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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,889
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Re: People choosing to not own a car.


@Blingqueen023 wrote:

@NYC Susan wrote:

@reiki604 wrote:

@Blingqueen023 wrote:

@truffle wrote:

I love the freedom of a car.  I never have to worry about bad weather or people or getting sunburn or windburn. So many advantages to owning a car that i never will be without one. When you live in a city where many own one and you walk, you are breathing in noxious car fumes which is like 2nd hand smoke. No thank you. Yes insurance is expensive as are repairs. It's all figured in to our household budget and we'll never be without our cars.  

 

 


I wouldn't be without a car either.  I"d be scared to death to take public transportation in these large cities.  No way.  Don't feel like getting robbed, raped, mugged or even killed by a gun or stabbed to death thank you very much.  Give me a car any day. 


Sorry but LOL! I have lived in NYC for my entire life and have never been robbed, raped, mugged or killed by a gun or stabbed while taking public transportation. I have never known anyone who experienced though things. Oh wait....I do know someone who was pickpocketed  on the subway when he fell asleep on the subway at 3am. But he was just stupid.


Thank you!  I didn't even know how to respond to this.  You said it perfectly.

 

No one I have known in all my years living in NYC has ever had any of these things happen, and the vast majority take public transportation every day.  

 

My son, btw, was robbed at gunpoint on a suburban street in a wealthy neighborhood where everyone uses cars as transportation.

 


That's fine and dandy.  Here, in Washington, DC, I've heard on more than ocassion, people have been shot riding DC Metro buses.  It happens.  Again, give me my car!!!


I'm not saying it doesn't happen.  My point was that being raped, robbed, stabbed, etc are very far from being common events.  In all of my many years living and working here, it is not in my experience or the experience of anyone I know at all. That kind of fear is irrational, IMO, especially because anything can happen anywhere.  People get shot in cars too.

 

I love my car also.  I love to drive, and wouldn't want to be without it.  But I don't hesitate to walk around the city, take public transportation, and live my life.  I have never found one reason to feel otherwise.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,889
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Re: People choosing to not own a car.


@missy1 wrote:

@JaneMarple wrote:

@151949 wrote:

@Winter Holiday Do you consider it "treating someone like garbage under your feet"  for a person to not want to have to drive way out of their way to pick you up and then bring you back home? This is a great inconvenience ! I used to drive someone to work every day we were on the same shift - she lived on a very steep hill, which was dangerous for me in the sleet & snow, she was also never ready and I would be late for work waiting for her. She never bought me any gas despite that I went several miles out of my way to get her, nor did she ever pay for parking despite that if she had been on time we could have parked in the free lot , but because she was late I had to park right at the hospital and pay. However, I felt sorry for her having to walk a couple miles to work if I didn't pick her up. 


You felt sorry for her but yet you talk badly about her? Why complain but still pick her up? Why didn't you say no? Besides how long ago was this? Fifty years? I thought your OP was concerning the here and now.   

 

 

OP didn't have a car for 3 years and used relatives cars/or got a ride. Op shouldn't be complaining about her co-worker.



This also sounds like a case of someone being a victim by choice.  Why not ask the co-worker for gas money, or request that she be on time?  If someone was causing me to be late to work, costing me money, and continually being unappreciative, I wouldn't hesitate to tell her that I would love to help her out, but that she has to be on time, and that I would appreciate some help with gas/parking money.

 

No way would I risk my job for someone who was ungrateful.  My "feeling sorry for her" would disappear once I realized she had zero appreciation for what I was doing.  If an honest discussion didn't do the trick, I would have freed her up to find another way to get to work.  People who are so comfortable using others always seem to have little trouble finding someone else to take advantage of.

Regular Contributor
Posts: 227
Registered: ‎06-15-2016

Re: People choosing to not own a car.


@151949 wrote:

@Winter Holiday Do you consider it "treating someone like garbage under your feet"  for a person to not want to have to drive way out of their way to pick you up and then bring you back home? This is a great inconvenience ! I used to drive someone to work every day we were on the same shift - she lived on a very steep hill, which was dangerous for me in the sleet & snow, she was also never ready and I would be late for work waiting for her. She never bought me any gas despite that I went several miles out of my way to get her, nor did she ever pay for parking despite that if she had been on time we could have parked in the free lot , but because she was late I had to park right at the hospital and pay. However, I felt sorry for her having to walk a couple miles to work if I didn't pick her up. 


If you take it upon yourself to help someone without a car on a regular basis and they never say thank you, are never on time to be picked up or ready to go, or never offer gas money it is understandable to be unhappy.

 

I feel this needing rides all the time idea about people who don't have cars is exaggerated. I think most are independent and do as much as they can on their own like my husband and myself do. We walk and take transit and take a cab if its an extreme emergency.

 

I also think most people don't like asking people for help and most don't because of pride when they might really need it. I hate asking anyone for anything that resembles the notion of ASKING for help as I want people to freely help and to never have them tell me how they helped me and what I OWE them. 

 

The problem I have is the issue with helping AT ALL. For example I don't see it unreasonable for a family member to say take me to Hobby Lobby once a year as there are none in city limits and are so far out even suburban transit can make it there. That is an example. If a family member lives near there why should it be so hard for them to do that for me? Once a year? I mean really that's selfish to say screw you I can do something nice for you and have the means to but I won't. I can't wrap my head around that.

 

The worse part is people outright not inviting people to things because of no car. No meeting halfway compromise or helping to pay for gas or two different people doing the pick up and drop off. A lot of this happens for events a few times a year anyway.  That's a hell of a thing to tell family members and friends that basically you only want to be around them if its convenient for you or you are getting something out of it. Its selfish. To not even want to hang out with someone because of not having a car and treating them like poor garbage isn't right and that is pretty much what a few comments on here have said.

 

If you love people you love them no matter what their circumstances or choices are. I would never tell anyone they are an inconvenience to me or basically act like I'm better than them. People have this crazy idea that the amount of material goods and money in their bank account makes them better than others but it doesn't . What matters is how you treat people in your lifetime.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,660
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: People choosing to not own a car.

Grocery shopping would be my main concern without a car.  GEtting on and off a bus with steps or up and down a subway entrance trying to maneuver a portable grocery cart with several heavy items like bottles of water or a gallon of milk plus other items would seem to be difficult.  The alternative would seem to be multiple weekly stops at a grocery store to pick up a few items at a time which would be very time consuming.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,256
Registered: ‎10-04-2010

Re: People choosing to not own a car.

I'll take one horse and buggy please.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,189
Registered: ‎01-04-2016

Re: People choosing to not own a car.


@QueenDanceALot wrote:

@Moonchilde wrote:

@QueenDanceALot wrote:

Only nut cases ride buses?

 

Oy.


 

 

That wasn't even remotely what was said.


"Nuts ride the bus" isn't all that different.  Especially in context with the rest of the post.


When mass transit is the norm like in NYC you have a wider cross section of residents using it. When it's not the norm, where everyone but a small segment of the local population owns a car, then it's quite different; it can be scary and can be dangerous for women riding a city bus. 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,350
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: People choosing to not own a car.


@151949 wrote:

Article on NBC news this evening -- the new thing for people living in the city is not owning a car. They can easily use public transportation or walk  for their daily needs and on those occasions when they need a car they just rent one for the day. And where do they rent them - well people who own cars advertise them for rent a few days a month which greatly helps them with the expense of owning a car.Financially good idea for both sides.

However, I have known friends who did not have a car and they are a bit of a pain in the neck to their friends and relatives who are always having to drive them places.


There is no way on this green earth that I would rent my car to anyone. Financially good for both sides?  Until something happens and the car owner stands to lose a whole lot...

Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,415
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: People choosing to not own a car.

When we do our grocery shopping, or go to the big box store for household items like detergent and toilet paper, our cart is full.  One must really have to plan carefully when they rely on their feet and public transportation for getting around.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,446
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: People choosing to not own a car.

My DS lives in NYC and he has seen famous people on the subway. Whenever I'm in NYC and ride the subway I'm always looking around to see if I see anyone famous, no luck yet!  I did see Matt Lauer walking along the Fifth Avenue once though!  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,488
Registered: ‎04-18-2013

Re: People choosing to not own a car.


@proudlyfromNJ wrote:

@151949 wrote:

I think the posters from NYC really do not realize that there is a huge country here that is completely different from NYC - that life in NYC does not at all represent life in most of the rest of the country.


@151949. You posted an article. Did you not want posters from NYC to answer? Try and have a conversation instead of always putting posters down.


@proudlyfromNJ

 

Honestly, I think all she wanted to do was assert that people who don't drive are moochers.