What is with people that ride the bus? They treat it like it is a badge of honour. Don’t believe me, pretend to complain about gas prices, or parking, and see how fast one of them will perk up and say “Well, I take the bus, and I like it.”
What is there to like? leaving my house 45 minutes earlier when my commute is already 30-45 minutes? The cattle car experience of coming home at the end of the day? Having to put up with the same noise levels as a D11 Caterpillar? And, let’s not even mention the thousands of possible things a fellow passenger might do to really piss you off.
I have heard of Stockholm Syndrome for hostages. Surely, there is a name for people that like the bus. —Happy Driver
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2012.
We call them fat, or unemployed, or single mothers that are fat.
People CAN enjoy riding the bus ya know. Not everyone hates human contact like you do. Quiet time on a bus can be spent reading, crossword, music, chatting with your neighbor, that sorta stuff. And not everyone is as tightly wound as you to not be able to stay zen during those manic bus rides from hell (woodside, anyone?)
If it’s too far to bike, I’ll take the bus. It IS environmentally friendly, which makes the ride enjoyable for me. You also mentioned three of the reasons why taking the bus is awesome, in your post. See if you can find them for me
Ugjhdfghdg Woodside. More like Vomitside.
The bus is much cheaper. When you complain about gas prices, parking, insurance, car repair etc. it probably makes the bus riders appreciate the bus more. Maybe that’s why they “like” it?
Yes but a car owner can go when and where they want. How fun is it trying to get to work or go out and anything when the buses don’t run. Also a driver avoids flus, colds, BO, too much perfume, standing in the cold or heat,smoke if they choose, have peace and quiet, and the freedom of the road.
Yeah the bus is great for going to and from work as long as you job doesn’t include traveling and your hours are in line with MT operational hours.
You’re right about the freedom a car provides, BroTim, but some people are willing to sacrifice that for what they think is better. Which would be all the reasons above
Transit in Hillybilly Hollow are two goats pulling two rusty Radio Flyers. To be honest, if I lived in the Big Apple Core, I’d take transit but I’d most likely be retired so I wouldn’t give a sweet shitaroonie as long as I was plugged into my iNod.
So just was is it that you’re doing for the planet OP?
want something to really piss you off on a bus? get a couple of young guys, smelling like they jumped in a vat of the vilest fucking stinky cologne that is on the market. i was over the dark side today, and these two pretty boys get on, stinky shit and all. i got up and opened every fucking window on the bus, and a bunch of people even said thank you. take that you reeking fucking shitheads. a little is okay, but when you pour it all over yourself, stay the fuck away from others. i’d rather have someone fart in my face.
uh.. well if you rely on the bus, you don’t have to rely on all the convoluted bullshit involved in owning a car. It gets expensive and litigious and annoyingly unreliable at times too.
And when any one little thing goes wrong, you have to take the bus. Which is FAR worse than just taking it and not knowing how much better driving is.
otherwise yeah. Before i got my car, i didn’t see the point in getting a car. But after getting a car i have panic attacks and general confusion just thinking about taking the bus.
you sound like a new car owner OP and if you are, may i make a suggestion? You will have to find a way to fit in the exercise you will now miss getting.
Because otherwise you WILL get fat.
Property values in Woodside will be increasing very soon.Lol
The only way I’d take the bus regularly is if I lived on a less crowded route. I just can’t take ppl and their crotches up in my face like that … to each his own.
It’s transportation, I just don’t understand the complaining. Car, Bus, ferry, bike – all of these have their own bitches.
LE FROTTEUR DANS LE METRO
“And let’s not even mention the thousands of possible things a fellow passenger might do to really piss you off.” Happy Driver
Suprisingly, no one has mentioned “le frotteur,” the short, fat individual who rubs himself up against the nearest passenger, preferably a female. On a short run on Le Metro he will usually keep his pants zipped up.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
I am still a driver of my own vehicle but am getting closer and closer everyday to switching to the bus. I am on the bus line and yes, if I didn’t have to worry about the rising cost of gas, car insurance, maintenance, etc and could ride the bus for a couple dollars a day I too would be rejoicing. To me it would be another little piece of FREEDOM. I am thinking very strongly of joining the bus crowd! Smart people in my opinion|!
Probably those of us bus-users who don’t mind the bus like it so much because our commutes aren’t too long. I know when I lived in Dartmouth, it would take two buses and an hour of my time just to get to Mic Mac Mall, and I only lived in Cole Harbour! Dat sucked.
I love being able to drink and not worry about driving home, I love not having to get up early in the winter to clean off my car/shovel the driveway, I love sleeping/reading while on my way somewhere and I love not having to worry about parking! And yeah, the money I save is ka-rayy! The “freedom” of a car isn’t worth it to me.
Lol… The bus as a “badge of honour”???? I sure get jealous when I drive by the bus stops in mid February, with the heat on, radio on, heated seats cranked up, wearing my t-shirt. I bet if you offered them the use of your car for a month, they’d take it.
I deserve a “badge of honour” for taking the shit I have from asshole bus driver’s .I am one of those people standing at the bus stop in mid.Feb. freezing my butt off that Steve mentioned….I never got my drivers premit;people of HRM are safer without me on the roads.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_Tran…
When Winnipeg can afford an LRT, wtf is HRM’s excuse?
^^ gave me heart failure GV….wondering how they snuck an LRT past, it’s still in the ‘gee we’d like to have one’ phase.
by the way people.if you think our bus system is fucked, i suggest that you find the old series,” on the buses”. then you will know we have it real fucking easy here.
Molly, they started construction in spring of 2012, so the cash is flowing. I doubt HRM even has a plan waiting for funding.
HRM is full of a defeatist mentality where we don’t ask because we assume the answer will be NO.
There are no guarantees if we ask. But, if we never ask, I guarantee that the answer will never be Yes.
Hopefully that defeatist mentality will change now HRM has a new mayor.
GV you are totally correct, i had wrong info. it’s a better idea than the ‘dome over downtown’ that was floated in the 70’s.
why is halifax ‘poor’? it’s not a one industry town, it’s a port, it has a wide range of tourist appeal, several universities, provincial capital…
THE VIEW FROM THE UNDERCLASS: THE CULTURE OF BLAME
: Great Value (11/17, 11:10PM)
“HRM is full of a defeatist mentality where we can’t ask because we can assume the answer will be NO.”
In the usual manner of the Halifax Underclass Great Value simply assumes that HRM in general is “full of a defeatist mentality” but provides no evidence that this is the case. However, rather than being a characteristic of HRM it seems more likely that it is a characteristic of the Halifax Underclass in general and of Great Value in particular. But what are those characteristics? I see three:
1. A Whining Posture of Passivity
It is passivity, coupled with a whining sense of entitlement that characterizes the Halifax Underclass. Indeed, Great Value himself embodies the very characteristics he so deplores as those he attributes to HRM in general. Listen to him speak, “We can’t ask,” GV whines, ” because we can assume the answer will be NO.” Great Value comes, cap in hand as usual, but is rebuffed by those in authority who are, of course, those he then bitterly blames for his predicament. This points to a second characteristic of the Halifax Underclass, the inability to realize that his bitter whining is simply a typical aspect of the Underclass Mind.
2. The Underclass Mind
The Halifax Underclass Mind is defined by its blinkered vision, its inability to see that another wider and possibly higher reality might exist. Great Value must blame someone for his defeatist mentality and so he blames the anonymous Other, those in a position of superiority over him which treat his whining with contempt. Cringing in a fashion reminiscent of Uriah Heep, Great Value lashes out bitterly but without effect. His bitter whining is impotent and, ultimately, directed at himself and others like him. It is self-consuming. Lacking a higher reflective dimension, the Underclass Mind falls victim to itself. It is condemned to gnaw at its own entrails.
3. The Culture of Blame
Ordinarily the Halifax Underclass is mute, unreflective and inarticulate. In previous times, lacking voice, it simply plodded along unaware of any wider environment. However, with the advent of the computer and social sites such as Bitch, things have changed. Where before the members of the Underclass were isolated, unreflective and mute now it has been given a voice but the message has remained unchanged. It is the same. From its posture of passivity and its whining sense of entitlement coupled with the bitterness of the expectation of rebuff from those in authority over it, the Halifax Underclass has generated a Culture of Blame, of finger-pointing at anyone and everyone except, of course, itself. It is, in effect, an on-going, never-ending impotent whine.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
dang, MM. is it too late for you to click ‘edit’? re-read GV’s comment…he is PRO asking, not defeatist. he/she is exhorting others to be more positive.
lol You definitely have a talent for pedantic BS.
RSVPs
: Mad Dog Molly (11/18, 12:29PM)
I suppose you’re referring to his statement, “There are no guarantees, but if we never ask, I guarantee that the answer will never be Yes.” Do you call that “PRO Asking”? You must be joking.
GV’s pathetic whining fulfills all the conditions of the Culture of Blame and Grievance so emblematic of the Halifax Underclass: His posture of snivelling passivity, cap in hand, cravenly appealing for a boon from his betters; his utter lack of reflection, of some conception of a broader social and intellectual vision, condemns him to generalize his whining Underclass mind to the population of HRM at large; whimpering in the (justified) expectation of a stern rebuff from those (rightly) placed in authority over him, he does all he can do, impotently immolating himself in the dregs of his own bitter bile while – make no mistake – nurturing his festering, cancerous grievances.
Maybe you’d better click”Edit,” Mad Dog.
: Great Value (11/18, 12:30PM)
“Pedantic BS?” A typical unsupported retort from the Halifax Underclass, one which as usual confounds its simple assertion with its objective truth. Need I say more?
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
You have inaccurately represented my POV, then went on to oppose and poke at your inaccurate version of my POV. I feel no need to debate this irrational stance on your part. Go write more of your sick perverted posts. It is something that you do well.
As smart as you are, you are a fucking idiot. And, I’m sure most people that are regulars here, understand what I mean by that, even if they don’t fully agree with me.
Enough said. Go ahead and say your piece, I expect that you won’t be able to bite your tongue, but your comments from this point on will remain unanswered by me.
have to disagree, GV, on one point. he writes lousy porn. about as stimulating and lyrical as as an index.
however, on a purely humanitarian impulse i notice he is making more and more errors in interpretation. you ok MM? i lost 10 iq points when i hit menopause, you in the same boat?
Not everyone who takes the bus doesn’t own a car. I take the bus and I have a car. My mom takes the bus to work and she has a car. My dad USED to take the bus, but he’s just not down with that shit so he doesn’t take it anymore.
Difference is, dad only goes so far in the run of a day, if he goes out at all (gotta love retirement), whereas commuting and parking for my mom and I is way too expensive. And, on top of that, taking the bus to work means a break in insurance premiums (as does underground parking!).
I’m one of those that doesn’t mind taking the bus, especially TO work. I love that I can just sit back, look out the window, put my ipod on and just tune out. I’m a dreamer and a thinker and I find listening to music on the bus just tuning out is a great time to chill and think.
Not so so keen on the bus ride home, though, but part of that is having co workers who take the same bus, and I’m really not into the whole ‘bus buddies’ shit because if I had to deal with the bus without my ipod, I’d probably shoot myself.
RSVPS
: Great Value (11/18, 4:45PM)
“You have inaccurately represented my POV, then went on to oppose and poke at your inaccurate understanding of my POV.”
Clearly, the accuracy of my interpretation of your POV is the central issue here. I think the fundamental reason for this is its ambiguity. Your assertion, “There is no guarantee if we ask. But if we never ask, I guarantee the answer will never be Yes” (11/17, 10:10PM) might be seen as a recommendation for the Underclass to ask for reasons, to question authority. Indeed, this is the interpretation Mad Dog Molly adopts (11/19, 12:29PM) and, as far as it goes, is legitimate. However, it is not the interpretation I adopted. Rather than a recommendation to ask for reasons I saw it as a descriptive assertion, your assessment of the passivity of the other members of the Underclass. As a consequence, my critique, “The View from the Underclass: The Culture of Blame” (11/18, 11:58AM) was directed at them in general rather than at you in particular. This ambiguity raises an interesting (philosophical?) question: Which is the correct (“accurate”) interpretation (POV)? Is my interpretation of your interpretation necessarily flawed since it does not happen to be your interpretation? Is there an unavoidable (and self-refuting) relativism here? Do we live in enclosed interpretive solitudes? Is it all a matter of opinion, or is there another way?
Another point. You write, “As smart as you are, you are a fucking idiot.” Now at one level this falls under the usual Underclass habit of confounding an unsupported assertion with objective truth and, of course, is to be dismissed out of hand. However, it may be indeed the case that I am a “fucking idiot.” The possibility cannot be denied. It is, after all, part of what it means to be a “fucking idiot” that one does not know that one is, in fact, a “fucking idiot” and I may well have fallen into this conceptual “cul de sac”. However, I detect a fundamental although unexamined distinction between being “smart” on the one hand and being a “fucking idiot” on the other. How can one be both simultaneously? Or is it, once again, a matter of interpretation (POV)?
: Mad Dog Molly (11/18, 7:41PM)
“He writes lousy porn, about as stimulating and lyrical as as (sic) an index.”
Well, that hurt, Mad Dog but – you can see what’s coming next I’m sure – could you demonstrate by example just what your stimulating and lyrical” porn would look like? As you know, I always seek to improve my porn style. In the same way, you point out that I am “making more and more errors in interpretation” which you appear to attribute to my age. You can see what’s coming, can’t you Mad Dog. Would it be possible to specify just what these “errors in interpretation” might be? And, for that matter, on what grounds do you attribute them to my advanced age? Write back soon.
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
GV, good link to the wpg system.
http://winnipegtransit.com/en/southwest-transitway
kind of half n half. not LRT, not just an HOV system. i think it works for wpg because land is flat, land is cheap, streets are hugely wide to begin with and corridor allowances are big, land is easy to dig into (no rocks, just miles deep of dirt)
they do have 2 big rivers to deal with, but the line so far doesn’t cross any.
if we completely banned street parking in the peninsula, we could use the ‘lane’ created for a dedicated bus lane. i don’t think the street system/age of buildings/narrow corridor could accommodate any new construct.
and SMALLER buses, not those bloody big articulated. what a stupid idea except between cities on the highway.
yes I ride the losercuiser and I love it. Especially the car sickness feeling when the driver rides the break the whole way and I just love breathing in other peoples putrid tobacco breath, and trust me nothing beats the sweet smells of stale urine and that wet spot I am sitting in is like so fun and mysterious. YAY!
Aw come on NO FOOL you know you love the jingle in your jeans. It is so great to live on a Bare Bones Budget!!! The Bus with its new heated terminal is the Way to go!
I’d wager that a very small percentage of people who can afford not to use public transit, chose to use it anyways. In other cities, not the case, but here definitely.
And yeah, What Mel said about bus service in Halifax vs. Darmouth and other suburbs. It REALLY sucks living in Dartmouth with no car, I don’t even want to imagine Sackville or somewhere. Even getting around Dartmouth is a wholy unreasonable. Gotta take like 3 busses to get somewhere 5 or 10 minutes away. I did it until I was 23 and even though that car has been really tough on the budget at times, especially after I lost my job, I’m so glad I have it.
I like taking road trips on a whim and whatnot, it’s not even really about just getting around town. If that were the case I’d have a Hyundai or something cheap and good on gas. I like comfort and a car with a bit of guts that will sustain a bit of wear and tear. I love my heated seats in the winter and my sunroof in the summer, and ya knows I got to have a decent stereo so I can get my vibe on.
Not one of you would ride the bus if you hit the lotto. Let’s be real. In other places that actually take it upon themselves to make it much more convenient to take transit, rich folks take the train or the bus to work and around town. There are way too many cars on the road in this town because unless you live close to downtown taking the bus every day is just shoot me in the face experience, for the most part because only those who can’t afford to get around on their own use it.
I just like having a car. I’m a young guy, and right now I live at home. Can’t be living at home and not having a car. Fuck that.
OH! and one more thing. What’s pretty much the only thing to do in the summer on a really hot day in this province. The beach! Can’t take the bus out there. Also there’s Martock and Wentworth in the winter, so many cool things you can’t do unless you or someone you know has a car, and when I used to depend on my friends for rides I just felt like a chump. I love doing things on my own time.
I don’t like sunroofs, birds poop in them.
If I won the lotto, I’d still be getting someone to drive for me 😉
Cholocate Lake is easily accessible by by bus…
i could never give up my vehicle, i have the dogs with me 99% of the time, however, i don’t need to commute to work. i used skytrain in vancouver and left the car at home. was a 5 min walk & 12 min ride on the train VS a 45 min car drive. there was lots of free parking at work but not worth the aggravation to drive.
cities on peninsulas need good rapid transit into the city.
i’m driving my neighbours to the airport and i need a vehicle to transport bags of halifax’s finest
^^ bags of cops? weed? mooseheads?
donairs would be my guess….
they’re just not the same anywhere else.
I could certainly drive to work every day… fact is, it’s cheaper not to.
The five extra minutes a day getting to the stop early is worth the 45-50 bucks a month more a parking spot downtown would cost me.
Could I afford it? Sure, if I really wanted to but the fact that I can sit back/play on the phone/read news/listen to music while someone else deals with all the shitty drivers and I don’t have to put my vehicles in any danger… and save wear and tear on em makes it better for me.
Not to mention I can go out and have a few and not have to worry about finding rides or paying through the fucking nose for a taxi. I have tons of goTime stops that I travel most often programmed into my phone so I never really have to be too early…
You guys enjoy your cars clogging traffic…
I have no qualms… and I get it. The 10 minute drive to my friends used to take an hour by bus and I still had to walk 10 minutes on top of that. It isn’t always perfect but it’s pretty handy to many.
i don’t like nova scotian donairs.
i like the ones i was used to in vancouver. with tzatziki and chicken and enough garlic to announce your presence an hour ahead.
Wouldn’t that be a gyro? (splitting hairs, I realize) The difference being the use tzatziki instead of sweet donair sauce? Or are the names interchangeable?
a gyro to me would be a nova scotia donair. would be a different shape, and using pita instead. back there, anyway.
there was this little shop down the block from work, on burrard. she made gyros and ‘donairs’ . the best!
any other donair i had in vanc was always with tzaziki. and the bread was thinner, more like a wrap.
the donairs here are huge, manly creations!
Seems we have and prefer the newer version…
I’d never bastardize my donair with tzatziki…. yuck.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner_kebab#C…
Zzzed I’ll bet you’re a contributing factor to bus funk. With that nasty donair garlic stink comin outchur pours – yeck! Please save us busgoers’ olfactory glands and carpool instead.
1. you don’t get to decide… and pleading will get you nowhere.
2. you’re one to talk, you nasty ass cow.
Not to mention garlic burps would be an improvement to the transit smell currently in place.
I predict it will get worse in winter as people will be wearing jackets, the driver will be blasting the heat, and no-one will be allowed to open windows.
That just leads to people sweating their nards/cooches off.
Unfortunately, I’ve been relegated to taking the bus to/from work on a regular basis again, as I put the motorcycle away for the winter lastnight. *sigh* Sad day indeed.
ack! evaporated milk. no wonder i don’t like it. blech. patooie.
it depends what you grow up with. like pizza. in wpg it was gondola pizza, crust so thin and crusty you could see through it. i can’t eat doughy crust, i slide the toppings off and give the crust to the dogs.
the hound’s favourite snack was salvatore’s pizza crust. i still get weepy when we order it
noofer would be honoured to eat your pizza crusts. and he will kiss your face as many times as you need.
” Cholocate Lake” he said beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11! Ain’t nobody got time for lakes!
GOSHHHH
lol
This moves from bitching at the bitcher to bitching at each other. Whatever keeps you sane I guess.
^^ well, yeah.
This the bitch board Coastin. You bitch at anything that moves.
Except for the bison, leave them alone, they can’t take it.
let me see…ride the bus….dealing with all those effing smokers blowing shit into my lungs? Tripping over goddam strollers, that parents are too lazy to fold up and pick up their child, stick under my feet…yeah, riding the bus is a stinking privilege, not a right. yeah that’s it.
Smokers and stroller-pushers are both breaking the rules…read the riders guide. Oh right, you can’t read. D’uh.