This piece in The PI’s Big Blog about Seattle being a healthy city is fine. But I’m confused about this from the setup (bold mine):
We may be hard to get to know and a drag to ride the bus with, but when it comes to being healthy, Seattleites rank right up there with Bostonians.
What? Are we more of a drag to ride the bus with than most other places? Is it just the bus or any public transit?* I feel like I don’t even know what the stereotype about Seattle bus passengers is. Is this a reference to another piece that I missed?
Compared to a lot of the places that I’ve lived (larger like London and smaller like Olympia both come to mind), we’re much more conversant, chatty, maybe even flirtatious with strangers. If anything, people are more likely to drag me into a chat that I don’t really want to participate in than I’d like. And when you ride the same route regularly, you get to know some of the other people. I guess if you hate those damn kids, they can be annoying, but no more than anywhere else. For me, other than the occasional person with a mental illness, the other passengers are generally pretty pleasant.
Your mileage may vary, of course. There are horror stories that I’ve heard from women about sexual harassment and worse on the bus. Still, I don’t think it’s more of a drag than anywhere else.
* Coincidentally, since the quote mentions Boston, the worst public transit experience I had was probably on the T between Boston and Cambridge. A drunk yelled at me for several stops about how the Jews were ruining the country.
Yes, people on AC transit are much more fun, not mention Muni
All bus passengers are rude, stinky, rarely bathe, and urinate in their seats. Didn’t you get the memo?
Seattlites (well, Puget Sounders in general, actually) may be bad bus passengers, but we’re even worse drivers.