The joy of riding public transit is knowing that the scruffy guy you see sitting on the church steps as you're standing on the corner and who is patting his chest and WHOOPING LIKE A CRANE will be getting on the same bus as you.
Buses are petri dishes of disease. I avoid them at all costs.
The "L" is nearly as bad. Especially when the hairs on the back of your neck regularly get blown by the guy behind you coughing - I presume - through an open fist.
I try - but rarely succeed - not to touch anything with my hands. No rails, no doors, no seats. Just nothing. And even then, the first thing I do when I get to my destination is excuse myself to go wash my hands. I'm not quite to Howard Hughes levels of paranoia, but I'm well on my way.
I credit the years of exposure with my heightened resistance to disease and infection. Still doesn't I don't edge away from the coughers as much as propriety allows.
I usually ride the Rodalies or the Metro, and sometimes the bus (usually the NitBus during the wee hours.) The riders in Barcelona seem more "normal" than what you portray here.
Chuck still in California, but returning to BCN soon
Hardly surprising, because riding pub trans is a more "mainstream" activity where you are.
Here it depends a lot on the bus or el line. Those which pass through hot neighbourhoods close to centre will display a less freaky crowd than others because they're attracting riders who would normally drive but realise the folly of it when going to a neighbourhood with scarce parking. I live in a more peripheral area with the city's highest concentration of social service agencies and halfway houses, and that's reflected in the customer base.
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momijizukamori
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The "L" is nearly as bad. Especially when the hairs on the back of your neck regularly get blown by the guy behind you coughing - I presume - through an open fist.
I try - but rarely succeed - not to touch anything with my hands. No rails, no doors, no seats. Just nothing. And even then, the first thing I do when I get to my destination is excuse myself to go wash my hands. I'm not quite to Howard Hughes levels of paranoia, but I'm well on my way.
no subject
Public transit
Chuck still in California, but returning to BCN soon
no subject
Here it depends a lot on the bus or el line. Those which pass through hot neighbourhoods close to centre will display a less freaky crowd than others because they're attracting riders who would normally drive but realise the folly of it when going to a neighbourhood with scarce parking. I live in a more peripheral area with the city's highest concentration of social service agencies and halfway houses, and that's reflected in the customer base.