on news overload at the moment. Since Monday's Metro crash, it just feels like the news has been running in my house non-stop. Think there's any chance of a quiet weekend? It feels like things are ready to pop all over.

John Kelly: We should be free of celebrity deaths for a few weeks. I believe they come in threes and we've had Ed McMahan, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. Abe Vigoda can breath easy.

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Radical Civility Midwest: John, tonight I am going to my first movie since the Radical Civility Movement was officially launched. I await the opportunity to put our goals into action, but secretly hope that the audience will be so well-behaved that I will not need to bring down the gloved fist.

John Kelly: Please tell us how it goes. Are you in the Midwest? You may not have anything to worry about. My unscientific study suggests that audiences are better behaved in places such as Wichita and Grand Rapids. Partly that's because the theaters don't tolerate it. They'll drop you in a combine if you try to text during "Transformers 2."

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Texting: It occurred to me this week that perhaps filmmakers should include messages at the beginning of the movies themselves (after the previews) asking viewers to shut down the distracting devices. Maybe if, say, the Joker or Megatron told people to stop texting, they would.

Also, I regularly see a license plate that says STONYCK. I can only hope the owner is names Charles King or something....

John Kelly: That's what AMC and Sony did for "Kung Fu Panda." Jack Black voiced his character telling people not to text. I don't know if I'd want to see a character delivering the message. I'm trying to convince myself that the "character" is "real," and hearing him tell me to put away my cell phone wouldn't help with that. But the director, maybe? I mean, maybe not Wes Anderson. He's not very threatening. But if Oliver Stone threatened to come down and kick your butt, people might listen.

Or a modern version of those '50s educational films, showing a texter being hooted out of the theater, or stoned, a la a Shirley Jackson short story.

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Post coverage: of Jackson is so over the top, I have been trying to figure out who to contact to get the billion-point banner headline and 5000 subheads off the home page. For Pete's sake, can we get some perspective? Please?

John Kelly: I just learned that The Post is selling a commemorative Michael Jackson poster. Seriously. Get yours now!

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Alexandria, Va.: Sorry John, you're forgetting David Carradine, so that makes 4. There would have to be 2 more for 2 cycles of 3...

John Kelly: Hmmm. This is a troubling development. Are we moving toward a four-celebrity-death cycle? Could be due to sunspot activity.

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First Come First Serve: I'm a Brit, so feel I speak with some authority -- first come first serve is always fair! One queue/one line -- wherever possible. As new supermarkets are built/refurbished in the UK they make the checkouts with the 'snake' formation. It's like they did here with the new Trader Joe's in Foggy Bottom. The difference is that the Brit ones have a natty figure that flashes the checkout number as it's freed up and a fab accompanying voice saying -- 'til 3 please' to send you on your way.

Fairness and ease should be the queue watchwords.

John Kelly: How about this: I lost my driver's license. I dreaded going to the DMV to replace it and so drove around without it. (Is that illegal?) Yesterday I went. Total time from when I walked into the Maryland DMV (or actually, MVA, I guess) in White Oak to when I walked out with my still-warm license in my wallet: 15 minutes. The system: you start out in one of two lines. One is for license-related issues, the other for vehicle related issues. You get a paper number then watch the board and go to the correct desk when called. It worked in my favor yesterday.

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Woodchipper: John, Netflix Fargo again. They don't drop you in a combine, they stuff you in a woodchipper. Combines have the unfortunate tendency to swallow their operators, and are therefore not suitable for disposing of rude theater patrons.

John Kelly: What about a thresher? Is that the same as a combine? And Dickens favored the mangle, right?

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Radical Civility Midwest, again:: Yes I am! I am in Ohio, and we still have combines and silos to drop people in. My chain of theaters actually has a "no texting" message during the opening, which excites me. (I go to a Marcus cinema.)

John Kelly: I wonder why theaters here haven't gotten on the bandwagon. The key, of course, is enforcement. The Warren Theatre chain in Kansas makes a big deal out of its "zero tolerance" policy. They frogmarch you out and you don't get a refund.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Judging from the number of videos on YouTube that were obviously taken with a cell phone camera, some have taken the bright screens in theaters thing to a whole new level. Radical Civilizers, we have our work cut out for us.

John Kelly: That's the thing I don't understand. (Well, one of the things. There's lots of things I don't understand. Madonna's success for instance. And higher math.) The theaters say they're cracking down on piracy, but they allow the bright lights from communications devices.

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Texting, Regalville: How does texting in theaters bother anyone? Unless we're talking about the light from the phone?

John Kelly: That's exactly what we're talking about. When I see it out of the corner of my eye, it distracts me. Then I start thinking about what you're texting, to whom, and why. Stop it! Just stop it!

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Bethesda, Md.: This might be a question for Answer Man, but why do so many states have counties named Orange? I can think of 4 right off the top of my head: Virginia., North Carolina, California and Florida. Was there someone named Orange that I don't know about? Orange groves aren't exactly common in Orange County VA or Orange County NC so that can't be the reason. Did our forefathers just get lazy? I can't think of any Lemon or Lime counties? Anyway, I've just been pondering this since last night and thought I would ask you.

John Kelly: Must be William of Orange, no? Any other thoughts out there?

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Civility: At my son's college graduation last year the featured speaker was an Iranian/American woman (journalist? activist?) who had been held in custody in Iran for many months on some sort of subversion charge. As she described her ordeal, the graduates bounced a large balloon among themselves. I kept waiting for someone to come to their senses and remove the balloon, but nobody did. This went on throughout the woman's speech. I was mortified.

John Kelly: Having just spoken at a high school graduation I've decided that having serious speakers might be a mistake. Yes, those students should not have bounced a balloon, but the administration maybe should have had someone who could hold their attention. Of course, that's high school. We probably should expect more from college.

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Alexandria, Va.: I went to see Star Trek a few weeks ago. A woman beside me was on her Blackberry almost the entire time. Finally, she was holding it so that the light was glaring off my glasses, so I leaned over and asked her to please turn her BB over so that the light didn't shine in my eyes. She did, all was relatively well.

But it got me to thinking -- how does a radical civilite handle this? The blackberry was annoying me, but my talking probably annoyed someone else, someone who didn't see the light of the Blackberry, so was not annoyed before I asked her to turn it over. So how does one solve this conundrum?

John Kelly: If you could see the light others probably could as well. The best thing might have been to say something to her the moment you noticed it and were distracted by it. If she'd put it away then you wouldn't have had to sit there silently seething. And a whispered request shouldn't be too bothersome.

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Orange County Texas: Don't forget about TEXAS!!

John Kelly: We would never forget about Texas. Or the Alamo.

Speaking of which, when I went to Texas A&M in April I was very disappointed that my rental car was from...Enterprise. Shouldn't I have rented from Alamo?

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Alexandria, Va.: My wife and I went to a show at the Birchmere a couple of weeks ago. For reasons that are not clear to me, they were not enforcing a ban on camcording the performance. There was a guy at table between us and the stage who had one of those small camcorders with a huge, bright image display screen on its backside. And two bright, blinking red LEDs. He held the thing up above his head, so I could not see the performers without also seeing his little TV. During a break between songs, and hoping for a consensus that others were being annoyed as well, I asked the next table behind me in the line of sight if they were being annoyed. The guy there said no, so I decided to suck it up and stew. During the intermission, however, the guy's wife or girlfriend came over and told me that it had become really annoying to them or, at least, to her. Thus empowered, I walked over to the man with the camera and asked if he could please keep it lower. He looked at me cluelessly and others at the table then told me he did not speak English. It turns out, he was visiting from France. When I explained the situation to the others, they spoke to him and I did not see the glow for the rest of the show. Score one for civility.

John Kelly: Vive l'americain pushy!

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North Potomac, Md.: Yesterday on my way home from work I saw a man writing their name in very large letters in the still wet cement of sidewalks that are being installed in our neighborhood. While I found this behavior appalling, I admit I was too intimidated to roll down my window to ask them to stop, which is what my husband says I should have done. What say you?

John Kelly: A man?! Why would a MAN write in wet cement? I wonder if he was putting some gang symbol on the sidewalk....

If it bothered you, you probably should have said something, but I can understand being intimidated.

Here's what I witnessed the other afternoon: I was mowing the front yard when I saw a neighbor's dog being walked. I think it might have been the neighbor's older teenage son walking it. He was smoking a cigarette (the son, not the dog) and letting the dog get up in people's yards. A few houses down the dog appeared to squat for a while. When it was done, the guy turned around and headed back up the street towards his house. As he walked past I said, "Excuse me, do you need a bag to pick that up?" I wanted to sound friendly, as if I could run into the house and give him a plastic bag (which I would have done) but really I wanted him to know I'd seen him.

He said, "Uh, no, I just forget one, I'll be right back." He continued walking and I stayed out there 10 minutes waiting. He never came back.

Now, maybe he did later. Or maybe the dog didn't poop. (It was female and you can't always tell what they're eliminating.) I thought of going to investigate, but then I pictured myself standing over the poop as he walked up with a bag.

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Not just annoying: I was almost killed yesterday by a woman in an SUV with a baby in the back seat who blew right through a red. I was in the middle of crossing the street (so it had been red for many seconds), in a crosswalk. As she flew by me, about an inch away, I saw she was looking down at her phone, texting.

John Kelly: Geez. Is it illegal here yet? I was in North Carolina last weekend, and the legislature down there had just passed a law against texting while driving. The cops ought to set up sting operations. They could make a mint.

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Metro observations: Travel Blue from Pentagon to Rosslyn, then switch to Orange to Ballston. Notice distinct middle car clustering even in off peak hours, few in end cars/end seats (where I used to sit, not now). Any way to tell which are the cars NTSB highlighted as safety concerns? Do car numbers help with this? Thanks for all your good and entertaining work.

John Kelly: That's a good question. I don't know if there are any marking that tell which is which.

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Baltimore, Md.: Baffled old guy writing: Okay, I am 61, but I have a cell phone, I have digital cable, I am even working on one of those "cipherin' boxes" (as Cletus from The Simpsons calls a computer). Despite this, I am at a loss to understand why anyone would pay $35 or $50 to see a play or heaven knows how much money to see Beyonce live and then spend their time sending text messages or otherwise not, uh, actually consuming what they paid for. Even though it makes me crazy, I can get talking in a movie (that was simply home video behavior made public), but as I say, I am completely befuddled by someone in a front row seat being so busy dealing with their little cyber gizmo that they don't realize Beyonce wants to touch them!

John Kelly: I honestly believe it's a habit or an addiction, like smoking. When I smoked in college I enjoyed more than the nicotine spreading through my body. I liked the act of smoking, from pulling the cigarette out to flicking my Zippo. These little routines became rituals, hardwired into my fingers. I think that's how it is with some texters. I notice it with my Blackberry. If I have it next to my computer at home, I'll pick it up every now and then to see if I have a new message, even if it hasn't buzzed or blinked.

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Washington, D.C.: John,

For your civility campaign, you might want to elicit the aid of the guy mentioned in this article. He's been creating funny civility messages for the Tokyo metro. A friend in Tokyo sends in photos of the signs with entertaining commentary!

John Kelly: Domo arigato, Washington, D.C.-san. I've heard from people in other parts of the country trying to get the message across. Maybe we can link up around the world.

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a big MEH to radical civility: I live in Howard County and am constantly cut off by folks with "Choose Civility" bumper stickers and have no reason to believe that while you may turn off your cell phones in the movie theater, you probably still talking on them while driving.

Plus, isn't being "civil" kind of a low goal? Like "tolerance."

Sorry for being so negative, but it's Friday and I want it to be the weekend!

John Kelly: Yes, it's a low goal. I was going to end world hunger but I couldn't think of a cool logo for that.

But seriously, I chose it exactly because it IS a low goal. I thought if we could actually influence Washingtonians' behavior in this one area--texting in theaters--we could be a force for good. Maybe we could expand it.

That HoCo civility campaign is one I'm planning to look into, by the way.

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Midwest, and Ohio: I'd like to know where in Ohio...I grew up in Akron (okay, granted, no silos in the city) and usually the people on the phone during movies are there and not in my D.C. neighborhood.

John Kelly: Where is your D.C. neighborhood? We need to reward theaters where people don't text by giving them our business.

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WAY too much: This has gone way beyond hagiography into fawning treacle. Even if he was found innocent, the man went way over the line with children. He slept in the same bed, blurred lines between adult and child and sexual relationships. The man was a good musician and dancer, great even. Thriller was incredible BUT he was a seriously disturbed person who we should not be idolizing. Everyone is grieving for him, how about for the boys whose lives he screwed up? And what happens to his very screwed up children now?

John Kelly: I'm sure that will be part of the coverage, as it should be. He was a decidedly flawed fellow. I just take issue with the volume of the coverage. It's like the president died or something.

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Angel Down: Hi John. Say something nice about Farrah, please. I'm oddly distraught over her passing....

John Kelly: She had a great smile. And every girl I knew in junior high wanted her hair.

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DC Neighborhood: (might be too late, if so, sorry)

Upper NW, go to the Uptown. Granted, I don't go on Friday or Saturday night, but people are pretty vocal there. Haven't seen texting at the AFI in Silver Spring either.

John Kelly: Thanks. I've seen it occasionally at the AFI, but it's better than most. And AFI tells me they're preparing a no-texting slide to show before the feature.

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How does texting in theaters bother anyone? Unless we're talking about the light from the phone? : Remember that many movies are now stadium seating which means that you can see all such devices in front of you. Not like the old auditorium style seating where someone could hide a lighted object in their lap without bothering more than a couple people to either side of you.

Just turn the darn thing off.

John Kelly: Exactly.

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Checkout lines: Have you been to the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle in New York? About fifty checkout lines, but only one feeder line. Moves very quickly. I think they got help from Disney on it, who know about getting people in and out of a building fast. (Plus, it's underground, which is very cool, too.)

John Kelly: Perhaps we need a public awareness campaign on that. And next we can urge drivers to "zipper" when they merge, with some waiting till the last moment to move out of the ending lane. It's a more efficient use of pavement, but it drives early mergers like me crazy.

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Washington, D.C.: John, any suggestions as to how a Radical Civillite should respond to a bicyclist who runs a stop sign, almost knocking me over in the crosswalk? They whiz by so quickly, it only give you time to shout something at their retreating back. What should it be?

John Kelly: Let's try to think of snappy rejoinders for next week.

I am disturbed that some cyclists don't think street signs and road rules apply to them. Some drivers feel the same way, of course.

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Tourist kids: To add to the praise of the chaperone telling the kids to stay to the right...I walk in front of the Capitol every day on my way to work, and in the warm weather I see at least 2 or 3 hordes of middle school kids here on school trips. I finally saw 1 group who were all dressed in "Casual Friday" office wear -- skirts, collared shirts, dresses, long pants. Very nice to see no bra straps and no bellybuttons.

John Kelly: Good for them. The '50s will be back in no time.

Thanks for joining me today. Help us fight the good fight. It starts, unfortunately, with US being polite, with US being civil, with US displaying good behavior in the hopes that others will follow suit.

Answer Man will be in the paper on Sunday, with a quite eerie story about a train accident near Fort Totten. And we'll chat again in a week. In the meantime, mouth off on my blog or drop me an e-mail: kellyj@washpost.com.

Enjoy the weekend.

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Washington, D.C.: If we are spreading Radical Civility to Japanese, you should have said "Domo arigato, Washington D.C. - san," not "sun." The Japanese are serious about polite language. They have special verb forms, just to indicate politeness...But the Tokyo subway signs are great!

John Kelly: Ah so, I couldn't remember which. Thank you most humbly.

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