4 ms·

On a nice morning when I'd overslept a bit and couldn't make it to work on time using only my bicycle (15 miles each way), I rode to the bus stop and threw my b

• RyanMcGreal 17y ago
  I've been a bicycle commuter for close to a decade. Several years ago, I was picking up my son after school when another parent approached me. "I think it's great that you come here every day to pick him up." I thought this was a bit odd. Maybe she meant me as a father rather than his mother? I said, "Yeah, I really consider it a luxury to have that kind of flexibility in my day." She didn't seem sure what to make of this. "I mean it's great that you're so responsible to come and get him every day." This was getting stranger and stranger. "Well, it is my responsibility." "I just mean, it's great to see you being so responsible to pick up your little brother every day when I'm sure there are lots of things you'd rather be doing." Wait, what? Not sure whether to be flattered or appalled, I spluttered, "Um, I'm his father." She turned red. "Oh! It's just that I saw you riding here on your bike and assumed you were coming from high school." This sort of thing is why I have a beard.
  • sophacles 17y ago
    I get a lot of "you're so brave to ride all the way to work!" (2 miles on back streets and one major road to cross. Aside from that road I'll maybe see 2 cars the whole trip).
    • RyanMcGreal 17y ago
      I ride in pretty heavy traffic but normally I feel very comfortable sharing the road with motorists (my city has very few bike lanes and for the most part they're non-continuous). I follow the rules of the road (Ontario Highway Traffic Act) and best practices (e.g. Ontario's Guide to Safe Cycling). On multi-lane streets where passing vehicles are dangerous, I assertively lane-block. Interestingly, I've noticed in the last month that driver hostility toward my presence on the road has increased dramatically. Almost every day I experience an act of driver aggression, from honking at me to passing too closely to deliberately cutting me off. I consider myself a seasoned cyclist but it's starting to get unnerving.
      • sophacles 17y ago
        I ride similarly for errands etc. I have noticed such a similar reaction from drivers. I live in a college town, and most drivers are pretty OK with cyclists -- there is the occasional "use the sidewalk" or close pass w/ horn, but mostly cool people. This past month, since the snows have gotten all wintery, I have also noticed increased agression. I think the cause here may be surprise -- drivers are already nervous about the crappy road conditions, and they can't fathom how a bike is even ridable in winter. They view my riding as extra dangerous (both to me and them) and their stress level increases even more. Such a thing frequently comes out sideways as anger/agression.
        • pyre 17y ago
          I think it's funny that people would be stressed out about your riding being dangerous to them, but as a reaction would cut you off, or drive too close to you. "I hate how dangerous you're being; therefore, I'm going to be even more dangerous! I definitely showed you!"
  • protomyth 17y ago
    The opposite is really no fun either. Went to the hospital with my brother (3 years younger than me) to pay a bill and the lady behind the desk thought I was his father. I just smiled and payed the bill.
• sophacles 17y ago
  A lot of people are similarly confused by my biking when I tell them I don't have a car, and that I decided to use the money for down payment on a house instead. Typically they think I'm talking about living at the very edge of my income or something. They offer to help me figure out how to save better and get all pissy when I tell them I have enough cash saved up now to buy a new car, I just am waiting for one I like to come along.
• MikeCapone 17y ago
  Sadly, this says a lot about the stigma of public transportation in certain parts of the world (esp. in the US). "Oh, so you're poor."
  • ax0n 17y ago
    I would agree with you, but she drove to the bus stop in a Lexus, like a lot of folks out here. And she probably drove two miles or less to get there. I live in the most affluent county in the region and "public transit" is in place ONLY for the 8a-5p suburbanites commuting to downtown. A few buses in the morning go downtown. A few in the evening come back out to suburbia. It's worthless for anything other than getting to and from work for an average work day.
    • MikeCapone 17y ago
      Good point. In my mind, I was picturing taking the bus in some random relatively small city. But in certain places, public transit is mostly used by the relatively rich people who live in the comfy suburbs.
  • SandB0x 17y ago
    True. Maggie Thatcher one said "A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure."
  • pbhjpbhj 17y ago
    The poor walk. Public transport in my city in the UK is too expensive for me. I have the choice of lunch or bus. If the journey is longer it's usually cheaper to take the car (which we need for our business just not normally for commuting) unless the parking is going to be very expensive. Often I'll walk home in the rain (just over a mile) and have several buses pass me - though if I'm away at 5pm I'll pass a couple of them - the buses are practically empty and I wonder why they couldn't drop the price and fill the seats. Perhaps they could have budget airfare style pricing with a cap? The only people who regularly ride the buses here appear to be those with free passes - pensioners and those on benefits.
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• pkaler 17y ago
  May I ask which city you live in? Different cities seem to have different perceptions of public transit.
  • ax0n 17y ago
    I live in Johnson County, KS, the whitebread predominantly wealthy cluster of suburbs to the southwest of Kansas City, MO.
    • ubernostrum 17y ago
      Ah, the JC.