Bwah?

[Rapscallion]

During my little trip to Canada, I had the dubious pleasure of riding on the Hamilton public transport system. It's actually far better than anything we have in the UK for many reasons, but there are still SCs around...

Gatekeeper's step sister and I were happily sat on the bus. I was playing 'spot the attractive passenger' and failing. A guy was talking to the bus driver. I couldn't tell if the driver was willingly responding, but...

"I've got nothing against handicapped people bringing their wheelchairs on the bus, nothing at all. Old people and their walkers? They shouldn't be allowed on the bus system."

A - what's the difference?

B - the only reason I didn't intervene is that I was too stunned.

Rapscallion

[Becks]

What about the kind that fold up when not in use? I'd think that those would be ok...

[tollbaby]

Old people and their walkers??? What about the entitlement whore parents who bring their enormous cadillac strollers onto the bus (you know, those huge ones that could do serious damage to an SUV in a collision)??? The other night, I got trapped on a bus by ONE family bringing THREE of those monstrous beasts onto the bus. How was I trapped? Well, I'm physically handicapped, so *ghasp* I use the handicap courtesy seating at the front of the bus, and they fenced me in, wouldn't move when my stop came up and I *LOUDLY* said "Excuse me, I'd like to get off" and made me miss my stop. *grumble* I was PISSED.

[Gurndigarn]

Old people and their walkers??? What about the entitlement whore parents who bring their enormous cadillac strollers onto the bus (you know, those huge ones that could do serious damage to an SUV in a collision

Ah, one of my pet peeves. Excercise is good for kids. Let them walk. If they're likely to get tired of walking, well, excercise is good for you, too. Carry them, or walk slower. It's not like the mall goes on forever.

[opscaddy]

When I had to have foot surgery, I was headed down to visit a friend and took one of the cheap local trains. It wasn't a super-long ride, but every single seat was taken, no one would make eye contact with me, and I had to stand on, basically, one foot, trying to keep my balance with my crutches. I managed to maneuver enough to get my crutches under one arm so that I could hold onto a pole with the other hand by about 10 minutes into the trip. This was an 'express' train, so there were only 3 stops for the 20-minute voyage - and nobody got off!! Then I had to try to maneuver back through legs sticking out from side seats when I got to my stop. I was SO glad I didn't have to ride the train every day!!!

Sometimes, people really suck. If a train is mostly full, I will usually stand, if I can, so that people who need to sit more, can. After all, you don't necessarily know who might have a condition that makes standing for long periods painful or even just uncomfortable. Sigh.

[Sofar]

In Seattle, we have hills. Steep ones, pretty much all of the business district is on a hill. If you're in a wheelchair, you basically can't travel East or West in the business district. Fortunately, we've buses, and anyone can ride for free if they get on and off in the downtown area. So it's quite easy for a wheelchair-bound man to catch a bus heading up or down one of the hills and get off after a few blocks. Unfortunately the buses are usually packed when they pass through downtown, and man do you hear bitching from everybody about the slowness of the lift or fact that they have to stand for the next few blocks.

[BlaqueKatt]

last year when I tore the cartilage in my knee and was in a knee immobilizer-read: have to sit in a seat without one in front of it or sit sideways and my foot hangs off the end into the isle. Not only did people not move out of the "reserved for injured/disabled riders" but I had people complain to the driver that I took up two seats, after deliberately walking into my foot. Two good things came of this rudeness to the injured BlaqueKatt though-

good thing #1
complainer-"she's taking up two seats, make her move over"
Awesome bus driver-"well seeing as her leg won't bend, she obviously doesn't have two good legs to stand on like you, and the bastards in the seats she should be in at the front(I was at the back of the bus-it took almost a full minute to get there as well-walking past the selfish bastards that wouldn't give up a seat for a severly injured person)are refusing to move!!<loud volume>
Complainer-"but I'm tired, and don't want to stand"
Bus driver-"at least you can!"

Good thing #2(aka karma's a bitch!)

me-sitting with leg across seat
EB in expensive white suit-"move your leg!"
me-"ma'am this lovely orthopedic device I'm modeling has 5 pieces of steel that run from the top of my thigh to my ankle-I can't bend it-that's why it refered to as a "knee Immobilizer".
EB-"I guess I'll find a place to stand back here then since you won't sit properly"-walks by intentionally walking into my foot
Me-cries out in pain, notices-from the smear on EB's nice white expensive skirt-"wow I guess I stepped in dog poo-thanks for cleaning that of for me"
EB-

[BookstoreEscapee]

EB-"I guess I'll find a place to stand back here then since you won't sit properly"-walks by intentionally walking into my foot
Me-cries out in pain, notices-from the smear on EB's nice white expensive skirt-"wow I guess I stepped in dog poo-thanks for cleaning that of for me"
EB-

As a wise man once said: Instant karma's gonna get you...

[Sofar]

Awesome bus driver-"well seeing as her leg won't bend, she obviously doesn't have two good legs to stand on like you, and the bastards in the seats she should be in at the front(I was at the back of the bus-it took almost a full minute to get there as well-walking past the selfish bastards that wouldn't give up a seat for a severly injured person)are refusing to move!!<loud volume>

'S what I like about bus drivers. They don't take no crap.

[tollbaby]

I HATE those gargantuan strollers. Yes, I understand that parents with young children have every right to use the public transit, but for crying out loud, why do you need such a HUGE stroller?

exactly! I used to have a small umbrella stroller (those little fold up ones that look like they'd blow away in a strong wind) and a carrier (I called it my baby backpack) for when I had to take the kids on the bus. Once we'd get on, the older kid in the stroller would sit on the seat with me, and we'd fold up the stroller, and my daughter would be in her backpack, only I'd switch it around to be wearing it on the front Bus drivers would make all kinds of amazed comments, and I'd be like "dude, I've been taking the bus since I was eleven, it's all good"

(that being said, I had a disabled bus pass when I was pregnant - yes, you can get them in Ottawa anyway, you just have to have your doctor fill out a form - and I could NEVER get a damn seat, even when I was 9 1/2 months along).