On an April day, 30 protestors gathered in downtown Boston. They had their signs drawn up and chants memorized. Marching across Boston Commons, they were impossible to ignore. Soon, they arrived on the doorstep of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). They weren’t there to discuss fares, cleanliness, or the schedule. No, they wanted whimsical “googly” eyes painted on the trains.
Organizer Arielle Lok specified, “We’re not really trying to fix the trains. We’re trying to add joy and whimsy into your daily commute.”
“I think that the eyes are the window to the soul, and the soul of a city is in its transit system… I think that these eyes are trying to connect these dots and give all the riders of the MBTA a new, fun way to connect emotionally with such a cornerstone part of the city.”
Arielle Lok, googly eyes protest organizer
The Boston “T” didn’t take much convincing. General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng said, “We loved the idea and decided to make it happen in a safe and fun way…We embraced a fun opportunity to make people laugh after we heard from some public transit enthusiasts who suggested adding googly eyes to our trains.”
As of early July, multiple trains have been spotted around Boston with silly eyes painted on the front. To the delight of Lok, the city looks like it’s filming a live action Thomas the Tank Engine adaptation.
What inspired Lok to organize the protest? She said she was frustrated at the “T” one day when her train was running late. “When it pulled up, I was just like, ‘Man, you know, I would not be as mad if this train had feelings or if the train had eyes — that would be so silly.”
She admits that the thought likely had its roots in a Vancouver tradition. She once lived in that city, which mounts big red noses, antlers, and googly eyes to city buses around the holidays. “That was a huge part of things that I missed about Canada a lot when I moved to the States.”
Lok is thrilled Boston listened. “What is life without a little bit of silliness?”
