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If you are not aware, this type of comment is fairly common on HN when discussing public transit. > Make the bus an experience that at least doesn't make want

If you are not aware, this type of comment is fairly common on HN when discussing public transit. > Make the bus an experience that at least doesn't make want people want to vomit and then people may start to take the bus again. Please do not take personal offense to this, but this type of comment leads me to believe that you have very derogatory views of people that have chosen or have ended up in different life paths. Have you ever considered that it is possible that you live a very isolated and segregated life and that something like the bus is unsettling to you because it forces you to associate with the general population as opposed to your typical, highly controlled, environment?

toasterlovin 7y ago
> Please do not take personal offense to this, but this type of comment leads me to believe that you have very derogatory views of people that have chosen or have ended up in different life paths. Or they just have reasonable views about what kind of behavior is acceptable in public spaces.
ThrowawayR2 7y ago
Having grown up in relative poverty, if you think any of us in the "general population" wanted to be around the addicts, high, and/or mentally ill riding the bus, you are out of your ever-loving mind. We merely didn't have much choice in the matter.
linuxftw 7y ago
In the US, government transportation is similar to government housing: you only use it if you can't afford the alternatives.
- mattkrause 7y ago
  That’s manifestly untrue for New York, DC, Boston, and Chicago, etc.
  - toasterlovin 7y ago
    Or is it that personal transportation is so expensive in those cities that even middle class people (who could afford personal transportation in most cities) are forced to use public transportation. I know that's the case for at least New York. Unsure about the other three.
    - mattkrause 7y ago
      If I worked in midtown Manhattan, I would jump through flaming hoops to avoid driving, even if I wasn't paying for parking. That traffic crawls, and it's not exactly a relaxing drive.
      - toasterlovin 7y ago
        Fair enough (I was remembering parking being insanely expensive in NYC). What I was getting at is that it's not that public transit is necessarily better in the large eastern cities, but that that personal transportation is (comparatively) worse.
rayiner 7y ago
Contrary to what some people believe, the “general population” follows rules and decorum and doesn’t like people blaring music on the bus, or aggressive pan handlers, or people talking to themselves any more than OP does. If they had a bit more money they’d be driving instead to get away from the troublemakers just like OP. And they are the ones who suffer most when elitists insist that public transit (and public schools, etc.) should be forced to deal with troubled or anti-social people, be de facto homeless shelters, etc.
- danans 7y ago
  > And they are the ones who suffer most when elitists insist that public transit (and public schools, etc.) should be forced to deal with troubled or anti-social people, be de facto homeless shelters, etc. I've gotta second this. Public transit and schools end up dealing with many of the US' social ills because we don't want to pay to deal with the problems directly. I don't blame the homeless folks on the train, as uncomfortable as it is to be on the train with them, because I realize that many people wealthy enough to never have to take the train feel it's not worth the higher taxes and building of housing + treatment facilities needed to deal with the problem. The status quo almost seems to be working as intended.
- momokoko 7y ago
  Those people are a sample of the general population. Most of the people on that bus are not blaring music or aggressively panhandling. A small percentage, just like in the general population, are. I imagine, from the above poster's comments, that they have chosen to live in a community which isolates itself from a large portion of the population. When utilizing a service like the bus, or maybe the DMV(Department of Motor Vehicles), they are now forced to be around the general population that they have been able to avoid for most of their life. My point is that their comments have less to do with the bus, and more to do with their opinions on the general population. Of which they typically spend very little time around.
  - rayiner 7y ago
    > Most of the people on that bus are not blaring music or aggressively panhandling. A small percentage, just like in the general population, are. My point is that the rest of the "general population" is upset by that "small percentage" as much as OP, and the "general population" wishes there was more aggressive enforcement of social and legal norms on the bus. And that it's elitist to fault OP for his view, instead of faulting the government for not properly policing the bus.
Rebelgecko 7y ago
>derogatory views of people that have chosen or have ended up in different life paths I have no qualms admitting that I have derogatory views regarding the homeless guy that screams racial slurs at the driver when he's asked to stop smoking on the bus. Most people aren't concerned about the "average" passenger, they're concerned about the worst one you'll experience on a given day. And the worst can range from minor things like the kid blasting shitty trap music on his bluetooth speaker, to someone who is in such a low place in life that it would actually improve their situation to shove you in front of a train and spend the rest of their life being housed and fed in prison.

toasterlovin 7y ago

> Please do not take personal offense to this, but this type of comment leads me to believe that you have very derogatory views of people that have chosen or have ended up in different life paths. Or they just have reasonable views about what kind of behavior is acceptable in public spaces.

ThrowawayR2 7y ago

Having grown up in relative poverty, if you think any of us in the "general population" wanted to be around the addicts, high, and/or mentally ill riding the bus, you are out of your ever-loving mind. We merely didn't have much choice in the matter.

linuxftw 7y ago

In the US, government transportation is similar to government housing: you only use it if you can't afford the alternatives.

mattkrause 7y ago
That’s manifestly untrue for New York, DC, Boston, and Chicago, etc.
- toasterlovin 7y ago
  Or is it that personal transportation is so expensive in those cities that even middle class people (who could afford personal transportation in most cities) are forced to use public transportation. I know that's the case for at least New York. Unsure about the other three.
  - mattkrause 7y ago
    If I worked in midtown Manhattan, I would jump through flaming hoops to avoid driving, even if I wasn't paying for parking. That traffic crawls, and it's not exactly a relaxing drive.
    - toasterlovin 7y ago
      Fair enough (I was remembering parking being insanely expensive in NYC). What I was getting at is that it's not that public transit is necessarily better in the large eastern cities, but that that personal transportation is (comparatively) worse.

rayiner 7y ago

Contrary to what some people believe, the “general population” follows rules and decorum and doesn’t like people blaring music on the bus, or aggressive pan handlers, or people talking to themselves any more than OP does. If they had a bit more money they’d be driving instead to get away from the troublemakers just like OP. And they are the ones who suffer most when elitists insist that public transit (and public schools, etc.) should be forced to deal with troubled or anti-social people, be de facto homeless shelters, etc.

danans 7y ago
> And they are the ones who suffer most when elitists insist that public transit (and public schools, etc.) should be forced to deal with troubled or anti-social people, be de facto homeless shelters, etc. I've gotta second this. Public transit and schools end up dealing with many of the US' social ills because we don't want to pay to deal with the problems directly. I don't blame the homeless folks on the train, as uncomfortable as it is to be on the train with them, because I realize that many people wealthy enough to never have to take the train feel it's not worth the higher taxes and building of housing + treatment facilities needed to deal with the problem. The status quo almost seems to be working as intended.
momokoko 7y ago
Those people are a sample of the general population. Most of the people on that bus are not blaring music or aggressively panhandling. A small percentage, just like in the general population, are. I imagine, from the above poster's comments, that they have chosen to live in a community which isolates itself from a large portion of the population. When utilizing a service like the bus, or maybe the DMV(Department of Motor Vehicles), they are now forced to be around the general population that they have been able to avoid for most of their life. My point is that their comments have less to do with the bus, and more to do with their opinions on the general population. Of which they typically spend very little time around.
- rayiner 7y ago
  > Most of the people on that bus are not blaring music or aggressively panhandling. A small percentage, just like in the general population, are. My point is that the rest of the "general population" is upset by that "small percentage" as much as OP, and the "general population" wishes there was more aggressive enforcement of social and legal norms on the bus. And that it's elitist to fault OP for his view, instead of faulting the government for not properly policing the bus.

Rebelgecko 7y ago

>derogatory views of people that have chosen or have ended up in different life paths I have no qualms admitting that I have derogatory views regarding the homeless guy that screams racial slurs at the driver when he's asked to stop smoking on the bus. Most people aren't concerned about the "average" passenger, they're concerned about the worst one you'll experience on a given day. And the worst can range from minor things like the kid blasting shitty trap music on his bluetooth speaker, to someone who is in such a low place in life that it would actually improve their situation to shove you in front of a train and spend the rest of their life being housed and fed in prison.