Bus riders

[ComputerNecromancer]

I don't know what it is with some people but...

Ok, I have a disability (several actually) but it's not a visible one. I'm also about 100 lbs overweight due to an idiot doctor who wouldn't refer me for a sleep study for well over a year after he should have.

Anyway, I qualify for the "Honored Citizen" (ie elederly & disabled) bus fares.

The Monthly pass which I wear on a lanyard, is pretty obvious. And I look like I'm old enough to qualify just on age.

So, I sometimes need a cane, but not often. I take it along because if I need it, I need it.

But if I'm going to be hauling packages, I leave it at home because I usually can't spare the hand.

So, it never fails. If I have the cane most folks will let me have a place on the reserved seats with not problem, and often let me board the bus ahead of them.

If I *don't* have the cane, people push in front of me and get snotty about the reserved seats.

(Of course, teenagers tend to have to be almost thrown out of those seats, regardless).

*sigh*

Look folks, a cane doesn't mean you are disabled. (only mention this because the difference is so marked)

And (from a few mutters) being overweight *doesn't* mean you aren't eligible for the disabled seating.

[telecom_goddess]

I have an honored citizen id for sleep apnea myself. And yeah it can be tough to get a seat on the damn things sometimes. I don't have the best balance and sometimes I get one and sometimes I don't.

[mathnerd]

People are idiots. I've mentioned this before, but I've run into innumerable problems out in public with my kids because "kids are too young to be disabled". It's bad enough when they're using mobility aids (walkers, wheelchairs, canes), but if they're having a good day and they're walking unassisted, things can get really nasty. Thankfully for my oldest son, he tends to ride the same buses at the same times of day, so the drivers know him and will kick people out of the front seats for him, but he still occasionally has problems if he's on a bus that's not one of his normal ones.

[MoonCat]

"Kids are too young to be disabled"???? What the hell planet are those people from???

What do they think all those children's charities are all about??

[mathnerd]

MoonCat, it happens all the time. I've told the story a ton of times about the time a lady yelled at me for taking up a handicapped space because I obviously wasn't disabled, as proven by the fact that I had no trouble at all pulling my son's wheelchair out of the van.

Also, this is my story: http://notalwaysright.com/not-all-kn...ng-armor/24174

[prjkt]

Also, this is my story: http://notalwaysright.com/not-all-kn...ng-armor/24174

yikes I've read that story before, but I didn't realise it was yours (though it did remind me of others you've posted here)

[gerund]

a lady yelled at me for taking up a handicapped space because I obviously wasn't disabled

I had a Mother who had a heart condition. I had a disabled tag for her and needed the disabled spots for her when we went to a local shopping centre.

There was a postal contractor who constantly parked in the disabled spots to load and unload mail for the the Local Post Office. Sometimes he would be in that spot for half an hour and at least once I couldn't use the disabled spot for my Mother because he was in it.

Me: You know this is a disabled parking spot.
Him: I'm only here for a few minutes, so it doesn't matter.
Me: It does matter and a few minutes is a few minutes too long.
Him: It's none of your business anyway.
Me: It *IS* my business because my Mother is disabled.
Him: Fuck off, stop annoying me.

I reported him to the Post Office (I took his number plate). He does not work there any more.

At another shopping centre there was an old car with 3 young girls (in their early 20s) - all looking very healthy and a man who looked even fitter parked in a disabled spot. Their car did not have a proper tag.

Me: You know this is a disabled parking spot.
Man: How do you know if you are disabled?
Me: (Thinking to myself) Being mentally disabled does not count.

[RealUnimportant]

I had to take a bus to a different area last week, and while I have just had my 25th anniversary of becoming disabled, I'm still not considered "old enough" by many people. Add to this the fact I was using my Rustic cane (it's awesome, the bark is still present everywhere but the top of the hand grip) and an unfortunately large number of people ignore it.

Anyway, I needed to catch this particular bus to make an appointment, so the fact it was quite full was distressing but I should be okay right, because cane? Hah. There was a group of 4 seats designated for use by those less able to stand, and all were taken; one of them had two teens on eachother's laps...

I ask nicely once for a seat. No one looks up.

I ask nicely again, can I please have a seat as I have a cane. Nada.

F*** this. "Will one of you let me sit down before I fall on top of you all!?"

I got a seat.

[ComputerNecromancer]

Anyway, I needed to catch this particular bus to make an appointment, so the fact it was quite full was distressing but I should be okay right, because cane? Hah. There was a group of 4 seats designated for use by those less able to stand, and all were taken; one of them had two teens on eachother's laps...

I ask nicely once for a seat. No one looks up.

I ask nicely again, can I please have a seat as I have a cane. Nada.

F*** this. "Will one of you let me sit down before I fall on top of you all!?"

I got a seat.

There's a *reason* I try to avoid the buses between 3 & 4 pm on weekdays. all the teens that have been let out of school.

And, of course, after 4 you've got rush hour...

[KuariKaydrith]

I have a sister with Spina Bifida and relies on a wheelchair. She is also quite small, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we need less room to get her in and out of any vehicle she's in. But we've dealt with entitled assholes giving us shit for using a handicapped spot because my sister and her wheelchair aren't big enough to require that spot, according to these asswipes. One time the person caught me in just the wrong mood as I was getting my sister out of the car and into her wheelchair...I let fly with the language, yelling the entire time at the stupid fuckwit who had the guts to give me shit for taking a handicapped spot. Y'know, I don't even feel bad for losing my cool.

For myself, I tend to take the bus everywhere I go now, and with some of the older buses I don't have a hope in hell of exiting out the back door because I can't manhandle the door open and get down the stairs at the same time. This has lead to some rude comments by people as I go out the front door...one person shut up after I told her that I couldn't manage the back door, and that not all handicaps are visible. I didn't have my cane with me because I don't always need it, but I really wish I'd had it that day.

[pudddykat]

Mathnerd, prjkt took the words right out of my mouth. That story stuck with me and as I was reading this thread I was thinking about that story and then it hit me I wonder if that was mathnerd's story. I am so glad that those guys were there to help you. You really can't judge a book by it's cover.

[mjr]

This thread illustrates one of the "problems" with public transportation.

You have individuals who genuinely need it (or who greatly benefit from its use), like the disabled individuals mentioned in this thread -- and then you have the toolbags who give them a hard time!

You also have the "creepy" individuals on public transportation. A lady up here where I work said one day she was on one of the local public transportation train systems, and some lady kept playing with her hair...and it creeped her out.

[cindybubbles]

If you have a cane, bring it, even if you don't need it. People went to help my dad when he took the train because of his cane.

Also, people won't want to piss you off if you are seen as armed (with a cane) and dangerous.

[dalesys]

Get one of them curly canes... like a giant corkscrew... offer instant colon biopsies...

[Aragarthiel]

I have a question... does anyone else hate it when you get on a really quiet bus? I don't think it should be wrong to talk (in a regular speaking voice) about something that nobody really cares about (making a shopping list, for example), but getting on a quiet bus always makes me feel that way. :c

Maybe bus drivers should be able to write parking tickets for people who remain in handicapped seats when someone else needs them. I mean, they parked their butt there, after all!