O, Canada. When will you ever learn that no one in the world -- least of all America -- cares what most of you think? Unless your name is Jordan Peterson or Pierre Poilievre, most of your country hasn't said anything worth listening to since the Stephen Harper administration.
But God bless them for trying. This week, a random Twitter account called 'Ordinary Finance' decided to get in on the latest push to eliminate cars and get everyone in the world to ride public transportation to and from work. We've seen a recent upsurge in this pipe dream, including from U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton (who wants us to forget the high-speed rail debacle in California and believes high-speed rail will 'pay for itself') and even from Amtrak's Twitter account, which probably should focus less on tweeting and more on the fact that it loses $1 billion a year, despite (or, more accurately, because of) full government subsidization.
Normally, we don't cover small, random Twitter accounts, but the tweet below went semi-viral and was buried under an avalanche of replies and quote tweets. So, let's sit back and watch the ratio unfold ...
I don't understand why people would travel by car to work?
— Ordinary Finance (@FinanceMaster06) April 2, 2024
There is:
- Traffic
- Stress
- Take 1 hour minimum each way from my home.
- Costs more
Compare that to public transit and you literally eliminate all these above plus get to spend some ME time by…
The rest of the tweet reads:
... spend some ME time by reading/emails/podcasts, etc.
I asked my colleagues and the counter argument was that they don't want to follow the timings and come as per their convenience with nobody to bother them.
I am baffled and failing to understand any plausible reason for this lifestyle choice.
Recommended
Yes, we know you are baffled. That much was clear when you claimed it is a 'lifestyle choice' for everyone. Probably because you work a non-essential job you can do from home and you already live in a major city. In fact, you are probably PINING for the horrific 15-minute cities that the WEF -- and their acolyte Justin Trudeau -- keep threatening everyone with.
Luckily, Twitter was there to set Ordinary Finance straight.
You don’t live outside of a city and it shows.
— Lady Demosthenes (@LadyDemosthenes) April 4, 2024
Literally no public transportation around me and work is 45 minutes away by car.
It’s amazing how your world view changes and when you spend time away from your home town. I highly recommend it. https://t.co/f8AsJIVrVN
Yes, some people, even those who work in cities, choose (or even must, given the cost of living within cities) to live outside of all of that and have some space and land around them. It's amazing but true.
Are there really people who cannot fathom that many workers actually have to haul things to their jobs? Can’t do that on the train.
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) April 4, 2024
Not to mention how dangerous public transit is getting in most US cities. https://t.co/hZjmeuvIQ9
The laptop class -- of which Ordinary Finance is clearly a member -- really doesn't understand how many people's jobs involve more equipment than just a couple of electronic devices.
If I drive to work it takes me less than 10 minutes. If I took public transportation it would take me an hour because it requires changing buses. Also, I don’t want to wait outside when it’s usually below freezing for 8 months a year https://t.co/3FNxydS87Y
— Heather B (@BoulwareH2) April 5, 2024
You don't want to get hypothermia? How selfish of you. Won't you think of the planet instead of wanting to keep all of your fingers and toes?
Just waiting for that public transit to show up. Aaaany minute. pic.twitter.com/ULoUKG4WLz
— Dirty Tesla (@DirtyTesLa) April 3, 2024
That looks beautiful, frankly. All the more so because there's not a smelly bus or subway station nearby.
It’s a total mystery why people prefer cars to transit. https://t.co/WDlMtYEJZg pic.twitter.com/7bLdHDXyKn
— Storm (@stormrobinson) April 4, 2024
We've been on the Los Angeles Metro. Trust us, this is probably the mildest example you will ever see. And let's not forget the New York City subway, where if you stand up to lunatics, you will get prosecuted, and where Governor Kathy Hochul recently had to deploy the National Guard.
Because public transportation doesn't stop at my clients' houses and pick me up from those same houses 30 minutes later to get me to my next client's house at the specific time that they need me there, every day of the year (including holidays) from 7am-11pm. https://t.co/dZw1y74zqQ
— Sean The Producer (@SeanTheProducr) April 4, 2024
Imagine that. Some people's jobs involve a little more than sitting at a desk in an office all day.
Forgive the myopic musings of a childless guy living in Canada, y’all. https://t.co/WemCc7cc1w
— J.R. Holmsted (@JHolmsted) April 4, 2024
Oh, right. We almost forgot ... children. THOSE pesky little guys. Between after-school activities, soccer games, baseball practices, and so much more, they make it a little difficult to take the train and bus every day.
Ordinary Finance couldn't have told the world he had no kids more explicitly if he tried.
My daughter in law was almost attacked on public transportation….so, suck it https://t.co/0ovk1y8FcZ
— SarahTheRoma (@SarahTheBanned) April 4, 2024
She's lucky it was 'almost.' Many people ARE attacked virtually every day.
public transit FTW! https://t.co/vQQJuOjfKX pic.twitter.com/5jBAtx1qzi
— From the Land of Sky Blue Waters 🇺🇸 (@HammsLager) April 4, 2024
See? Of course, carjackings do happen as well (especially in Washington, DC), but you've got a lot better chance of getting away in a car than if you are trapped in a steel tube with no way to stop it or get out.
🤞It✊costs🫰3x🫲as🖖much✋to🤏rent👌in👎a🙏city🫲than🤙owning👈in 🤜a🫸quieter👊cleaner🫶suburb✋and 👌commuting🫵
— Uncle Mach O'Vel1an (@Machovell1an) April 3, 2024
I can leave work when I need to if I must
I'm not dependent on the bus schedule
I don't have to chat up the Uber driver
I don't have to bathe in Lysol each night https://t.co/8XWKwJKNYY
Thank you for the simultaneous sign language translation there, LOL. These are all good points.
I'm sure that's far from the only normal thing everyone gets that you don't understand.
— Eric Spencer (@JustEric) April 4, 2024
Like how and when to use question marks. https://t.co/rgraXPyyc2
HA. We'll forgive him for that one. He's Canadian. They end almost every sentence with a question mark, eh?
Have you considered that your inability to find a plausible reason for the lifestyle choice is because of a chronic lack of imagination on your part? https://t.co/EAndcT0K7B
— Ordnance Jay Packard, Esq. (@OrdnancePackard) April 5, 2024
That seems patently obvious by this point.
But we saved the best response to our simple Canadian friend for last. It came in the form of a short story from the Twitter account 'Flinnie.' Enjoy:
Let me talk about a possible why.
— Flinnie (@flinnie) April 3, 2024
Her name is Donna. She lives outside of the state capital, a smallish city with public transportation. She gets up at 0430 to get ready to get to the bus stop by 0515. The bus gets there about 5 min later. She has to ride... 1/7 https://t.co/XDrqNKVEvD
the bus for 50 min. The guy next to her is completely drunk and is hitting on her. She arrives downtown at the transfer center where she gets to wait for 45 min for her next bus. While there she is harassed by junkies and hopes today... 2/7
— Flinnie (@flinnie) April 3, 2024
none of the homeless died on the benches last night. The bus shows up on time, 10 min late. She finds a seat as this route gets busy (it's the one that goes by the methadone clinic). She's in luck, bc of traffic being light and only getting behind one accident... 3/7
— Flinnie (@flinnie) April 3, 2024
She's only 15 min late to her stop. She then walks the 8 min to work. Her boss tells her she needs to work Sat. which means she will need to use Uber or a taxi as her bus doesn't run Sat/Sun. When she gets off work, she has to run to catch her bus...4/7
— Flinnie (@flinnie) April 3, 2024
because if she misses it she will have to wait an hour for the next one. She gets downtown and she's in luck, her bus is late, so she can watch two homeless men fight over a bench. Fortunately, neither had a knife, unlike last week. 5/7
— Flinnie (@flinnie) April 3, 2024
She has a choice of buses going home. Take the local for an hour, and a 10 min walk, or the express for 40 min and a 30 min walk. She gets home in time to eat a sandwich, and go to straight to bed. She'll need her rest because 0430 will be here before you know it. 6/7
— Flinnie (@flinnie) April 3, 2024
She dreams of saving enough money to drive the 30 min to work instead of "running the gauntlet" every day.
— Flinnie (@flinnie) April 3, 2024
So yeah, I can see why someone might want to drive instead of use public transportation. Huge cities it can make sense, for most of the country though, it's pointless
~fin
What a lovely day for Donna, one she has to repeat every day of her life, except sometimes on Sunday. And God forbid she ever have children.
We sort of hope Donna gets that car she wants so badly.
But maybe, just maybe, Donna's story -- fictionalized for sure, but all too real in many cities -- will help our 'baffled' neighbor to the north understand why people might actually prefer to drive to and from work.
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