Why I hate public transportation.

[Troll]

I went downtown today and was forced by a variety of circumstances to use the cities bus system to do so. I hate the bus. I don't mind paying my dollar to ride, since riding four times a day everyday would still be cheaper than gas and insurance. I don't mind the drivers, since they have nothing to add to the general chaos aside from occasionally grunting the name of a cross street into the PA system. I don't even mind the length of time I end up on the bus because it gives me a chance to catch up on my reading. I hate the people. I hate the mother of the screaming child who sat there and talked on her cell until I was worried the poor kid was going to give himself a heart condition if someone didn't pay attention to him soon. I hate the gaggle of highschool students who went out of their way to be as loud and abrasive as possible to hide the fact that they are scared and insecure. I hate the guy who sat on the bus and sneezed violently into the back of some gray haired old ladies head and doesn't even have the common courtesy to hold his hand over his mouth, so I actually SEE the glob of white and yellow spit sticking in her hair. I hate the old man I saw of around age sixty five, maybe seventy, who threw a fit because he needed to vacate the easy access seats in the front of the bus and allow someone to be there who was half his age but was wheelchair bound. I hate the freak who spent the whole trip muttering to himself loudly enough that I could hear him all the way in the back. I hate the dip who seamed to think it was cool to hit on anything between the ages of 16 and 50 that was female and close enough to hear his whiny little punk wannabe tone. I hate the flake who decided to plunk down right in front of me and spend half the trip deciding what jingle would be the most pleasant for his phone to make. I hate that the few people I saw who appeared to be worth knowing were so nervous about being around these fruit loops that they hid in their seat and prayed none of these loons would choose to sit next to them. By the time I made it downtown I was practically in a rage over the hair and spit incident and had resolved to take said idiot off to the side and discuss with him the posibility of not being such an asshole in the future (maybe with the aid of a large club, I hadn't decided yet) when a man walked up to me. This man's ENTIRE FACE was a mass of poorly done tattoos. This man then asked me if I had any spare change, and held his hand out like it was my duty to support his local tattoo artist. I couldn't help it. Not after that bus ride. Not in light of what I saw before me. I looked at him, and in my grinding, low, don't mess with me voice, and loud enough to be heard a block away I said "SORRY BUDDY, BUT YOUR POOR CAREER CHOICE IS NOT MY PROBLEM." He gave me three looks in quick succesion. The first was confusion. The second was rage. The third was caution, edging to fear. (I am a VERY large man) His groupies made his life miserable at least until he was out of earshot, beyond that I could not say. I am sure that it ruined his whole day though. It made mine. Does that make me a bad person?

I do not know why it is that I have decided to post on this. Cheaper than therapy I suppose. I do not know how often I will post these misadventures of mine, though I suspect it will be in direct proportion to how much feedback I get. Take care, and have a good one.

[John Bolger]

...quite simply, you hate the world. Cause all those things you just described are a big part of it.

First off, welcome. Second, it must be nice to judge from such a lofty place. Think maybe for a second you were the "Big sullen mean guy yelling at everyone" to someone else on that bus. Thanks for sharing your story and I'm glad you were able to vent cause that is always feels good, but some simple facts about life you should know by now: people can be rude, old people complain (shit it's their only joy sometimes so let them have it, they've earned it), never just dismiss someone begging for money cause that could be you with the right set of circumstances (raised differently, poor choices, heavy drug abuse)/or you might just learn something you never knew before...like the reason his face is a mess of poorly done tattoo’s is because people like you don't give him any change. If you don't like his messy face, do something about it and give the guy a fucking dollar...and lastly give me a hug. Somebody just needs a big Ol' "Public transportation sucks" hug.

Next time turn all that energy into making a digital film about it then post it here, or just create a journal cause you seem very passionate about this and others might too. Take care and rock on!

Bolger

[shampoo death]

I too share your pain for i live in commuter hell.

Its not so much the ride, well acutally it is the ride. I never thought that simply getting on and sitting in a train for 40 minutes could be so tiring, but it is. It's hell, and the worst is fighting for a place to sit. at rush hour there are hords of people all stragetigcally standing around on the platform right in front of where the train doors would open all trying to rush on the train at the same moment to try and get a seat. that kind of hassle at 7 am is not exactly worth waking up for, but i must. At least when on the train, everyone is usually pretty quite, either reading their paper, sleeping or playing with their laptop computers. and the ride is pretty peaceful, except when the AC or heater is out, then the ride is just 40+ minutes of torture.
thats just a walk in the park compared to the NYC subway.

During rush hour its mad, so many people moving about, if you find yourself on the wrong side of a corridor, its atkin to a running of the bulls in spain. and if you do eventually get to the subway entrance, there is inevitiably someone who has troulbe with the turnstyle causing a hold up sometimes 10 people long. and then there are those witing on line to buy metro-cards or tokens which also creates more obsticles and if you are able to make your way through all of that, good luck getting on the platform. It can get so crowded on the platform that there no actua way to get from one side of the platform to the other. we are talking about maybe 15 feet here, and if you tried to push your way though, someone would fall onto the tracks.
All these problems of course are only the fault of poor design and fluctuations in the train [arrival] patterns. And since the CIty has upgraded all the 6 trains to these nice new brushed aluminum looking cars, the rides have actually been more plesent. the AC always works, there is a nice marquee that constantly updates where the train is headed and where the next stop is going to be and the current time, and there are pre-recorded voices for all the station announcments so you never miss a station. And the subway would really be nice if it were for the panhandlers and religious zealots. these people are really the only people i have problems with. of all the people that really make me mad, its the religious zealots that damn everyone on the train as hethens that are going to hell unless they take jesus as their savior. they have to walk up and down the train yelling their seromn with a bible in their hand while everyone else is franctically lookng for a way our or hoping the train will stop at a station soon so they can get off. All it does is make people feel really uncomfortable and very annoying. i mean gee, as if my self-esteem wasnt low enough, i have to be called a hethen and be damned to hell just because i do not take jesus as my savior? do i really need that kind of abuse so early in the morning, or after a long day of classes?

*sigh*

[LadyJofVanCity]

I feel your experience Troll, but be hold a new atittuded.

I work as a location scout in the film industry, which gives my car many miles. I drive around all day long looking for potential locals, while looking for the great unknown. Up and down every street I can think of; with out leaving the zone, I look for the perfect look. Meanwhile back in my mobile office I answer dozens of calls (with my head set) from potential locals, bosses and City officals. All this while defending my driving, enduring the local weather and what ever crazy length I must go to, to find the perfect "Pig Farm, Alley Way, Chicago Streets from the 60's and the perfect neighbourhood to be mars."

I put up with bad drivers (that doen't use head sets,) ones that avoid using turn signals, ones that are too fast or too slow and ones that really need to get out of the car and ride transit. Oh, and I have to watch out for:cops:speed traps. After all, production will not pick up the tab for parking tickets or speeding tickets. They do however cover all my other cost for the day.

I usually find what they are looking for and more. Hence I keep on working (crossing the fingers :loopy: )

Once the week is over I usually hang up the car keys and pull out the protable music device. I like to walk to the Sky Train and ride it to the inner City. Once I am down there I like to wonder around and appreciate the City and all the fine panhandlers. I play mute (hence mp3 player in my ears) I long for a job that would give me the freedom of not having to drive so much, a job that would allow me to hang with a bus pass. After a movie, sushi and many drinks later with the girls, I must head home. My options are take the # 20 to my door or hale a cab......:wishy: The sky train is out, because it does not operate late.

Depending on my state of mind and the cash in my side, I flip a dime for my time and get home. I like taking the bus home. It goes along Hasting St. (if you have ever been here, you will know what I am about to say) The ride makes me appreciate: my life, my car, my freedom to roam and the freedom to get home. I am always prepared for the unknown when I am in that neighbourhood. Whether I am driving by in my car, working on a film production or riding the bus, it always sobers me up! I am thankful that I am not (or have not) yet, become one of those people. The cracked out wacked out ones. The ones that ride the bus and ramble on....the ones that everyone is scared of.

I am not sure what I wanted to end with.....but I get your story and I have lived it too. Oh, invest in a walkman or something....it will make all the public nosies go away!

[BB BooRachi]

Troll? where were you when "hate" got turned into a dirty word by Mary J Blige(or someone) ? Allow me to say "u iz a hater" and "u dranked haterade LoL" :mad:
How dare you judge these filthy,dirty,useless scumbags? They have as much right to be generally offensive as we have to desperately try and avoid them. Maybe next time the guy with a tattooed face asks you for money you should hug him. Sure, you will almost certainly catch hepatitus but don't you think it will be worth it? You will have proved to the common commuters that you are a kind person and that will be great because ..... ummm .... because ....... :confused: I can't think of a way to finish this sentence. :(

[Nick Mougis]

Maybe i'm being an asshole, and an internet nerd as well, but Mullaney, can we please get this thread the hell out of this forum??

thank you.

nick.:up: