Unless they live in a huge city like New York or are green environmentalists who bike everywhere, newly unemployed people have a snobby mentality when it comes to public transportation. These are the type of people who had a $400/month parking spot negotiated in their employment contracts so they could drive their snazzy cars through traffic to their office ten blocks away because a) they had outrageous monthly car payments and needed to get the most out of their money and b) refused to take the bus right in front of their house out of fear that only poor people ride buses and subways.
Without a job to drive to, car payments and insurance might not seem worth it, so the cars are either sold or repossessed for non-payment. That leaves either biking (no one wants to wear a silly helment), walking (takes too long and causes sweating), or public transportation (poor people). After deciding not to buy a bike, and after walking with heavy groceries proved too tiring, the unemployed attempt to take public transportation with great trepidation.
It’s always easy to spot the new riders – they’re the ones who take up too much time at the ticket machine causing regular riders to miss their train, or they can be seen arguing with bus drivers because they didn’t have exact change and put in too much money. They get on, faces filled with fear, not wanting to share a bench with someone, so they stand despite all the empty seats, and lurch forward because they forget to hold on. They’re constantly looking out the windows because their greatest fear besides getting groped by a homeless man is missing their stop. When it comes time, they have no clue how to request a stop, so they end up awkwardly hopping out when others get off, blocks away from their desired destination, completely bewildered looking.
Eventually because they have no other choice, the unemployed start accepting public transportation as a valid means of transportation. Once they get the hang of it, they’ll finally lift their heads and look around. That’s when they realize how many people on the bus are just like them (or how they used to be), dressed up with interviews to go to, or dressed up out of habit, riding around to kill time. At first they’ll wonder where all the poor people are (they’re at work, and take the bus at 5am and 2am), until it dawns on them that unemployed people are the new poor people. At that point, they’ll embrace public transportation, and the only distinguishing factor between them and employed riders is they will rarely complain about late buses/trains because unlike employed people, they have time to wait.
Tags: change in mentality, poor people, public transportation
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When I became unemployed, I went straight to the public transportation but quickly realized that it is CHEAPER to drive my car. Somebody else is taking care of the insurance
and rather than paying $1 a trip or $2 a trip if i have my son with me, I’d rather just drive my car. It’s faster and I don’t have to lug my kid around town walking to the nearest bus stop or hoping i make it somewhere in time because the bus only comes near my house once every 2 hours.
I used the bus system all the time when I am unemployed; no one is hiring because of the depression we’re in; boomers never retiring, corporate greed galore, hiring freezes all over, so save money ride public trans. Those employers will Terry Nickell dime you every which way they can from their employees–squeezing the lemon dry. Save money ride the bus gus.
“In this economy” we are all poor.
with 13-31% unemployment nationwide, the only “change that we can believe in”, is a change in employment status. Giddy up, the US titanic. US dollar is ever-sinking and the pols sit idly by voting each other pay raises and buying new office furniture on your tax dollars–where is the outrage? or are many sheeple?
In Portland Oregon most people get around by bus,max or bike. It was quite trendy to be this frugal even before the big crash. Poor genXers and younger people got the clue long before the boomers did where we were headed . This city is what others in the USA must become to get out of the hole we are in and to make a new American dream.
Public transport is a big piece of the recovery IMO. So are farmers markets and co-housing . For those of you who have been spoiled by the idea you should be able to pay your way out of standing in line or sitting next to somebody on the bus you need to stop acting like 2nd graders. We all must take our turns!
This may sound like communism to some but that is not so. It is traditional American values. All the right wingers I know go on and on about how people today are not as kind or civics minded as people in the 40′s and 50′s yet they do not see that there ideas have been the ones to kill the urge of men and women to live by the golden rule.
I say to those in small towns with no bus or trains that working to expand such service to your area may be the best way out of this mess. The more people who can give up there car for good the more happy and healthful we will all be.
Lynn, I wish you were near-by, so that I could hug you. You
are spot on! I live in South Florida, and though I am not
unemployed, I use public transportation at least three times a week
to commute to work, and I ride a combination of buses and commuter
rail on weekends to visit museums, the farmers’ markets and even
friends. Another poster mentioned that it is cheaper to drive. Heh!
That’s what you think. There are hidden costs in car ownership,
particularly as it relates to wear and tear. Most motorists tend to
focus on the costs of gas alone, but mileage should be the focus
because every mile you drive pushes your car closer and closer to
the next oil change or maintenance session (check your maintenance
log). Also, there is the environmental costs, and no, I’m not
necessarily referring to climate change, but smog from emissions
(even the cleanest of cars emit some kind of pollutant) that can
affect your local community’s overall physical health. Finally, the
more you drive, the more you increase the chances of involvement in
an automobile accident. I do not mean to be morbid, but using
public transit in most areas is by far safer than driving a
personal automobile.
Economy is in terrible shape–since we’re in depression-I
ride bus, subway, and have a garden, got those moves like jager,
got those moves like jager. Thanks.
You got this one totally wrong. Poor and unemployed people don’t like the bus. People that can’t afford vehicles want to have one, they don’t like the bus, they’re using it out of necessity.
Who does like public transit? Trendy white people in Oregon! It’s a win-win you get to make a self-righteous sacrifice for the sake of the planet and all of humanity plus you can go slumming to get funny stories to tell about all the scum you met on the bus. If you’re real good at it someone might even mistake you for being poor yourself that raises your hip level umpteenth times.
We can’t forget farmer’s markets here either, the poor and unemployed are buying 20 cent packages of noodles at WalMart while eating vegemite and wonderbread every day for lunch because they have no other choice. The trendy and pale are at the farmer’s market buying overpriced organic food and pretending like they’re saving money. Saving money is important as you need that extra $200 for that new 2 inch thick yoga mat to bring to your free community yoga lessons. By shopping at farmer’s markets you’re also saving the good ol’ United States of America, cause being a trendy, narcissistic, lazy middle class hipster is the fulfillment of the American Dream.
It seems that there are a variety of people who have solid, negative mindsets about riding the bus. The people I meet while riding the bus to work are not the stereotype bus passenger — a minority, little to no income, on Medicaid. The bus is no more dangerous than walking down a city street. And, other drivers on the road do not vigorously watch every bus stop and stare into each and every bus they pass, just to make sure they don’t know anyone who takes the bus. I honestly find riding the bus comfortable. I don’t spend 3600 dollars a year on gas. I don’t spend 750 dollars every six months at the dealership’s service department. And, I don’t spend 450 a month at my employer’s parking garage — which is the “employee discount rate” for those who make more than six figures a year at my company. Honestly, there is not much difference between those who drive cars and those who ride the bus. Yes, some people on the bus cannot afford a car. But, conversely, some people on the road cannot afford their cars and get them repossessed, while maintaining their negative mentality against the bus. The bus is a very smart alternative for many people. And, it’s so much cheaper too — especially with monthly passes and such.
Of course, then again, what do I have to say, I was just laid off after working at this company for ten years, from when the company first started. So, perhaps those with their stellar jobs, who think they have absolute job security, should go on living their lives thinking that nothing bad can happen. But then again, they probably know deep down inside them that they could lose that security at any moment.