Buses

Proposed Transit System for Detroit

I was just reading about this proposed transit system in Detroit and I suddenly realized why I don't like buses. There are several components to this.

• They are uncomfortable. The seats are narrow and cramped. You have to sit up straight. Half the time your seat is not facing forward so every time the bus speeds up or slows down you are having to work to sit up straight. And not topple into the person next to you.
• You are out in public so you have to behave yourself. No loud conversations, no cursing, no rude noises, no stretching, and definitely no picking your nose.
• You are out in public so you are liable to run into a lunatic. They might be harmless, or they might decide you are the object of their affection, or disdain, or maybe they just want to talk about aliens or their schemes or their in-laws. They might be drunk or sick or filthy and they may be depositing their debris on you. The odds of any of this happening on any one trip are very low, but if it ever happens it can really sour you on the whole going out in public experience.
• They are slow.

The main thing is that whenever I have to go someplace public, like a bus or the library or the courthouse, I feel like I have to put on my armor, not just to protect myself, but to project my proper self and conceal the real me. Part of it may be that I have little patience with stupidity, and bureaucracies are full of it. Telling the clerks or the guards what you really think of the crap you are having to deal with is not going to help your case and could very well land you in the clink.
     Mass transit comes from committees, and committees are not known for being the brightest organisms on the planet, so I guess that's why we have such stupid transportation systems.

Via Indiana Thomas