So on the DC metro there was a stabbing after the victim resisted the attacker's attempt to rob him. Bystanders stood by and did nothing, some even got robbed after the attack. It has ignited a debate on what should be done during a public attack like this. Story here Focus: What would you do, or have done, in a situation like this? Do you think there is a 'duty' to intervene in a dangerous situation like this? Alt Focus: Stories of riding public transport.
I think people should try to help, but I don't know if they're automatically obligated, especially when intervening might mean getting themselves killed. I'm grateful for public transportation, but I hate using it. Especially flying. Fuck airports, fuck everything about them. The fact that airlines have gotten so damn cheap making you pay to check bags and for a meal on the flight (seriously you can't give me a fucking sandwich on a $700 flight?) just makes it worse. Being crammed into those tiny ass seats rubbing elbows with people on both sides sucks too. Please don't anyone post that youtube video with the old guy whining about how spoiled everyone is. There's a reason most people don't like flying, although the convenience is nice. That aside I can't remember ever personally seeing anything like that story when I was on public transport.
My first public transportation experience was the DC metro just a couple of weeks ago and it appears my fear was justified. I realized (on our first ride) that I probably looked terrified and tried to rearrange my face to look more pissed off than fearful. Nothing exceptionally sketchy happened but I'm a female from rural NC & I was with my wheelchair bound brother and I felt like a prime target. And I will say that everyone was accommodating to let us on & off first.
I don't do public transport because I didn't grow up with it, and I'm overwhelmingly uncomfortable being in an enclosed space like that with strangers. I've only used it a handful of times and every time...it was too much for me.
Who considers flying to be public transportation? And I'd rather fly every day than take a crowded train with people who don't know what a shower is. Airlines have gotten cheaper, true, but are still expensive enough to price out a lot of the people who make most buses and trains in a city the nightmare that they can be.
Trains for the city are awesome. They're an old but proven and effective technology. Denver has recently installed a light rail system and its changed how and where people live its also made the city a lot more accessible to tourists which is great as Denver has become a destination city in the last few years. Imagine New York without the subway or London without the tube. Things would be really different. Flying as much as I hate it, and for some reason I'm getting groped by TSA every time I fly (random checks my ass), is a necessity, especially for overseas transit. Red eyes to Heathrow are awesome if you can sleep on them. You can manage to leave anywhere one afternoon, wake up in London and proceed on with life as if you didn't just cross a fucking ocean. Flying is great except for the flying, the security, the lines, the check in, the waiting around doing nothing, the baggage claim and turbulence. There is so much non travel time involved with flying its incredible
The city bus scavenger hunt list: -Rolling empty on the floor -Over-the-shoulder newspaper reader -Unidentifiable substance smeared on window -Big crazy guy staring directly at you with mouth open -Drunk douchebags trying to pick fights with lone riders -Weirdo creeping on hot girl -Lithium-drenched insane woman harassing bus driver -Epic Beard Man -Oblivious woman with wretched kid that's screaming so loud you'd swear she's jabbing it with hat pins -Guy taking up two seats -Dried vomit puddle -Fat person that smells like a combination of fast food, pee and defeat
Strangely I have very little problem with the flight itself. I mean yeah, it sucks, but I paid crammed-in-a-sardine-can prices so I could be crammed-in-a-sardine-can, so I can't complain. It's everything else about the airport experience that I loathe. Pretty much everything about getting into and out of LAX. The absurd traffic made worse by the fact that pedestrians cross at street level. The almost total lack of public transportation. The banning of ridesharing apps. The fact that it's constantly under construction but never improves. Lack of outlets and free wifi. Jesus Christ, you've got thousands of people trying to kill time for hours on end because of your god damn security policies, let them use their devices before we all go insane. Security Theater. Its expensive, time wasting, invasive, and helps nothing. Fuck this right in the ass. Baggage claim. Do not crowd the belt. I repeat: do not crowd the belt. Take two god damn steps back, wait for your bag, and then step forward to grab it. This is not hard. Why people insist on standing in everyone else's way for twenty minutes before their bag even appears remains beyond me.
Y'all are fucking crazy if "airports and/or airplanes" fall under public transportation. Public transportation is not Amtrak, Greyhound, Megabus or Airplanes. Most of you live in the boonies, so I'll forgive you. It's the Metropolitan Transit Authority for New York or Chicago Transit Authority (errr for Chicago). It's the city based and managed transportation system of that city. Trains and buses. Anyway, I have to ride that shit every day, and two of the worst lines in Chicago, the Red Line and the Green Line. The Red is the longest route in the city going from the top of Chicago to pretty much the bottom of it. After midnight, at least the back two cars will have some rancid homeless person on it, because for $2.25 they bought themselves some comfortable, air-conditioned sleep. During the day it's packed with tourists up the ass. If there is a Cubs or White Sox game, you'll be jammed in there with all sorts of groups. Drunk middle aged people, parents with too many children who don't know how to shut the fuck up, and just your normal run of the mill assholes. About 4 years ago, there was this guy trying to rob this woman on the train platform in broad daylight. Unfortunately you see so many weird fucking hijinks that aren't what they initially appear you learn to take a minute to look. For the woman's sake there were some men that reacted pretty fast and grabbed the guy. The train tilted a bit and he got pinned between the train tracks and the train where he stayed put until the police came. It made me feel bad because I feel like I should have helped a screaming freaking out woman, but sometimes you see shit like that and the people are just dicking around.
OK guys, I get it. It's not public transportation. I misspoke. Mainly, I just wanted to bitch about how much I hate airports.
Air travel isn't public transit in the way the subway or bus system is, but given the amount of public approval/regulation/oversight it takes to build, maintain, and operate an airport, it's sure as shit not private.
After I graduated college, I lived in the DC metro area for 4 yrs. The first year I rode the metro to work because my apartment bldg had a shuttle to the metro. Never any issues. I moved to a different complex the next year that didn't have a shuttle, so I rode the bus for awhile. That was fine as well, but I eventually switched to driving simply because it was more convenient - and that's only because I lived in Falls Church and drove a direct route into Rosslyn. If I had worked in DC, it would have been the metro all four of those years. I've since left that area, but most of the time when I go back for sightseeing, we will take the metro. The few times I've been to NYC, I've taken the subway. My current city does have a bus system, and I know folks that use it. I would use it if the cost savings were significant enough to overcome convenience of using my vehicle, but so far it is not. I think public transport is no more or less dangerous than anything else you do out in public when you factor in what part of town you are in, time of day, number of people around, etc. And of course even given those environmental factors, there are going to be freak incidents where a criminal will strike. I think that is what happened in this case - an extreme rare occurrence.
The Boston subway system (the "T") is alright, I guess. Some parts of the city where a lot of people travel to (Southie, most of Brighton/Allston) are just not that accessible with the T. During rush hour people cram into the train cars like Jews heading to Auschwitz, although the T is probably less fun. Late at night, its great if you like watching weirdos, but not so great if youre a woman in your 20s and alone. I rarely use it though, any time I go anywhere for work I drive since it gets reimbursed anyway. Ill take it on the weekends if Im going to a Sox game or something, but overall I would rather throw Uber my money.
See it really makes sense if parking is insane. We usually only took the bus downtown if we wanted to drink heavily at a ball game. Instead of taking five minutes it take 45.
When I was in college, my friends and I would take the subway everywhere around Philly. We once took it home after happy hour, got on going the wrong way, got off at Kensington and Allegheny (yikes), walked under the El, only to come across a few bums and junkies, and got on going the right way. Looking back, not my smartest move, and I'm REALLY surprised we weren't mugged because we were a couple white girls drunk off our asses. I also used to take it to and from my internship in South Philly during my senior year. I never minded it because I kept to myself and loved to people watch. I think the public transportation system in Philly (SEPTA) is a really convenient way to get around. There's a subway stop or bus that gets you to mostly everywhere you would want to go. When I worked in Philly, I would take the train to work every day, which was awesome and something I really miss. I got a discounted monthly pass thru my job, and I would get to take a hour nap on my way to work and on my way home every day. I never had to deal with traffic, just the occasional late train due to weather or something on the tracks. And I didn't really like my job that much, so I never cared if I was late.
Focus: If I was both unarmed and didn't have a reliable friend with me (or some stranger who I strongly felt would back me up), I don't think I'd have intervened. Knives are excellent at fucking you up, and I'd rather keep my blood and organs inside me if possible. I'd like to say I'm a big damn hero, but the last time I intervened in an uncomfortable situation (domestic incident, hadn't escalated to interpersonal violence, although the drunk male was doing standard drunk aggressive angry asshole shit), other partygoers took some long fucking minutes to return to the room, despite assuring me I'd have backup/they'd be right behind me. One-on-one is not a good way to ensure you'll win a fight, especially if the other guy has a knife and you have fuck-all.
I don't have a lot of experience with public transportation. Mostly the metro in DC as the system where I live is unreliable. The times I have used it, I do what most people do: don't make eye contact and act like I know exactly what I'm doing even when I don't. If I'm worried about what my face is doing I wear sunglasses so that people hopefully can't tell that I'm nervous or uncomfortable.
Even better than the sunglasses: carry a brown paper bag with an oily stain on the side. Open and reopen it, peering into it often. Occasionally mutter something at it, making phrases like "helicopter" and "not my fault" audible. And if you have to look somewhere, turn your head quickly. No one will bother you.
Yep, I'll pass on that. I rode the buses here almost daily during college, going back and forth between my house and campus, and the worst part was freezing at the bus stops in the dead of winter. My girlfriend takes the bus to work downtown most days and doesn't have many complaints or encounters with crazies. I know I'd rather do that than deal with parking a car. There was one time a few years ago my brother was robbed in broad daylight at a bus stop here, but he was by himself and not in a very good part of town to begin with either. The light rail trains are great. I haven't taken the one between Minneapolis and St. Paul yet but have gone to the airport and Twins games (love drunk train rides) and they've always been convenient.
People die in cars in massively greater numbers than they have ever or will ever die on public transportation.