Ryan Ginstrom wrote (re emergency buttons on trains):

> I disagree. I think that if such a system were put in place, women would
be
> under even more pressure to keep quiet. Rather than all the passengers
> blaming the perv for their delay as he is hauled off the train, I see the
> perv protesting vehemently and blaming the woman, who of course must be
> hauled off along with the perv, and everyone blaming her for mucking up
> everyone's commute. They will be thinking that no matter who was wrong, if
> she had just shut up they wouldn't all be late for work.

Do trains in the US have an emergency cord? Trains in the UK have *always*
had an emergency cord, and trains in Japan (as far as I know) have *never*
had one. And do you know, in all the years I used British Rail, the
emergency cord never got pulled even *once*? Nor do I even recall anyone I
know recounting an experience of the emergency cord being pulled. Eric will
no doubt sneer at my once again drawing on personal experience rather than
falling back on [lies, damned lies and] statistics, but it's a bit like
America's atom bombs, Ryan - a *deterrent*. It puts people off.

Forget chikan for a moment, and just consider. Packing passengers into
compartments like lumps of meat, units in transit, with no control over
their destiny between boarding and alighting is just not a quality service.
Give people that little bit more control over their environment, give them
the option of blowing the whistle when things are getting out of hand. The
likely result is that the option will rarely be used, but people will feel
that much more secure just knowing it is *there*, and miscreants will have
that much more incentive to think twice.

If a spin-off from that is that once every few months someone pulls the cord
it might be worth it, don't you think?

> I think it would be better to market some kind of colorless powder that
> reacts with sweat to create a brilliant blue dye, which will not come off
> without repeated scrubbing with alcohol and steel wool. The woman could
> sprinkle a bit of this powder on her private bits, then give that sweaty
> little perv a nice sexy smile as he cops his feel.

That's an amusing idea, Ryan. It might even have potential, as a way for
women, individually and collectively, to strike back. But, with all respect,
surely - as a USian - you can advance the even more practical and suitable
solution adopted in your country long ago, to wit, tear up the track and
make the b*****s go by car?

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com