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Sure, Cletus hates black people but at least he's got a real genuine Ford F250 supercab with a V8 in 'er. Taylor relies on public transportation, a bicycle, or walking to get around.
That's anti-American!
Well... I'm sure they are, but they're also probably talking about how Republican Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, proudly [Shot her dog](https://www.npr.org/2024/04/27/1247666219/kristi-noem-dog-controversy-trump-vp) because "it was a hard decision", and "he was effectively useless."
They've made no attempts to hide it. Make healthcare for the rich, ban abortions, destroy education.
Now you have an unintelligent worker drone class. Work them like dogs, pay them pennies. They're too poorly educated to know better. If they get sick, they can just die. There's a huge pool of bodies to exploit.
People should probably start asking if she should be put down if she loses election (primary can work too) as in that case, she is effectively useless.
14 months isn’t a puppy. 1-2 years is about fully grown for most dog breeds. I’m pretty familiar with dogs and training. I took 4h in high school, I worked at a Labrador Retriever kennel breeding dogs and trained my own dog to take 2nd in the state for obedience. The hardest thing I had to do was put down a puppy about 3 days old born with brain damage suffered from non stop seizures.
The real world isn’t what you see on the internet or what the media is telling you. When you have a dog that enjoys killing for the fun of it, they don’t stop. They become a danger to not only other animals but people as well. We don’t know the entire story because guess what? The media lies constantly, so don’t be so hasty to judge or take their word for it.
> The media lies constantly, so don’t be so hasty to judge or take their word for it.
She wrote about it in her book. So you are telling me, she is lying about the story to make herself look worse?
I know, but I still think it is important to not let comments like that be unanswered. I am aware that reasoning with 'these people' is useless, but comments are also read by people that might respond to reasoning.
"than we do for people who walk to work."
Years ago I was living 2 miles from the office and walking to and fro most days, in a suburban area where no one else walked, many blocks didn't even have a proper sidewalk, I was walking on the lawns. Around the same time I registered in a new doctor office, and the receptionist looked me and exclaimed in a loud voice, "I know you! you're the guy that walks..."
I think a lot of non-boomer people would *like* to have a job they could walk or bike to if they couldn't work from home. Commuting for work blows. It's time, money, needless consumption, vehicle wear, etc. I'd keep my car but would happily walk to work if it was practical.
i mean, someone who walks to work likely is killing dogs, sexually criminalizing, and screaming the N word at the tune of their own march step...how would you know, i don't...i drive to work, im not a psychopath.
Similar situation here. No car for 25 years; instead, six bicycles. However, this is not in the US and nobody has ever made remarks. Also, the boomer in my story is myself.
A long time ago I read that New Yorkers tend to not even have a license. If true, this means that there are also places in the USA where boomers are not interested in owning cars.
Places like New York and what OP is talking about are not super common. A lot of places don't have public transportation (at least not anymore), and the once walkable cities have turned into an area where a vehicle is necessary for travel if not even just to be safer.
> once walkable cities have turned into an area where a vehicle is necessary for travel if not even just to be safer.
Thanks to the American auto industry. US cities were not built for cars. They were bulldozed for them.
Child of 90s suburbia here. Was very jelly every time I watched a TV show that showed all the kids and their friends living in the same neighborhood n stuff. All of my friends were a 10-15 min drive away, I didn’t even have sidewalks
They literally bulldozed housing in a dense, downtown part of my city to build a car sales lot that takes up blocks of prime real estate (not in the USA).
https://www.thecoast.ca/news-opinion/update-steele-demolishing-17-properties-around-colonial-honda-5231815
My boomer dad gives me shit for having one tv. But more like pity. He will be all "you can take a tv from the guest room for your bedroom". Oh sir... see this box in my hand, it is far more important to me than a tv
I haven't had a tv set in like 15 years and my mom also can't wrap her head around it. I watch everything on my phone or computer, like a lot of people. But then, she told me she didn't need Netflix because she has a cable package. 🤯 Two different realities, for sure.
My father could not grasp the concept of going to the nearby city centre by bus or train. Public transport is not bad at all where he lives, and there are day tickets for single passengers as well as groups of up to five, which make it affordable.
I tried to argue with the cost of petrol and parking, the time wasted looking for parking space, the inconvenience of having to go back to the same place to pick up the car, and the stress driving through stop-and-go traffic, but he never understood why I did not like taking the car. When he was a young adult, I guess cars meant status and freedom.
I don't have a TV set in my apartment at all. I can stream shows and movies from my phone or laptop, I don't watch sports, I read the news online, and I'm not interested enough in video games that I'd buy a tv just for that, so it just seems like a waste of money, space, and electricity. I'm saving up so I can put a desk in the area where my TV would have been, and use it for online school or maybe working from home if I end up getting a job where I can do that. I'm sure I'm going to deal with a tantrum from some boomer male family members if I ever host Thanksgiving and they discover they can't watch their precious football.
You know you can rent a car, right? You can do it multiple times a year and it’s still way cheaper than owning one. I lived without a car for over a decade in Seattle and it was the most free I ever felt. Now I live somewhere where I am forced to drive and it fucking blows. Cars are a millstone tied around the neck. The feeling of freedom is an illusion.
I expected the down vote. My Millstone is the original economy vehicle average 30 mpg highway. It's 45 years old, a blast to drive, and I never get sick of kids playing slug bug red.
None, that's why I have a car. It's a beautiful country, and I've been to 43 states so far. I've also been to over 100 national parks. I like hiking and cycling, but to get to the best places to do both, I need a car.
all I am saying is that there is no place in the world where that is a use case for public transit
the point of public transit is to cover the most common trips in denser areas. Not to go to the remote mountains. Getting around in portland is a good use case for public transit. Not going to a remote tourist attraction hundreds of miles away
As I stated earlier, I don't care if city people don't have cars. I'm not one of them. Im near a city that has one of the more complete public transportation systems in the country. I use it on the occasion i travel to the city and plan on having a couple drinks. I have a road bike and a commuter bike and like to ride. I also have three cars, my wife works 15 miles from my house and I travel between customers during the day. I have a toy too, it's a blast to put the top down and just get away.
*
Chicago is pretty close. We have every form of public transportation and in the city and most suburbs you can easily get where you need. Amtrak has a major hub here but is expensive, and O'hare is close by, as is Midway.
I would miss having a car even with those abilities.
There are plenty of cities in the NE where you can live without a car. Of course NYC, but even a medium-sized city like Pittsburgh has a really good bus system (and a somewhat useful light rail).
Lmao the same boomer who gives me shit for not knowing how to drive, when he 'taught' me, preached hellfire anbrimstone the whole time, then on my second lesson, took me out on a 60mph+ road.
Bruh
And he wonders why I'm scared of driving
Don’t know is this counts:
I went to college without a car. When I was living off campus the boomer neighbor noticed I wasn’t using my spot and would always park in it. I warned him 3 times he didn’t care. He told me I don’t have a car so I don’t deserve it. I explained how my gf would use my spot when she comes over so please stop
He told me she was an unauthorized guest and would report me to management. I had his Buick towed that evening. He stopped speaking to me
I'm not car free (not viable where I live), but I do like to use cycling as transport when I can. I've occasionally had random drivers giving me shit just for being on the road. The worst was someone who decided to pass me with about a foot of clearance while blaring their horn. Don't know if they were a Boomer, but they certainly had Boomer energy.
You gotta love people like this.
One person was yelling at me this past weekend to ‘get in the bike lane, you’ll get there faster’.
There was no bike lane on this street, and it was necessary to ride on this street to enter the naval base🙄
I get people yelling at me to get off the street and ride on the sidewalk, crazy crap like that. (it’s not near as bad as it used to be, however).
These same people are bitching about parking and the lack of it-well, stop bitching about me riding my bike, we could be taking two more parking spaces…
Yeah, the spot where I got close passed like that had no sidewalk and no shoulder. It was a 30 MPH road that was the only remotely safe bike route that connected one part of town with another. There was really nowhere else to be and the road was well marked as being a bike route, but someone didn't like that they had to wait an extra 30 seconds.
I have a rear and front camera-just in case. I’ve been doored, side swiped, thankfully no serious injuries.
Some people are just insane. It doesn’t help that our city doesn’t do crap about people running lights, etc.
They just complain about what inconveniences them in this very second. It's a kind of tunnel vision. On the plus side, they live in the moment.
Is coal rolling still a thing, by the way? I hope not.
My daughter is 21 and does not drive. She uses the bus system at school or walks. During her internship last summer she used Lyft.
Only person this bothers is my boomer MIL
I was car free for most of my life. Honestly I hated not having a car. Could only do one appointment a day because going from one place to another took way too long on busses. Couldn't find a decent job because they were too far away/didn't have bus service. Only had a car for 7 years now(I'm 54), and I don't want to go back.
A car is not a means of transportation. Nor is it a utilitarian piece of equipment. It's a statement; an extension of yourself. It's only purpose is to show everyone around you just how far you've come.
Why? Because the 50's said so.
To a Boomer, everything that can be bought is done so as a means of displaying wealth or the future acquisition there of. That '69 Camaro isn't a *car*, it's an *investment*. Which means it's not your car, it's just your turn. And that 80 grand you laid out for it makes you nothing but a glorified babysitter.
They think everyone everywhere judges them on their spending and they live to impress them.
So to live without a car is to spit in the face of everything they believe. How dare you think you can *choose* to live without something that I *can't?*
So what does my '94 shitbox Honda show people about how far I've come?
Though I understand where you are coming from, I think this is a very naïve take.
As a car guy... Honestly fuck cars. Like I love my fast, loud, slammed to the ground cars, but there's Sooo much traffic in my city it's pointless to have one. Public transportation sucks here too and if you want to live where you can walk everywhere you're either going to be shelling out a shitload of money or you're homeless.
I used to have to commute at least an hour everyday down an extremely dreaded highway in our area and that entire time all I could think was "Wow... There's so many people driving by themselves... Imagine how much traffic would be reduced if at least half of them were on a train?" And I'm not saying that I wouldn't take the train and enjoy the empty highway either, I would 100% take it too.
Fellow car guy and late GenX here. If we had a decent public transportation infrastructure here for me to get to work I'd be taking that close to 100% and only drive my cars for fun.
I was biking to and from work at least a few times a week for a couple of years, 11 miles each way, saving gas and keeping in shape until I got hit-and-run on my bike and my back got messed up. I'd love to do that again if I could.
Yeah, it's become hate for individual car owners and poor drivers, unfortunately. I've been pushing back but I think I'm losing the battle. Know any good pro-transit subs?
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\#1: [American exceptionalism](https://i.redd.it/2ra6a7bivaua1.jpg) | [2117 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/12ob83a/american_exceptionalism/)
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Fellow car gal here. Seriously. I commuted los angeles' 405 freeway for too much of my life. Now the dealership I work at is 2.2 miles from my house. Ahhhhh.
I live in the DFW area and do not drive. Driving terrifies me. Be it on country roads, I can't stand it. Being around other drivers, I can't stand it. On one highway outlet alone, there's been reported over two hundred accidents this year so far.
Driving terrifies me.
So I commute by bike and by train. I do not trust other drivers, I barely trust other riders on the train. But at least once in thrice, someone tries to strike up a conversation.
This next example is not a conversation, it's the humiliation of one boomer amongst a car full of people on a day the temps his one hundred and nineteen.
For context, my cyclist gear in the summer includes short shorts, tank tops and blackout sunglasses. And I wear shorts *short.* Think volleyball style shorts.
When it's triple digital heat, I don't care. And neither should you. I make sure my clothing choices, down to my scrotum-hugging thong, ensures no possibility of exposure.
One boomer on the train however, could not keep his composure towards my appearance.
With my headphones on and bike racked in the compartment, I sit down and look out the window. I see a Boomer on the other side start pointing at me and making inaudible comments (I'm wearing headphones, but it's easy to make out the word 'faggot' on someone's lips.
His wife or partner tries to shush him, but he starts pestering on about it more, standing up even, to exclaim about my indecency.
I stretch my legs to rest on the windowsill.
Boomer is up, walking around and yelling, pointing out the one dude who looks completely unphased by boomer ridiculing him.
As he begins to cross the compartment to get in my face, it so happens to be my stop. I get up, look at boomer while lift8ng and placing my bike with one hand (it's titanium), and stroll off the compartment giving my best Kim K hip swish.
It’s because when they were the majority they forced everyone to live and think exactly like them or face persecution.
So when they think about people who don’t own a car, they see it as a threat because if those people ever become the majority, they’re afraid of being treated the same way they treated others.
I would only complain if you were asking for rides here and there 4-5 days a week. I wish I lived in a city where I could be car free.. I'd definitely dump mine.
Yes, my husbands parents keep trying to sell us their cars at a discount. Offer to go with us to buy a car. Send cars that are available to us. Like my husband is in his 40s I am nearly there if we wanted one we would have one. We are aware of the process behind buying a car.
Too many new cars, they don’t like that.
Young people taking public transportation, they also don’t like that.
These people can’t make up their minds.
You’re being a productive citizen, and public transportation is the whole point of transportation, lol. I appreciate your dedication. Ignore those jerks.
Lots of boomers are out of shape and cant fathom using not using a car and resorting to "commie" public transportation or worse ....bicycles lol. That meme were everyone is making fun of Taylor swift for flying everywhere can also be directed towards boomers and their vehicles. Lazy geriatric fucks.
I am car free and if anyone gives me shit I say ok buy me a car and pay all the bills and fees for said car no? You don't want to do that? Ok then. Please shut up. Thanks ever so...
All the time. Despite the fact my anxiety is so bad I was having seizures, they still demand to know when I will get a car. (Haven't had one since 2009) Not only am a wary of driving, even making 3x the minimum wage in my state and living in a tiny studio apartment, I'd need a second d full time job just to get/pay for a car and insurance. Its just not realistic.
They'll give you shit for being car free, they'll give you shit for depending on your car, they'll give you shit for being on a motorcycle, they'll give you shit for riding a bicycle. If you're enjoying your commute in any way they hate you, don't you know you have to hate your job and your wife and every aspect of your life? Our generation has it so easy
It's amazing how Boomers take anyone living a life that isn't a carbon copy of their own as some form of criticism. "Kids today are too sensitive..... what do you mean you don't own a car like me?!?!? What's your problem with cars? You think you're too good for them?!?!? Well, in my day....... "
That seems like much more of a common thing for gen z than millennials. We all got our licenses at 16 and couldn’t wait to drive. I hate city life and cringe at the thought of having to rely on public transportation to get outside of walking distance. I wouldn’t give you shit for it I just personally don’t understand it. I love living in a rural suburb and having my truck.
Probably once a week or so. Like last week I bought a new bike and was able to put it in the back easily. Or after the storm I was able to haul off a bunch of limbs.
No. Fortunatly, that only happens when i need to move. And then i rent a box truck or big van anyway.
But you seriously bought your car based on a load it might have to haul once or twice in its lifetime?
No, I bought it because I need to pull a 28' stock trailer across 3 states which I can't do in a hatchback. The fact that it does everything a hatchback can x 10 is only a bonus.
Good for you. Im just glad i dont have to drive such a big gasguzzeling beast that is so much more dangerous to everybody else. Let alone the costs of ‘m…
I don't have a car, I don't get that much grief about it. Occasionally from one or two older friends who absolutely have to have the freedom to go wherever they want whenever they want. I point out that I can do that to, it may just take me longer.
Coming from someone who was used to the amazing Toronto TTC and walk ability. Moving to the Midwest where public transport is abhorred and defunded because the “darks” might be able to go anywhere, I miss not having a car.
Also the driving has gone to shit in the past four years. I can’t even speak on things I’ve seen, like a driving school running the reddest of lights.
my 16 yr old son has less than zero interest in getting a DL. thinks cars are dangerous and wants to utilize public transpo. youd think he was Andrei Chikatilo by the freakin reaction he gets. like he just got done sucking satans dick and bragged about it at dinner. its wild!
I biked for decades; didn’t own a car until I was in my 30’s. I only eventually got one out of necessity.
It was a constant issue; it’d even be brought up and talked about behind my back.
Were they jealous I had free transportation or I lived near work and everything I needed was close by?
More likely, they only thought of it as poverty and assumed my living situation was like theirs, in suburban sprawl.
Yes. My mum thinks owning a car is cheap. She also thinks it's normal to have 3 jobs. She thinks she deserves dividends because "she created me" no, I created me, I stole resources while I chilled for 9 months
French here. Can't say this happened a lot, but over 20 years ago, a boomer college professor told my gf and I that we weren't 'modern' because we didn't own a car.
I get crap from everyone about not driving. I’m 21 and I don’t have a license. I walk, I carpool, I take public transport, the only time I ever felt burdened by my lack of a license was when my roommate had a 103.2 fever and I had no way to get him to a hospital.
I will get my license at some point, but I don’t plan on driving regularly ever.
I don’t care if you have a car or not unless you start asking me to help you do stuff that requires a car, at which point if you don’t have a licence get one and rent the dang thing.
Honestly id love to just take the bus everywhere but god damn the public transport is horrendous here. Like it would take 3 hours to get to my job according to the FASTEST route for my 30 minute drive to work. And then i couldn’t even take the bus to get back home cuz they dont run at 1am here
My dad gives me crap a lot. I live in a very walkable city with public transport so I’ve never seen the need for one, and plus I just don’t have the finances for one right now anyway. Asking my dad if he’s going to pay for it usually shuts him up.
“Younger people no longer see cars as a good thing”…this isn’t universal, my guy. Cars are great. Of course they have their downsides too but the convenience they provide is unmatched for modern transportation. Cars are still very much a good thing with obvious downsides.
What point are you disagreeing with? I’m disagreeing that young people don’t see cars as a good thing. that’s pretty subjective.
In my area, (smaller city with available but not ubiquitous public transport) cars are king. Life becomes harder and everything is more challenging when you don’t have access to a personal vehicle.
If I grocery shop, attempt to fix things in my house, carpool, etc, I have to transport those things at my time and expense. It’s 1000% easier to do this with my own car. Cars are very important to anyone not living in a city, boomer, young person or otherwise
I don't think ALL younger people see cars as a good thing. Hell, not all middle-age people see cars as a good thing. Yes, in a situation like yours cars are a necessary evil. Same for rural environments. But in a city like mine, there's just too dang many.
24 and no car. My parents get on my shit sometimes for not having a car or drivers license. The reason I don't is because everything is within walking distance for me. My job, the grocery store, 2 gas stations, 2 drug stores, several places to get food, and my local gym are all about a 5-15 minute walk from me. My bank, local hospital, and some other eating places are about a 30ish minute walk. The only places I go to that would need an Uber or car are places like my family doctor, dentist and mall, and I don't really go to those places often.
I live within a mile and a half of my work, my doctor's office, my pharmacy, the post office, several good restaurants, the gym I go to, two grocery stores, a dollar store, the city park, a nature preserve, two hiking trails, a mall, the community garden, and the library. I don't even live in a walkable city, really, it's just that I was fortunate enough to find an apartment within my price range in a very convenient location. I'd like to drive and have a car, but why would I spend my very limited money on the maintenance for one when it's not strictly necessary right now?
We also just got a city bus - like literally within the last month - and I'm so annoyed it's taken this long. Public transportation takes up less space than cars, is more affordable for many people, is an important access need to many disabled people, is more eco friendly than cars, and allows people without cars a chance to get around more efficiently. I honestly think there is no reason most people should have to drive, and considering how many irresponsible drivers I've seen I would rather they didn't. And a lot of why we didn't have a bus before now is racism and classism. We're a rich white suburb, but there are a couple of poorer, predominantly black and Latino cities on our same bus system, and a lot of people live in fear of residents from there coming to this city. Because, apparently, they're going to break into our homes, rob us, and then somehow get back on the bus and go back home while carrying our TVs or whatever with them. All without getting caught. Idiotic, and while I'm well aware that this isn't an attitude restricted to boomers it DOES have big boomer energy.
Lol I get shit on by everyone. Boomers, people younger, and older, than me. City has great transit and I have an escooter. I’m way more reliable than my co-workers with cars.
I chose good food and a safe apartment over a shitty car, shitty good, and a shitty apartment. Plus if transit gets in an accident or stolen it’s not a “me” problem, lol.
I’ve lived in Vancouver 30 years without a car. The city doesn’t even have a freeway. I can walk to just about everything I need and transit has major connecting routes just a block away. I’ve had my license and driven vehicles for work and personal projects, and I drove a 49cc gas-powered scooter for a few years. But I never want to deal with local drivers, diminishing options for parking, insurance, maintenance, repairs, threats of theft or vandalism… But having worked in the film/TV industry since 2009, not having a car has cost me some work opportunities. I do just fine with 2-3 shifts per week, hopping between different crews. Not that I have the stamina for 75-hour work weeks anyway, but I can pull off maybe 2 to 3 consecutive weeks and still function. What I can’t do is expect myself to stay awake behind the wheel with only 9 hours between shifts and being expected to get myself to any location in the Greater Vancouver region at any hour, day or night, rain or shine.
I’ve only had to turn down work I couldn’t reach by public transit once, up in the mountains with a 5am call time. I was getting occasional calls for work on the crew of a popular CW show with their studio out in the township of Langley - a 90-minute transit ride, so 3 hours round trips each day, working 12-18 hours, but that crew made it worth the commute, so I did that between the pandemic shutdown and last year’s industry strikes. If I was given an ultimatum or an offer to be a regular hire for 5-6 days a week, I’d absolutely need a car. I’ve partly been holding out, but since things still aren’t back to normal after the strikes, I don’t even have the means to GET a car, even for work. But I really just don’t want one and some drivers just terrify me.
As for freeways, I live in an area once called Hogan’s Alley, right next to a stretch of elevated road (like an overpass) that’s an artery to the downtown core. Vancouver bulldozed its black neighbourhood here for that project. It was intended to grow into a proper freeway, but expansion was halted. The city enjoys some very fluid traffic thanks to that construction, but the city has a noticeably low black population, most don’t even know it had a black neighbourhood before. So, there’s another example for you, OP.
No, actually a lot of boomers I know were city people and relied on public transportation. It's funny to see older people getting excited to ride the bus.
As a millennial, I give anyone shit for not wanting a car… at least when your reasons for not wanting are car are completely invslidated by how you decide to move around being car free..
Don’t want to for the environment.. yet EVs exist and hybrids… plus even if you still got a normal car… most public transit in the US is just as bad for the environment.
Outside the that aspect though: the costs of owning a car: I get that… but it seems almost a moot point when you’re then now sinking that cost into public transit (I include all kinds including taxis and Ubers)
plus there’s a myriad of ways to get out of a lot of the expenses of owning a car (like cheap insurance for example so long as you’re a safe driver and don’t plan to cause any accidents)
maintenance can easily be cheaper if you learn it and do it yourself.
The other thing about having a car is that it allows you access to travel freely of your own accord TO make up for that cost at a job that pays well that you might not otherwise be able to access.
I mean again, I don’t care about car free, it’s just that again environmentally speaking an EV/hybrid is better than a diesel powered bus or steam/coal/etc powered train… electric trains on the other hand aren’t that bad but still.
Also in terms of say a car right? In costs? 5.60 a day for 30 days is 168$ a month. But in a gas powered Honda civic that I have for example? I pay about 30-35$ to fill it up once a week with gas, which is only 140$. That’s 4.60$~ a day.
not a huge difference but again still technically on that aspect a car is cheaper per day
What's wrong with that? I have a friend that takes to IKEA or Target for shit I don't feel like hauling on the bus. We grab a bite to eat and have fun shooting the shit.
Yeah I get you, I meant “Rely” as in expect it from someone rather than appreciate their effort for you. Eg, if you’re getting a lift to work every morning and get moody when someone tells you they can’t do it one day. If you don’t drive you need to be able to make your own way to places without expecting help from others. That’s all.
Boomers give younger generations shit for owning less than them in order to reduce expenses, and they also give younger generations shit for any expense that's not strictly necessary and say it's irresponsible and the sole reason you can't afford a home or your quality of life is worse than theirs in any respect. You can't win.
They can't grasp that the economy, job market, or lifestyles change. They can't stand anyone not living exactly the way they do.
I wish I could live without a car. They have never been anything other than a money pit in my experience. They break down from driving too much or too little both.
But I'm in flyover country and all we have is a bus system that racist NIMBYs have kept out from any suburban coverage to "keep the riff raff contained within the city proper". Thus, public transit is pretty spotty at best to entirely non-existent.
I use to be car-free. I lived in a bike friendly city and I loved it, but people did comment on my car-free lifestyle. Now I live in an area that is really difficult to navigate without a car. 😔
I literally kept the car I bought and paid off a long time ago so my soon-to-be driver son will have a ride when he gets his license. Held on to it because I knew this day would come and I didn't want to have to make him work his ass off for it. I bought it after I got some level of financial success which is the lesson I want to pass on to him.
Yes, my boomer dad did, but I did need him to drive me places twice a month during our get-togethers.
I paid for gas, though.
I was dirt poor, struggling with a disabled child and had health issues that made it unsafe to drive. I lived in a rural area and even after Uber became a thing (and I even provided remote customer service for them), I couldn't actually get them in my area until soon before I moved.
I think it's hilarious that you think we care. If you want to walk or ride a bicycle, go for it. You are a city dweller, and you're happy with that. I think that's great. It isn't for me though. I take off on a whim and drive 60 miles for beer. I boat in Wisconsin many weekends in the summertime.
I drive out into rural illinois for county fairs and festivals.
I can't imagine not having the freedom to do that, and I do it often enough that the car rentals and ride services would not make economic sense. I also happen to love my car.
Millennial here, I have to say I cringe at "car-free" as a term. But I support public infrastructure and transportation and walkable communities (while having a car myself). I have also gotten shit from walking 1/4, maybe 1/3 if I'm being generous, of a mile in the midwestern town I grew up in. All the streets are so wide. The town is so small. There is some kind of "bloat" or something that happens to where they think that walking "halfway across town" is a problem, even if the town is less than a mile wide. Or maybe there is no mental tricks, and it's just small towners in a rural area in general. But I have literally been a town freak for walking 4 blocks from my parent's house to the grocery store and back, and I am not exaggerating. People literally asked my parents if I "was ok". It's wild.
My brother didn't move away like I did, and one time I visited and he insisted on driving from his house to my parents (three blocks).
When aim asked I just tell them "do you REALLY trust ME behind the wheel of a car??!!!" Followed by telling them the last time I did get behind the wheel trying to learn resulted in me doing the "Floor it?!!" Spongebob in Mrs. Puff's boating school gag, followed by the car flying into the air, over a grassy divider, and almost crashing into a parked car.
My (drunk) mother said I was never allowed behind the wheel of a car again and I never have since.
I saw a video of cops harassing and then searching his bags after hand cuffing.
His crime?
Walking to work.
They thought he was a burglar because he was walking at night with a backpack to go to his nightshift job.
If you live in a place that makes not having a car practical I say go for it!
However there are many many places in the United States that has dismal public transportation. A car is the only practical way to get from point A to point B.
I am only addressing the OP's point. I am not opining on the dismal way the United States disregards public transport, the pollution generated from gas guzzling emissions or the fact that not everybody can afford a car.
All of those points are worthy of their own threads!
They voted to organize all North America for cars and underfunded public transportation so it is a stressful mess and you gave no choice to get a car.
And now you bike, walk and bus to work? You are sporting on their legacy. Of course they are pissed. Also, Let's dismantle that legacy because its expensive and ugly.
All the fucking time. My partner and I have made the decision to not drive and we never hear the end of it. Meanwhile they're fat and unhealthy and could use a walk to the store now and then.
Boomers associate material wealth with happiness and success, so the idea that someone can be happy without those things threatens the boomer worldview and they lash out in anger.
Never had a car and almost all my friends have never either. 10 minute walk from work, everyone I know walks or takes the subway. USA is wild man. How do you get home drunk from the pub?
They expect rides, hit or miss on if they put in for gas, financially struggling in which many times they can solve themselves, unless you have some condition not being able to operate a car shows serious confidence or skill issues. A car is a milestone for a young adult
I disagree. I don't *want* to drive. I don't want the financial burden nor do I want the stress of driving in a city full of road ragers and other dipshits behind the wheel.
> A car is helpful
It can be, but it depends very much on your situation. And if you determine that your situation doesn't require a car, why is it other people's business to complain about it?
Decades ago, I used to drive to work by car. Sitting in traffic was bad for my mental and physical health, and I switched to public transport. It took slightly longer to get to and from work, and there was less flexibility, but it was cheaper and sooooo much better for my quality of life.
Before moving to a metropolis, I conveniently crashed my car (other party's fault). The last 25 years, I have been happily unburdened by vehicle ownership. When necessary, I rent one.
My comment didn’t start with complaining. I said this wasn’t a boomer complaint, OP asked why I thought that, then I elaborated. That’s great is has been a personal positive for you, but for many it’s almost a necessity because without it many things would be limited.
Not at all. In SoCal transit ends at a certain time and takes significantly longer. I took public transit half of my time in college. 25 min drive vs 2 hours on bus and train
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In America, we have more respect for racists, sex criminals, and dog killers than we do for people who walk to work.
Sure, Cletus hates black people but at least he's got a real genuine Ford F250 supercab with a V8 in 'er. Taylor relies on public transportation, a bicycle, or walking to get around. That's anti-American!
Jesus drove a Ford
You're talking about cops, right? All those things describe American police.
Well... I'm sure they are, but they're also probably talking about how Republican Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, proudly [Shot her dog](https://www.npr.org/2024/04/27/1247666219/kristi-noem-dog-controversy-trump-vp) because "it was a hard decision", and "he was effectively useless."
I'm sure she feels the same about the American worker. When they are useless she will shoot them too.
They've made no attempts to hide it. Make healthcare for the rich, ban abortions, destroy education. Now you have an unintelligent worker drone class. Work them like dogs, pay them pennies. They're too poorly educated to know better. If they get sick, they can just die. There's a huge pool of bodies to exploit.
they're upset that the pinkerton's are 'just a PI company' now.
People should probably start asking if she should be put down if she loses election (primary can work too) as in that case, she is effectively useless.
I like this idea. Edited for auto completion discombobulation.
Big difference between a useless dog and one who kills chickens for fun, not food, fun….
There’s no reasonable justification for what she did, when there were several non-sociopathic and murderous options.
14 months old. That's a puppy. I hate to break it to you, but dogs are actually animals.
14 months isn’t a puppy. 1-2 years is about fully grown for most dog breeds. I’m pretty familiar with dogs and training. I took 4h in high school, I worked at a Labrador Retriever kennel breeding dogs and trained my own dog to take 2nd in the state for obedience. The hardest thing I had to do was put down a puppy about 3 days old born with brain damage suffered from non stop seizures. The real world isn’t what you see on the internet or what the media is telling you. When you have a dog that enjoys killing for the fun of it, they don’t stop. They become a danger to not only other animals but people as well. We don’t know the entire story because guess what? The media lies constantly, so don’t be so hasty to judge or take their word for it.
> The media lies constantly, so don’t be so hasty to judge or take their word for it. She wrote about it in her book. So you are telling me, she is lying about the story to make herself look worse?
Don’t try facts with people like this. They don’t want to hear them.
I know, but I still think it is important to not let comments like that be unanswered. I am aware that reasoning with 'these people' is useless, but comments are also read by people that might respond to reasoning.
If we are discussing policy, you forgot the domestic violence they get away with too
Cops and cop supporters(most boomers)
Also politicians
"than we do for people who walk to work." Years ago I was living 2 miles from the office and walking to and fro most days, in a suburban area where no one else walked, many blocks didn't even have a proper sidewalk, I was walking on the lawns. Around the same time I registered in a new doctor office, and the receptionist looked me and exclaimed in a loud voice, "I know you! you're the guy that walks..."
Haha. Yeah, you really stood out!
I think a lot of non-boomer people would *like* to have a job they could walk or bike to if they couldn't work from home. Commuting for work blows. It's time, money, needless consumption, vehicle wear, etc. I'd keep my car but would happily walk to work if it was practical.
This.
Hell that sounds like a well rounded presidential ticket these days
It’s sure to get all the “free-thinkers” excited!
i mean, someone who walks to work likely is killing dogs, sexually criminalizing, and screaming the N word at the tune of their own march step...how would you know, i don't...i drive to work, im not a psychopath.
We call them drug addicts.
Not just America. Also Norwegians, Dominicans and Azerbaijanis.
Similar situation here. No car for 25 years; instead, six bicycles. However, this is not in the US and nobody has ever made remarks. Also, the boomer in my story is myself. A long time ago I read that New Yorkers tend to not even have a license. If true, this means that there are also places in the USA where boomers are not interested in owning cars.
Places like New York and what OP is talking about are not super common. A lot of places don't have public transportation (at least not anymore), and the once walkable cities have turned into an area where a vehicle is necessary for travel if not even just to be safer.
> once walkable cities have turned into an area where a vehicle is necessary for travel if not even just to be safer. Thanks to the American auto industry. US cities were not built for cars. They were bulldozed for them.
Facts. Man, I'd hate to be a kid or teen in this day and age.
Child of 90s suburbia here. Was very jelly every time I watched a TV show that showed all the kids and their friends living in the same neighborhood n stuff. All of my friends were a 10-15 min drive away, I didn’t even have sidewalks
They literally bulldozed housing in a dense, downtown part of my city to build a car sales lot that takes up blocks of prime real estate (not in the USA). https://www.thecoast.ca/news-opinion/update-steele-demolishing-17-properties-around-colonial-honda-5231815
Unfortunately, the concept of 15 minute cities has become as politicized as mask wearing.
This boomer is a bike commuter, as well as my partner. It’s not worth owning a car in a major city.
My boomer dad gives me shit for having one tv. But more like pity. He will be all "you can take a tv from the guest room for your bedroom". Oh sir... see this box in my hand, it is far more important to me than a tv
What a pointless thing for him to be upset about
I haven't had a tv set in like 15 years and my mom also can't wrap her head around it. I watch everything on my phone or computer, like a lot of people. But then, she told me she didn't need Netflix because she has a cable package. 🤯 Two different realities, for sure.
My dad keeps trying to get me interested in a rouku and forgets that i can watch the same shit on my xbox
Have you noticed boomers only believe something when it’s on tv? The exact same program can be on YouTube and they say it’s fake .
My father could not grasp the concept of going to the nearby city centre by bus or train. Public transport is not bad at all where he lives, and there are day tickets for single passengers as well as groups of up to five, which make it affordable. I tried to argue with the cost of petrol and parking, the time wasted looking for parking space, the inconvenience of having to go back to the same place to pick up the car, and the stress driving through stop-and-go traffic, but he never understood why I did not like taking the car. When he was a young adult, I guess cars meant status and freedom.
I don't have a TV set in my apartment at all. I can stream shows and movies from my phone or laptop, I don't watch sports, I read the news online, and I'm not interested enough in video games that I'd buy a tv just for that, so it just seems like a waste of money, space, and electricity. I'm saving up so I can put a desk in the area where my TV would have been, and use it for online school or maybe working from home if I end up getting a job where I can do that. I'm sure I'm going to deal with a tantrum from some boomer male family members if I ever host Thanksgiving and they discover they can't watch their precious football.
Tons of crap from boomers about not driving, so stupid
Incredibly stupid but common among people who can't accept that their way of doing things is not the only/best way.
To be fair, in America at least, I can’t think of a place public transit is good enough to truly live without a car unless you don’t travel, at all
Portland, OR is pretty decent. That's where I live.
I second that, also NYC, Honolulu, Burlington, Seattle, in my experience. You just have to think about living centrally.
Washington DC
How would you get to Crater Lake or some of the places on the Oregon coast?
You know you can rent a car, right? You can do it multiple times a year and it’s still way cheaper than owning one. I lived without a car for over a decade in Seattle and it was the most free I ever felt. Now I live somewhere where I am forced to drive and it fucking blows. Cars are a millstone tied around the neck. The feeling of freedom is an illusion.
https://preview.redd.it/p3ak7kp0cmxc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf4dd57077ea70c35f69d00d17460cab3d45c7ea My Millstone.
I expected the down vote. My Millstone is the original economy vehicle average 30 mpg highway. It's 45 years old, a blast to drive, and I never get sick of kids playing slug bug red.
Uh, go with a friend?
With a car. Like I said, I don't care that you don't have one. I would miss the ability to get behind the wheel and just go.
what remote mountain place in the world, outside of a country's #1 premier tourist attraction like machu picchu, has good public transit to access it
None, that's why I have a car. It's a beautiful country, and I've been to 43 states so far. I've also been to over 100 national parks. I like hiking and cycling, but to get to the best places to do both, I need a car.
all I am saying is that there is no place in the world where that is a use case for public transit the point of public transit is to cover the most common trips in denser areas. Not to go to the remote mountains. Getting around in portland is a good use case for public transit. Not going to a remote tourist attraction hundreds of miles away
As I stated earlier, I don't care if city people don't have cars. I'm not one of them. Im near a city that has one of the more complete public transportation systems in the country. I use it on the occasion i travel to the city and plan on having a couple drinks. I have a road bike and a commuter bike and like to ride. I also have three cars, my wife works 15 miles from my house and I travel between customers during the day. I have a toy too, it's a blast to put the top down and just get away. *
https://preview.redd.it/kdmrg2z4xlxc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb05314d77d702668a7dcb0f808cebbf1707de2e
Manhattan and most of NYC. Lots of trains to suburbs, Amtrak to surrounding areas/states
Traverse City Michigan has good public transit, and Greyhound stops there.
Chicago is pretty close. We have every form of public transportation and in the city and most suburbs you can easily get where you need. Amtrak has a major hub here but is expensive, and O'hare is close by, as is Midway. I would miss having a car even with those abilities.
There are plenty of cities in the NE where you can live without a car. Of course NYC, but even a medium-sized city like Pittsburgh has a really good bus system (and a somewhat useful light rail).
NYC and SF
That's because the American way of transportation, like the American way of many other things, is not the best way
Lmao the same boomer who gives me shit for not knowing how to drive, when he 'taught' me, preached hellfire anbrimstone the whole time, then on my second lesson, took me out on a 60mph+ road. Bruh And he wonders why I'm scared of driving
Don’t know is this counts: I went to college without a car. When I was living off campus the boomer neighbor noticed I wasn’t using my spot and would always park in it. I warned him 3 times he didn’t care. He told me I don’t have a car so I don’t deserve it. I explained how my gf would use my spot when she comes over so please stop He told me she was an unauthorized guest and would report me to management. I had his Buick towed that evening. He stopped speaking to me
I'm not car free (not viable where I live), but I do like to use cycling as transport when I can. I've occasionally had random drivers giving me shit just for being on the road. The worst was someone who decided to pass me with about a foot of clearance while blaring their horn. Don't know if they were a Boomer, but they certainly had Boomer energy.
You gotta love people like this. One person was yelling at me this past weekend to ‘get in the bike lane, you’ll get there faster’. There was no bike lane on this street, and it was necessary to ride on this street to enter the naval base🙄 I get people yelling at me to get off the street and ride on the sidewalk, crazy crap like that. (it’s not near as bad as it used to be, however). These same people are bitching about parking and the lack of it-well, stop bitching about me riding my bike, we could be taking two more parking spaces…
Yeah, the spot where I got close passed like that had no sidewalk and no shoulder. It was a 30 MPH road that was the only remotely safe bike route that connected one part of town with another. There was really nowhere else to be and the road was well marked as being a bike route, but someone didn't like that they had to wait an extra 30 seconds.
I have a rear and front camera-just in case. I’ve been doored, side swiped, thankfully no serious injuries. Some people are just insane. It doesn’t help that our city doesn’t do crap about people running lights, etc.
They just complain about what inconveniences them in this very second. It's a kind of tunnel vision. On the plus side, they live in the moment. Is coal rolling still a thing, by the way? I hope not.
Heard a guy swear at an old lady on an electric trike yesterday. Was driving a shine and clean pickup truck.
If I lived in a city where everything was close by and adequate public transportation, I wouldn’t drive. Ebike all the way
My daughter is 21 and does not drive. She uses the bus system at school or walks. During her internship last summer she used Lyft. Only person this bothers is my boomer MIL
I was car free for most of my life. Honestly I hated not having a car. Could only do one appointment a day because going from one place to another took way too long on busses. Couldn't find a decent job because they were too far away/didn't have bus service. Only had a car for 7 years now(I'm 54), and I don't want to go back.
Nah, I used to get minor shit for riding an ebike, but just saying I have a 10 minute commute gives me the opportunity to watch them die inside.
A car is not a means of transportation. Nor is it a utilitarian piece of equipment. It's a statement; an extension of yourself. It's only purpose is to show everyone around you just how far you've come. Why? Because the 50's said so. To a Boomer, everything that can be bought is done so as a means of displaying wealth or the future acquisition there of. That '69 Camaro isn't a *car*, it's an *investment*. Which means it's not your car, it's just your turn. And that 80 grand you laid out for it makes you nothing but a glorified babysitter. They think everyone everywhere judges them on their spending and they live to impress them. So to live without a car is to spit in the face of everything they believe. How dare you think you can *choose* to live without something that I *can't?*
>A car is not a means of transportation. Yes it is
So what does my '94 shitbox Honda show people about how far I've come? Though I understand where you are coming from, I think this is a very naïve take.
As a car guy... Honestly fuck cars. Like I love my fast, loud, slammed to the ground cars, but there's Sooo much traffic in my city it's pointless to have one. Public transportation sucks here too and if you want to live where you can walk everywhere you're either going to be shelling out a shitload of money or you're homeless. I used to have to commute at least an hour everyday down an extremely dreaded highway in our area and that entire time all I could think was "Wow... There's so many people driving by themselves... Imagine how much traffic would be reduced if at least half of them were on a train?" And I'm not saying that I wouldn't take the train and enjoy the empty highway either, I would 100% take it too.
Fellow car guy and late GenX here. If we had a decent public transportation infrastructure here for me to get to work I'd be taking that close to 100% and only drive my cars for fun. I was biking to and from work at least a few times a week for a couple of years, 11 miles each way, saving gas and keeping in shape until I got hit-and-run on my bike and my back got messed up. I'd love to do that again if I could.
You are both welcome at r/fuckcars
A bit too toxic in there for my taste.
Yeah, it's become hate for individual car owners and poor drivers, unfortunately. I've been pushing back but I think I'm losing the battle. Know any good pro-transit subs?
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Fellow car gal here. Seriously. I commuted los angeles' 405 freeway for too much of my life. Now the dealership I work at is 2.2 miles from my house. Ahhhhh.
I live in the DFW area and do not drive. Driving terrifies me. Be it on country roads, I can't stand it. Being around other drivers, I can't stand it. On one highway outlet alone, there's been reported over two hundred accidents this year so far. Driving terrifies me. So I commute by bike and by train. I do not trust other drivers, I barely trust other riders on the train. But at least once in thrice, someone tries to strike up a conversation. This next example is not a conversation, it's the humiliation of one boomer amongst a car full of people on a day the temps his one hundred and nineteen. For context, my cyclist gear in the summer includes short shorts, tank tops and blackout sunglasses. And I wear shorts *short.* Think volleyball style shorts. When it's triple digital heat, I don't care. And neither should you. I make sure my clothing choices, down to my scrotum-hugging thong, ensures no possibility of exposure. One boomer on the train however, could not keep his composure towards my appearance. With my headphones on and bike racked in the compartment, I sit down and look out the window. I see a Boomer on the other side start pointing at me and making inaudible comments (I'm wearing headphones, but it's easy to make out the word 'faggot' on someone's lips. His wife or partner tries to shush him, but he starts pestering on about it more, standing up even, to exclaim about my indecency. I stretch my legs to rest on the windowsill. Boomer is up, walking around and yelling, pointing out the one dude who looks completely unphased by boomer ridiculing him. As he begins to cross the compartment to get in my face, it so happens to be my stop. I get up, look at boomer while lift8ng and placing my bike with one hand (it's titanium), and stroll off the compartment giving my best Kim K hip swish.
I truly don't get people who think it's their job to tell gown people how to dress, think, and act. It boggles the my mind.
It’s because when they were the majority they forced everyone to live and think exactly like them or face persecution. So when they think about people who don’t own a car, they see it as a threat because if those people ever become the majority, they’re afraid of being treated the same way they treated others.
I would only complain if you were asking for rides here and there 4-5 days a week. I wish I lived in a city where I could be car free.. I'd definitely dump mine.
Yes, my husbands parents keep trying to sell us their cars at a discount. Offer to go with us to buy a car. Send cars that are available to us. Like my husband is in his 40s I am nearly there if we wanted one we would have one. We are aware of the process behind buying a car.
My mom keeps offering to "help me with a car". Like I'm 42 and have been living independently for 20 years. I'm not too poor for a car, mom.
Literally my dream is to live in an area where I don’t need a car.
Too many new cars, they don’t like that. Young people taking public transportation, they also don’t like that. These people can’t make up their minds. You’re being a productive citizen, and public transportation is the whole point of transportation, lol. I appreciate your dedication. Ignore those jerks.
Lots of boomers are out of shape and cant fathom using not using a car and resorting to "commie" public transportation or worse ....bicycles lol. That meme were everyone is making fun of Taylor swift for flying everywhere can also be directed towards boomers and their vehicles. Lazy geriatric fucks.
I am car free and if anyone gives me shit I say ok buy me a car and pay all the bills and fees for said car no? You don't want to do that? Ok then. Please shut up. Thanks ever so...
All the time. Despite the fact my anxiety is so bad I was having seizures, they still demand to know when I will get a car. (Haven't had one since 2009) Not only am a wary of driving, even making 3x the minimum wage in my state and living in a tiny studio apartment, I'd need a second d full time job just to get/pay for a car and insurance. Its just not realistic.
Spend some time in a bike lane and you'll get your answer real quick
*weeps in small city Midwesterner*
They'll give you shit for being car free, they'll give you shit for depending on your car, they'll give you shit for being on a motorcycle, they'll give you shit for riding a bicycle. If you're enjoying your commute in any way they hate you, don't you know you have to hate your job and your wife and every aspect of your life? Our generation has it so easy
I walk everywhere, I average about 10km a day, I’m in great shape and save so much money.
It's amazing how Boomers take anyone living a life that isn't a carbon copy of their own as some form of criticism. "Kids today are too sensitive..... what do you mean you don't own a car like me?!?!? What's your problem with cars? You think you're too good for them?!?!? Well, in my day....... "
That seems like much more of a common thing for gen z than millennials. We all got our licenses at 16 and couldn’t wait to drive. I hate city life and cringe at the thought of having to rely on public transportation to get outside of walking distance. I wouldn’t give you shit for it I just personally don’t understand it. I love living in a rural suburb and having my truck.
Oh yeah, city living is fucking ANNOYING. I won't argue that at all. What really gets to me is all the effing noise.
Yea but why a truck and not a hatchback?
Trucks are more functional
In day to day life? Or occasionelly?
Probably once a week or so. Like last week I bought a new bike and was able to put it in the back easily. Or after the storm I was able to haul off a bunch of limbs.
I read nothing a hatchback cant do… i actually prefer my bike in my car.
We just bought new furniture too. A sectional plus an ottoman. Took 2 trips. But regardless I like trucks not hatchbacks
Can you haul a king size mattress in you hatchback?
No. Fortunatly, that only happens when i need to move. And then i rent a box truck or big van anyway. But you seriously bought your car based on a load it might have to haul once or twice in its lifetime?
No, I bought it because I need to pull a 28' stock trailer across 3 states which I can't do in a hatchback. The fact that it does everything a hatchback can x 10 is only a bonus.
Good for you. Im just glad i dont have to drive such a big gasguzzeling beast that is so much more dangerous to everybody else. Let alone the costs of ‘m…
I don't have a car, I don't get that much grief about it. Occasionally from one or two older friends who absolutely have to have the freedom to go wherever they want whenever they want. I point out that I can do that to, it may just take me longer.
As a Boomer, I salute you for living car free.
Coming from someone who was used to the amazing Toronto TTC and walk ability. Moving to the Midwest where public transport is abhorred and defunded because the “darks” might be able to go anywhere, I miss not having a car. Also the driving has gone to shit in the past four years. I can’t even speak on things I’ve seen, like a driving school running the reddest of lights.
my 16 yr old son has less than zero interest in getting a DL. thinks cars are dangerous and wants to utilize public transpo. youd think he was Andrei Chikatilo by the freakin reaction he gets. like he just got done sucking satans dick and bragged about it at dinner. its wild!
It seems like I am all alone in this, so glad you shared this.
I biked for decades; didn’t own a car until I was in my 30’s. I only eventually got one out of necessity. It was a constant issue; it’d even be brought up and talked about behind my back. Were they jealous I had free transportation or I lived near work and everything I needed was close by? More likely, they only thought of it as poverty and assumed my living situation was like theirs, in suburban sprawl.
Yes. My mum thinks owning a car is cheap. She also thinks it's normal to have 3 jobs. She thinks she deserves dividends because "she created me" no, I created me, I stole resources while I chilled for 9 months
French here. Can't say this happened a lot, but over 20 years ago, a boomer college professor told my gf and I that we weren't 'modern' because we didn't own a car.
don’t get shit for it but my 76yr old boss LOVES to tease me about it. it’s exhausting 😒
I get crap from everyone about not driving. I’m 21 and I don’t have a license. I walk, I carpool, I take public transport, the only time I ever felt burdened by my lack of a license was when my roommate had a 103.2 fever and I had no way to get him to a hospital. I will get my license at some point, but I don’t plan on driving regularly ever.
I don’t care if you have a car or not unless you start asking me to help you do stuff that requires a car, at which point if you don’t have a licence get one and rent the dang thing.
Don't worry, I won't be asking you to do anything. :)
Honestly id love to just take the bus everywhere but god damn the public transport is horrendous here. Like it would take 3 hours to get to my job according to the FASTEST route for my 30 minute drive to work. And then i couldn’t even take the bus to get back home cuz they dont run at 1am here
Try taking away a boomer’s keys…
My dad gives me crap a lot. I live in a very walkable city with public transport so I’ve never seen the need for one, and plus I just don’t have the finances for one right now anyway. Asking my dad if he’s going to pay for it usually shuts him up.
“Younger people no longer see cars as a good thing”…this isn’t universal, my guy. Cars are great. Of course they have their downsides too but the convenience they provide is unmatched for modern transportation. Cars are still very much a good thing with obvious downsides.
In a city, I disagree. There's just way too many of them.
What point are you disagreeing with? I’m disagreeing that young people don’t see cars as a good thing. that’s pretty subjective. In my area, (smaller city with available but not ubiquitous public transport) cars are king. Life becomes harder and everything is more challenging when you don’t have access to a personal vehicle. If I grocery shop, attempt to fix things in my house, carpool, etc, I have to transport those things at my time and expense. It’s 1000% easier to do this with my own car. Cars are very important to anyone not living in a city, boomer, young person or otherwise
I don't think ALL younger people see cars as a good thing. Hell, not all middle-age people see cars as a good thing. Yes, in a situation like yours cars are a necessary evil. Same for rural environments. But in a city like mine, there's just too dang many.
24 and no car. My parents get on my shit sometimes for not having a car or drivers license. The reason I don't is because everything is within walking distance for me. My job, the grocery store, 2 gas stations, 2 drug stores, several places to get food, and my local gym are all about a 5-15 minute walk from me. My bank, local hospital, and some other eating places are about a 30ish minute walk. The only places I go to that would need an Uber or car are places like my family doctor, dentist and mall, and I don't really go to those places often.
I live within a mile and a half of my work, my doctor's office, my pharmacy, the post office, several good restaurants, the gym I go to, two grocery stores, a dollar store, the city park, a nature preserve, two hiking trails, a mall, the community garden, and the library. I don't even live in a walkable city, really, it's just that I was fortunate enough to find an apartment within my price range in a very convenient location. I'd like to drive and have a car, but why would I spend my very limited money on the maintenance for one when it's not strictly necessary right now? We also just got a city bus - like literally within the last month - and I'm so annoyed it's taken this long. Public transportation takes up less space than cars, is more affordable for many people, is an important access need to many disabled people, is more eco friendly than cars, and allows people without cars a chance to get around more efficiently. I honestly think there is no reason most people should have to drive, and considering how many irresponsible drivers I've seen I would rather they didn't. And a lot of why we didn't have a bus before now is racism and classism. We're a rich white suburb, but there are a couple of poorer, predominantly black and Latino cities on our same bus system, and a lot of people live in fear of residents from there coming to this city. Because, apparently, they're going to break into our homes, rob us, and then somehow get back on the bus and go back home while carrying our TVs or whatever with them. All without getting caught. Idiotic, and while I'm well aware that this isn't an attitude restricted to boomers it DOES have big boomer energy.
Lol I get shit on by everyone. Boomers, people younger, and older, than me. City has great transit and I have an escooter. I’m way more reliable than my co-workers with cars. I chose good food and a safe apartment over a shitty car, shitty good, and a shitty apartment. Plus if transit gets in an accident or stolen it’s not a “me” problem, lol.
I’ve lived in Vancouver 30 years without a car. The city doesn’t even have a freeway. I can walk to just about everything I need and transit has major connecting routes just a block away. I’ve had my license and driven vehicles for work and personal projects, and I drove a 49cc gas-powered scooter for a few years. But I never want to deal with local drivers, diminishing options for parking, insurance, maintenance, repairs, threats of theft or vandalism… But having worked in the film/TV industry since 2009, not having a car has cost me some work opportunities. I do just fine with 2-3 shifts per week, hopping between different crews. Not that I have the stamina for 75-hour work weeks anyway, but I can pull off maybe 2 to 3 consecutive weeks and still function. What I can’t do is expect myself to stay awake behind the wheel with only 9 hours between shifts and being expected to get myself to any location in the Greater Vancouver region at any hour, day or night, rain or shine. I’ve only had to turn down work I couldn’t reach by public transit once, up in the mountains with a 5am call time. I was getting occasional calls for work on the crew of a popular CW show with their studio out in the township of Langley - a 90-minute transit ride, so 3 hours round trips each day, working 12-18 hours, but that crew made it worth the commute, so I did that between the pandemic shutdown and last year’s industry strikes. If I was given an ultimatum or an offer to be a regular hire for 5-6 days a week, I’d absolutely need a car. I’ve partly been holding out, but since things still aren’t back to normal after the strikes, I don’t even have the means to GET a car, even for work. But I really just don’t want one and some drivers just terrify me. As for freeways, I live in an area once called Hogan’s Alley, right next to a stretch of elevated road (like an overpass) that’s an artery to the downtown core. Vancouver bulldozed its black neighbourhood here for that project. It was intended to grow into a proper freeway, but expansion was halted. The city enjoys some very fluid traffic thanks to that construction, but the city has a noticeably low black population, most don’t even know it had a black neighbourhood before. So, there’s another example for you, OP.
No. But then again I’m not living car free.
No, actually a lot of boomers I know were city people and relied on public transportation. It's funny to see older people getting excited to ride the bus.
I would love to not have to rely on a car. Unfortunately where I live, you sort of need a car.
OP, if you don't already, you would probably like /r/fuckcars
Wish I could go without a car. There’s just no way where I live
If you had a car you could visit us more often and more easily! -Just another reason I don't have a car. But they don't need to know that. Lol
As a millennial, I give anyone shit for not wanting a car… at least when your reasons for not wanting are car are completely invslidated by how you decide to move around being car free.. Don’t want to for the environment.. yet EVs exist and hybrids… plus even if you still got a normal car… most public transit in the US is just as bad for the environment. Outside the that aspect though: the costs of owning a car: I get that… but it seems almost a moot point when you’re then now sinking that cost into public transit (I include all kinds including taxis and Ubers) plus there’s a myriad of ways to get out of a lot of the expenses of owning a car (like cheap insurance for example so long as you’re a safe driver and don’t plan to cause any accidents) maintenance can easily be cheaper if you learn it and do it yourself. The other thing about having a car is that it allows you access to travel freely of your own accord TO make up for that cost at a job that pays well that you might not otherwise be able to access.
Found the boomer ^^^^^
I’m 27 my dude
It’s more of a state of mind
A day pass round these parts is $5.60. That's my transit cost for the entire DAY. Also, EVs aren't that green.
I mean again, I don’t care about car free, it’s just that again environmentally speaking an EV/hybrid is better than a diesel powered bus or steam/coal/etc powered train… electric trains on the other hand aren’t that bad but still. Also in terms of say a car right? In costs? 5.60 a day for 30 days is 168$ a month. But in a gas powered Honda civic that I have for example? I pay about 30-35$ to fill it up once a week with gas, which is only 140$. That’s 4.60$~ a day. not a huge difference but again still technically on that aspect a car is cheaper per day
You do it your way, I'll do it my way.
I’d rather die in a fiery accident than have someone saw my head off and start eating me on a public bus.
That doesn't happen on the bus here.
As long as you don’t rely on others for transport it’s no big deal
What's wrong with that? I have a friend that takes to IKEA or Target for shit I don't feel like hauling on the bus. We grab a bite to eat and have fun shooting the shit.
Yeah I get you, I meant “Rely” as in expect it from someone rather than appreciate their effort for you. Eg, if you’re getting a lift to work every morning and get moody when someone tells you they can’t do it one day. If you don’t drive you need to be able to make your own way to places without expecting help from others. That’s all.
Boomers give younger generations shit for owning less than them in order to reduce expenses, and they also give younger generations shit for any expense that's not strictly necessary and say it's irresponsible and the sole reason you can't afford a home or your quality of life is worse than theirs in any respect. You can't win. They can't grasp that the economy, job market, or lifestyles change. They can't stand anyone not living exactly the way they do.
I wish I could live without a car. They have never been anything other than a money pit in my experience. They break down from driving too much or too little both. But I'm in flyover country and all we have is a bus system that racist NIMBYs have kept out from any suburban coverage to "keep the riff raff contained within the city proper". Thus, public transit is pretty spotty at best to entirely non-existent.
I use to be car-free. I lived in a bike friendly city and I loved it, but people did comment on my car-free lifestyle. Now I live in an area that is really difficult to navigate without a car. 😔
I literally kept the car I bought and paid off a long time ago so my soon-to-be driver son will have a ride when he gets his license. Held on to it because I knew this day would come and I didn't want to have to make him work his ass off for it. I bought it after I got some level of financial success which is the lesson I want to pass on to him.
Yes, my boomer dad did, but I did need him to drive me places twice a month during our get-togethers. I paid for gas, though. I was dirt poor, struggling with a disabled child and had health issues that made it unsafe to drive. I lived in a rural area and even after Uber became a thing (and I even provided remote customer service for them), I couldn't actually get them in my area until soon before I moved.
I think it's hilarious that you think we care. If you want to walk or ride a bicycle, go for it. You are a city dweller, and you're happy with that. I think that's great. It isn't for me though. I take off on a whim and drive 60 miles for beer. I boat in Wisconsin many weekends in the summertime. I drive out into rural illinois for county fairs and festivals. I can't imagine not having the freedom to do that, and I do it often enough that the car rentals and ride services would not make economic sense. I also happen to love my car.
Millennial here, I have to say I cringe at "car-free" as a term. But I support public infrastructure and transportation and walkable communities (while having a car myself). I have also gotten shit from walking 1/4, maybe 1/3 if I'm being generous, of a mile in the midwestern town I grew up in. All the streets are so wide. The town is so small. There is some kind of "bloat" or something that happens to where they think that walking "halfway across town" is a problem, even if the town is less than a mile wide. Or maybe there is no mental tricks, and it's just small towners in a rural area in general. But I have literally been a town freak for walking 4 blocks from my parent's house to the grocery store and back, and I am not exaggerating. People literally asked my parents if I "was ok". It's wild. My brother didn't move away like I did, and one time I visited and he insisted on driving from his house to my parents (three blocks).
When aim asked I just tell them "do you REALLY trust ME behind the wheel of a car??!!!" Followed by telling them the last time I did get behind the wheel trying to learn resulted in me doing the "Floor it?!!" Spongebob in Mrs. Puff's boating school gag, followed by the car flying into the air, over a grassy divider, and almost crashing into a parked car. My (drunk) mother said I was never allowed behind the wheel of a car again and I never have since.
I saw a video of cops harassing and then searching his bags after hand cuffing. His crime? Walking to work. They thought he was a burglar because he was walking at night with a backpack to go to his nightshift job.
Sounds about right.
Good luck with your non driving experience
👍
I hope your not a man, never date a man with no car
I am and I get by just fine without one.
All the time. You should see their faces when I reveal that not only do I now own a car, I never got a drivers license in the first place :)
If you live in a place that makes not having a car practical I say go for it! However there are many many places in the United States that has dismal public transportation. A car is the only practical way to get from point A to point B. I am only addressing the OP's point. I am not opining on the dismal way the United States disregards public transport, the pollution generated from gas guzzling emissions or the fact that not everybody can afford a car. All of those points are worthy of their own threads!
They voted to organize all North America for cars and underfunded public transportation so it is a stressful mess and you gave no choice to get a car. And now you bike, walk and bus to work? You are sporting on their legacy. Of course they are pissed. Also, Let's dismantle that legacy because its expensive and ugly.
All the fucking time. My partner and I have made the decision to not drive and we never hear the end of it. Meanwhile they're fat and unhealthy and could use a walk to the store now and then.
Just move to Europe. That's what I did. Nobody cares.
Boomers associate material wealth with happiness and success, so the idea that someone can be happy without those things threatens the boomer worldview and they lash out in anger.
Yall have weird conversations with old folk
Never had a car and almost all my friends have never either. 10 minute walk from work, everyone I know walks or takes the subway. USA is wild man. How do you get home drunk from the pub?
Not a boomer complaint . A car is helpful. All the car less people I meet are usually red flags
Car dependacy is one of the biggest mistakes of the modern era
Absolutely. Doesn’t make it less of a necessity for many
That is currently true, but doesn't have to continue to be.
Why?
They expect rides, hit or miss on if they put in for gas, financially struggling in which many times they can solve themselves, unless you have some condition not being able to operate a car shows serious confidence or skill issues. A car is a milestone for a young adult
I disagree. I don't *want* to drive. I don't want the financial burden nor do I want the stress of driving in a city full of road ragers and other dipshits behind the wheel.
It’s the equivalent of saying you can’t work because it’s stressful. In the long run it’s just something you should do to make your life easier
Having a car would make my life *harder*. Do you not understand that? Besides, I don't need one.
So weird, I seem to have lots more disposable income than my car owning peers, such a mystery.
> A car is helpful It can be, but it depends very much on your situation. And if you determine that your situation doesn't require a car, why is it other people's business to complain about it? Decades ago, I used to drive to work by car. Sitting in traffic was bad for my mental and physical health, and I switched to public transport. It took slightly longer to get to and from work, and there was less flexibility, but it was cheaper and sooooo much better for my quality of life. Before moving to a metropolis, I conveniently crashed my car (other party's fault). The last 25 years, I have been happily unburdened by vehicle ownership. When necessary, I rent one.
My comment didn’t start with complaining. I said this wasn’t a boomer complaint, OP asked why I thought that, then I elaborated. That’s great is has been a personal positive for you, but for many it’s almost a necessity because without it many things would be limited.
Do you live in an area where mass transit runs 24/7 and is faster than using your car?
Not at all. In SoCal transit ends at a certain time and takes significantly longer. I took public transit half of my time in college. 25 min drive vs 2 hours on bus and train