I don't know, I used to do it when I lived in Brookline Village, and didn't see myself as desperate. I had a friend who lived out by the VA, and would grab the E outbound to visit him. That was back when it was still free to ride above ground outbound trains. Today, I'd probably use the 39 for that, so your point might still hold. Just the same, it is reasonably possible to make that connection on foot, even if not many would have reason to do so.
Not calling you desperate, but unless you happened to hit Riverway as the (free) E pulled up at the stop, it makes no sense to take the E from Riverway to Heath: which is a 7 minute walk, and with the E, it's gonna still stop at Back of the Hill, then wait to turn left into Heath.
And I wasn't talking about people who originate in Brookline Village... my post was observing an interesting and under-appreciated phenomenon that affects how many people travel, such that if you're already on one train, many people would rather minimize the degree of disruption by staying on that train and walking farther, rather than doing a not-very-pleasant walk, wait for a connection to another line, just to save 5-10 minutes. You can find outliers but most people fall within what is probably a pretty predictable sliding scale based on aesthetics of the walk, perceived reliability of the second line, and relative distance/time for each variant.
This is akin to drivers, myself and most of my local friends included, who know their way around town and have preferred routes, and despise how navigation apps try to shave off a minute or two by getting you to take unnecessary moves just to save a few minutes. If you know your route, you know what you like, and most people will take that over efficiency... up to a point, at least.
Edit - forgot that trains used to be free above ground, but I do remember as a teenager that was the case. Was that true for all lines, or just the B, C, and E?
