I just watched an old man nearly fall down, trying to reach a seat in the back of the bus because some stupid girl didn’t think to herself “Hey, that man is old and having trouble walking, maybe he would like to have the seat closest to the front?” I wanted to stand up and say “Hey, idiot, what’s your problem”? or “What if that was your grandfather jerk?”… But I just sat there fuming instead.
Come on. If you see someone getting on the bus who is a little worse off than yourself or who has a stroller, etc. and you’re sitting at the front, MOVE! It’s that simple. Show some respect and quit being so damn ignorant. —Hopes That Girl Felt Like Crap
This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2010.
o.p., nah, she was probably too busy texting herself about how important her life is to her. you know the type i mean, the universe revolves around them type. and you could have offered your seat, if you were sitting, and aren’t in the age group,just saying, you know.
Last week was fucking horrendous for this sort of thing. Multiple times, I watched an older person get on, and able-bodied, young people had their asses in seats…where they remained. No one would offer their goddamn seat to the much-older people. If i hadn’t been already standing, i would have.
Maybe because she was a “lady” and the old dude was a man, she felt she didn’t have to give up her seat. Also, if this guy was like many older men, he may have even felt embarassed or emasculated taking a seat from a woman. I know my dad (old man) wouldn’t feel comfortable doing so even if he was physically disabled!
Why not say something to these idiots???
I would!
Good thing you had a stroller, and didn’t have to give up your seat.
If you were able to stand up and say ”Hey idiot what’s your problem… why didn’t you stand up and say” Hey old man wanna seat?
no more fuming allowed, please take action citizens
yes, nut/ovary up and say something…. public ridicule is very effective.
This happened to me on Saturday. I got on the bus with my 6-year old daughter and proceeded to remain standing. She had to hold onto the back of a seat while the bus took off. Being only 6, she found it hard to hold on and was shifted around a couple of times. She accidentally brushed the back of someone’s neck trying to regain her hold on the seat and this woman turned around and glared at her. Stupid fucking bitch….. I was in a tough situation cause I didn’t want to induce some stupid confrontation with a 52-dirty in front of my daughter. All I can say is….. a lot of disrespectful gommicks in this city… and not enough smarts.
ur tipical hali i’m to vip bitch yo,they lame as yestas daz cheese doodle pop
that is assault on my eyes.
JR makes less sense than a calico, cheese, and rubber band burrito.
jr, i know klingon, romulan, betagese, and a host of human languges, what the fuck was that. gutterville hollow i would guess. i have a hard time finding a dictionary for that shit. thought it was an ancient dialet of some kind.
Why didn’t you get up and give him your seat if it bothered you that bad? And for the woman with the kid… the bus can get crowded and if you have to stand you have to stand. If you don’t want to stand when you and your kid are perfectly able to then don’t take the bus. Mental disabilities exist as well as physical ones and standing on the bus can be just as hard for them but you can’t always tell by looking at someone that they have a mental disability. My advice, don’t make assumptions about people you don’t know or understand especially when it comes to public transportation. AND when it comes to “public” transport comfort isn’t usually the first priority so buck up!
OP was probably sitting near the back, themselves, browneyes. Probably next to an empty seat and that’s how they saw the whole thing.
This is why I always sit in the back of the bus or the middle if it’s an old one. Save the front seats for the people who need it (only time I’ll sit on the front side seats is when I get on the bus outside my building and I’m only going to lacewood to get a transfer — I’m on the bus not even 5 minutes). I can’t STAND sitting on a side seat anyway — I get major motion sickness if I do.
However, just because someone’s young doesn’t mean they’re completely able bodied. When I was still recovering from my surgery last month I was getting around OK but I couldn’t stand up on the bus because my stomach muscles were still healing. I might have looked able bodied and young, but I needed to sit down just as much as any other with mobility issues. And I have a friend with severe low blood pressure and they can pass out fairly easily so it’s important they sit on the bus. Plus, there’s still the issue of women who are in their first trimester of pregnancy — if they fell down that might not be such great news for their pregnancy. My friend is young and a lot of those who get pregnant are younger. (And why is it essential that someone with a stroller sits down? Can’t they put the breaks on their stroller and hold a pole/bar/strap like anyone else? Not like they couldn’t hold the pole with one hand and the stroller with the other hand).
While I admit most who appear able bodied and don’t move their asses are probably actually able bodied and are just assholes, but sometimes things aren’t as they appear to be.
This bitch really bugs me because I’ve HAD a pretty severe bus accident from falling when the bus pulled away abruptly while I was heading towards the back and I couldn’t grab a pole. I ended up tearing my MCL and ACL and ripping a chunk of skin out of my ankle (which ended up getting infected — my foot ballooned up twice its size and got bright red and hot and I couldn’t walk on it for a week). I spent a year in physio. This was in 2007 and it’s only THIS winter that it hasn’t hurt like a mofo on a regular basis. I’m young and strong so if this can happen to me I can only imagine what damage can happen to an older person if they fell like I did (or even just tripped and stumbled)! And ironically, because of this injury, and despite all the physio, I never fully recovered my sense of balance and I can’t stand on the bus without toppling over (unless I hug/cuddle with a freaking pole and like doing THAT isn’t embarrassing!) Ugh.
“but sometimes things aren’t as they appear to be”
This was my main point. You don’t know what pains people have that you can’t see. Also if you are going to take the bus then I think discomfort should be expected. As far as strollers go I have been on the bus once MAYbe twice where the driver let them leave the kid in the stroller but in my experience the drivers usually have made them fold the strollers up so they don’t take up room and block the exits and entrances. I have also witnessed someone take quite a bad tumble backwards into the front door and got her face scratched up. The bus was empty but the driver hit the gas and then suddenly stopped before the woman even put her change in the change thing. I think patience on all sides is needed.
PK first it was a house you lived in then a bungalow and now an apartment building… you get around alot just like a hooker.
No, I’ve lived in an apartment since I’ve been back in Halifax (5 or so years ago). I have said though, that my apartment’s a 3 bed on a main floor set on a wooded green area (I have a great backyard, essentially) so it’s *like* a bungalow/house. It’s as quiet as a house too (I’m at the ass end of the building where no one goes but me and my neighbour. *shrug*
I never sit on the back of the bus, I’m too worried I would get shot or punched in the face. There are so many drunk people on the bus it’s not funny, I would rather stay in the front in case a quick escape is needed
browneyes are you for real? First of all I am not a woman. Second of all, when there are a number of “abler-bodied” guys all sitting on the bus beside us, you’d think common courtesy would be to let the little girl sit down. Wow, there really are some douchebags around here. And my bitch was more or less with the fact that this stupid woman was giving eyes of annoyance to my girl when she was having trouble standing up. The way some of the bus drivers maneuver around some adults have troubled staying vertical, let alone kids. By the way- if we don’t take the bus, how do you propose we get around? Crawl back to the sleaze you came from dumbass.
browneyes, I’m curious to know when was the last time you were on the bus? I’ve been living here almost 4 years, take the bus all over (Dartmouth & Hali) and I have yet to see a driver ask a mother or father to fold up the stroller.
Was on a bus last week where the driver checked to see if someone would move to allow a woman with a stroller to get on. There were then 2 enormous strollers. People had to squeeze by (and I mean, flatten themselves against that little wall next to the driver) in order to get on the bus. The bus was pretty packed and when I attempted to catch a pic of this, my angle wasn’t that great. Would love to hear MT’s take on THAT.
Then, the other day, a woman went right to the seats by the back door with her stroller…first time I’ve ever seen that. And there were seats up front.