What's the latest novel vision for the T? Googly eyes

Picture this: You're waiting on the platform of the T. It's been a long day, your train is late and you just want to get home and into some comfy clothes.

You look up as your train approaches. Suddenly, you're faced with two giant googly eyes staring back at you from the front of the train.

That's the scenario for future T riders proposed by Arielle Lok, an organizer with a group called "Googly Eyes on the MBTA."

"If you look really closely it kind of looks like the T is smiling at you, and it's saying 'Hey, sorry, I'm late, but I'm just so silly,' " the 22-year-old said. "And suddenly you forget that it's even late to begin with, because you're just having such a good time looking at this train and the train is looking at you."

On Monday, the group's members stood outside the Park Street station to not only champion their whimsical cause, but also bring a little levity to Bostonians' persistent stress about the T.

The effort came the same week scheduled closures along the entire Red Line were slated to go into effect for nine days — the latest in a series of disruptions, including ongoing speed restrictions and spontaneous train problems, that have plagued America's oldest transit system for years.

Roughly 20 people participated, holding signs and following along to the raucous chants and cheers led by co-organizer John Sanchez, who is also 22. They shouted out charming puns and rhymes like "Our vision for the T is to give the T vision," and "Orange Line, Red Line, Green Line, Blue / Stick those googly eyes on with glue."

"I think it would improve ridership. I think it would boost morale," Sanchez said of his group's initiative.

Kiki Golston, 29, of Boston, was walking by the rally and decided to join in. She doesn't ride the T every day anymore, but for years was a daily user of the Orange Line.

"The world is so dark and just seeing googly eyes on the train will make so many people smile and just bring joy to people's lives," she said.

Lok, one of the organizers, said she was inspired to put googly eyes on the T by an initiative from her hometown of Vancouver. Every December, TransLink, the transportation authority for the city, decorates buses to look like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, slapping on antlers, googly eyes and of course, a giant red nose. It appears many people get into the holiday spirit and often post on social media as they ride a "reindeer bus."

Googly Eyes on the MBTA promoters eventually marched through Boston Common over to the Massachusetts Transportation Building, where they chanted for about 15 minutes while onlookers occasionally cheered in admiration, or looked on with slight confusion.

The group's appeal also occurred as some lawmakers and transit advocates offered notes of optimism about the first year of MBTA General Manager Phil Eng's tenure, despite many riders noting they're still waiting for their commutes to improve.

Gabrielle Mondestin, chief communications officer for the MBTA, told WBUR the agency would take the googly eyes suggestion "under advisement."

"We are open to fun ways to make people smile and creatively improve riders' experience, like in-station musical performances and children voice-over announcements to our 'Share the Love' campaigns, service improvements, and the kindness our transit ambassadors show," she wrote in an email. "All the while, our employees are working hard on infrastructure upgrades."

"Thank you for caring about our system and offering ideas," she added.