The sad and bitter souls of the commuter

[Pangolin]

Word, there's no public transport where I live (rural middle america) and it's an hour drive to my work. I think I've actively become a worse person because I have two hours almost everyday where I'm forced to be in a iron death box on a road full of other people forced to be in them too. I envy those who live in places with proper infrastructure lol
Though I might want to smash every motor vehicle in the world, it is fun to see truck freaks have ridiculous after market "upgrades" to their wives I mean trucks.
My three favorite I've seen so far: An orange truck with tiger stripes and orange colored truck nuts to match, RGB gamer lights truck, and a truck with wheels so big you'd have to jump to get inside it.

I live in the inner city and its amusing to see what the blacks do to Chevrolet caprices and crown Victorias. They are certainly not afraid to be innovative.

 

[Pangolin]

Have you ever been involuntarily committed long term?

I have only ever had the pleasure of being free and loose to roam as I see fit and none of my friends or family have ever been committed.

 

[BlackControlBoxer]

Hungry? Go eat at a restaurant. Want food for home? Bring a bag and shop at the small corner grocery store. Much less food waste than the current system of needing to bring your vehicle to the store every week and make a mini stockpile at home.

restaurants and grocerystores waste significantly more food because they need more that what they actually use, so they end up dumping the rest whenever they restock, Look in the garbage of any restaurant and you will see enough food to feed a small country.

 

[Pangolin]

restaurants and grocerystores waste significantly more food because they need more that what they actually use, so they end up dumping the rest whenever they restock, Look in the garbage of any restaurant and you will see enough food to feed a small country.

More inefficiency. In a lot of places they donate to homeless shelters and such, but its true, they waste a ton and its a tragedy how much food is wasted.

And the food grading system means perfectly good food is thrown away when they end up plowing it over. Only the most flawless of food makes it to the store, only for a good portion to be thrown away because it met some arbitrary expiration date or because they restocked. For example, back in the pandemic times they had a surplus of milk but instead of giving it to thirsty pangolins like me they poured it down the drain to keep the prices up and because there was no demand.

Things are going to get dire when they waste the bounty of nature.

 

[BlackControlBoxer]

Thats why u need a truck pango to haul the deer you shot and all the harvest you collected.

A big one

You can also close the bed and fill it with water then you got a cool pool to invite the ladies in

 

[4d1]

I take the train instead, which is better in some ways but also worse. It doesn't take up as much of your attention as driving and you can do things like read a book or watch something on your phone to occupy the time, but it's also crowded and dirty. Being crammed into a train car with a couple dozen other people its just as claustrophobic as being trapped in traffic, and there's the added element of having to look directly into the eyes of a crowd of strangers who are all trying to pretend like you don't exist. The worst part is when a someone with a mental illness or drug problem breaks down and starts talking out loud to nobody in particular, and you can feel everyone else in the crowd tense up and start trying to actively will them away.

i have also been doing this for the last year and also notice the same thing. it's making me depressed even now, and to think i got maybe 50+ years of this shit keeps running through my head as a justification to go crazy. i don't know how much more of this i can take.

this cannot be all there is to life, just wake up, catch the train, go do some waffle email job, eating soyscop for lunch, discussing whatever deadbeat movie you watched over the weekend, and filtering yourself to try and impress and not offend coworkers who would not care if you vanished tomorrow. all to just do the same commute back to crash, eat more scopshit and jerk off, play video games for escapism whilst you wish you never lived, telling yourself you are "living in one of the greatest periods of human civilisation".

and of course, don't forget the fact anyone older is saying how "they wish they were your age again" and how "you are living the best years of your life", whilst being completely out of touch (already set up with a family and a decent income that they got by giving the manager a firm handshake in 1987), yet are coping hard because they are the same people you see on the train daily like ghouls or zombies.

its all so tiresome.

 

[marty]

Issue is not with a commute. There is no issue. It's just people preferences. Instead of building up to the sky and living close, as in medieval towns, people wanted backyards. Instead of waiting for crowded trains they wanted freedom of a individual cars. Commute doesn't have anything to do with dead fish eye stares or people being aggressive. They made shitty trade offs to go and be in the places they don't like nor want to be in. Some may argue that it is necessity - but it isn't. People just don't want to do the compromises necessary to live in a way that doesn't include a commute. Including what would be called a lower standard of living. I say give people what they want - dead souls and all.

 

[Some_porcupine]

i have also been doing this for the last year and also notice the same thing. it's making me depressed even now, and to think i got maybe 50+ years of this shit keeps running through my head as a justification to go crazy. i don't know how much more of this i can take.

this cannot be all there is to life, just wake up, catch the train, go do some waffle email job, eating soyscop for lunch, discussing whatever deadbeat movie you watched over the weekend, and filtering yourself to try and impress and not offend coworkers who would not care if you vanished tomorrow. all to just do the same commute back to crash, eat more scopshit and jerk off, play video games for escapism whilst you wish you never lived, telling yourself you are "living in one of the greatest periods of human civilisation".

and of course, don't forget the fact anyone older is saying how "they wish they were your age again" and how "you are living the best years of your life", whilst being completely out of touch (already set up with a family and a decent income that they got by giving the manager a firm handshake in 1987), yet are coping hard because they are the same people you see on the train daily like ghouls or zombies.

its all so tiresome.

View attachment 90229

i want to eat them as eva unit/yui gone berserk
but need more mouth
justification...

 

[bnuungus]

There is too much in this thread that I want to reply to, so I think I will reply to none of it and just write my post. The 40-hour american work week feels like it's designed to suck the life out of you and commuting is easily the worst aspect of it. If I have a particularly bad morning driving to work is more of a mental obstacle than actually being at work for 8 hours. Thankfully I go into work just before rush hour starts so I don't have as bad of a time, but I still run into bs. I've never really experienced much of the people not letting you in thing bc I learned if you want to merge you have to get yourself into position to do it and then put your blinker on as you get into the other lane. Being just a tiny bit forceful on the road helps a lot. Still though, people acting out of ego on the road is one of the very few things that legitimately make me want to commit violent acts. I still haven't forgiven that one guy who berated my mother for something that he was ultimately accountable for, and I don't think I ever will. I would cave his face in with my bare hands if I met him again.

Dark thoughts aside, given that this is a pretty much inescapable reality for most people, we should focus on how to not feel like your soul is gone simply by living. I recently moved to a property where I have a real sense of community and it has done wonders for me. I actually have energy to be creative and my evenings are no longer simply that time between doing it all again. I'm a fairly introverted person but pushing myself to be present in this community is very rewarding and for lack of a better term, has significantly improved my mental health. I know that finding community can be pretty hard to do, and I feel very lucky that I got the chance to move here, but if you can find it, cherish it. Put the work in to be a part of it and you will feel better for it.

I wanted to say this but couldn't really fit it in anywhere so I'll drop it here. If you're lucky enough to not have to deal with commuting and the 40-hour week, congrats! Make sure you take advantage of that. But if all you're gonna do is go online and say "lol, america bad, I don't have to deal with that shit haha" then honestly, fuck you. Grow some empathy at the very least and try to understand that escaping that life is significantly harder to do that you realize.

 

[Ross_Я]

But seriously speaking, I am not sure what Moscow is known for other than it being the capital of Russia.

I can only assume you are being ignorant on purpose here, just to diss me. You could definitely spend 5 minutes and run a web search, if you've actually wanted to make it a discussion. Though it is really just hard to believe that you have never heard about rail system around this place, if not for its efficency - than for its beauty. I do not know to what I can attribute that, if it is true.

Even involuntarily if you have to. I am willing to make that sacrifice for social order and for their own good.

Surely, you are, lil' Hitler. Kind of a joke, but you just love to enforce people do stuff, it seems. Seriously, I'm starting to think you have complexes.

With common sense limitations:

• Exam on renewal every 10 years.
• 65 and older cant drive
• Skill exam on renewal

Frankly, talking about cars with you is just... like talking to a wall or something.
"I hate driving, so here's my list of requirements to make it worse for everyone else" - yeah, right.

Or you could buy a turd of a 70s car.

Screw you. I can only dream of a car like that. Clarkson probably talks jokes like he always does, but only americans, with their once incredible automotive industry of 1900's, can perceive land yachts as a bad thing. For everyone with a common sense, that's a peak of luxury.
Either that, or you go for japanese rice boxes. Frankly, there are just these two ways for car lovers.

Get Ebooks, you can listen to your books and drive your 80s truck. Win Win.

I do not listen to books, I read books. When I listen to stuff, I listen to the music. Simple as.
Also, it is not a truck. I have no idea why do you think I drive a truck.

What really makes the difference between zoning out in the car, at work, or at home?

Fun. I'm not sure if we are talking about the same thing here, but I'm feeling a special kind of zoning out on a highway. It never works in a traffic jam, but on highway it is indeed like a meditation. I can go completely on the right of the brain and just lose all trakc of time, lose every thought and then just find myself 10-20 km down the road. It is awesome, because I'm totally somehow aware of my surroundings, do turns and avoid others, but still - I'm completely out of it.
I've mentioned the "right of the brain", because it seems to be that, according to the stuff I've read. It seems like my right side of the brain takes over. It also seems like this kind of thinking would've been useful if I could just switch it on a whim, because, apparently, right side of the brain is also responsible for drawing. I am, however, only able to do get into this... condition behind the wheel.
Though, there's one exception: I can also get the same thing when I'm playing racing games like Forza Motorsport. Also quite incredible, really. I can launch a 30-lap endurance, zone out somewhere on lap 5 and then find myself on lap 15 when it is time to pit-stop. It is quite ethereal in my opinion.
It doesn't matter if there's a music or not or even if the car is virtual or not. It's just something about the road that takes me off. Third-person view racing games also work. And it is definitely not daydreaming or some kind of other zone-outs I have at home. When I daydream, I clearly have thoughts, fantasies... I dunno, shapes. Left side of the brain definitely works.
I'm talking about left and right sides of the brain because it is my best theory about what happens in such moments. Overall, it is very interesting. Kind of even to ping no_chill - he is big on meditation and, perhaps, he could've had an insight into this thing... albeit I find his views a bit too esoteric and so I won't ping him. Maybe I'll just write him a PM one day.
And I was never able to get any kind of zone outs at work. If you won't count me sleeping on a working place. The regular work has always been a rather stressful experience for me, and, perhaps, the whole problem of it was in the fact that I couldn't turn of my brain even for a moment. I've had to stay always 100% on even for the most mundane and boring tasks. Maybe the regular job could've been a bearable thing for me if I could find a way of zoning out at work...

 

[h00]

Thats why u need a truck pango to haul the deer you shot and all the harvest you collected.

A big one

You can also close the bed and fill it with water then you got a cool pool to invite the ladies in

trucks like that are all cabin and no bed
suburban "bigger than thou" pavement princesses
, with no more utility than a midsize SUV in towing and ability to fit things in
bring back benchseats

bring back the full bed minitruck

The 40-hour american work week feels like it's designed to suck the life out of you

A lot of capitalist thought during the industrial-revolution was exactly this. That the ideal worker is one who has no time or money for all but the most meager leisures. Also our good and cool government had some 'recommendations' about how young college aged adults should be occupied and burdened following pesky broad anti-vietnam and anti-government demonstrations.

That's worthy of its own post so stay tuned^tm

 

[Ross_Я]

bring back benchseats

Now that's the talk I want to hear.
Also, why the hell the modern bucket seats are shaped so weirdly? I'm pretty sure that position is not quite healthy for the spine. I have to use a pillow for long drives, to put it under the lower part of my back.

And, since I was riding as a passenger today, there's one more pro-driving thing from me. Once again, maybe it is just for me, and it completely slipped my mind in the previous post, but since I've learned to drive being a passenger makes me rather sleepy quite without a fail. I'm not even sure why, but that is just so tiresome. I still can read on those rare ocassions, and books do help, but, overall, it is just so much more energizing and revitalising just being behind the wheel.

There is too much in this thread that I want to reply to

Frankly, please do. You are one of the users whose posts made me join this place. I'm quite glad to see you posting again and I bet I will with great pleasure read whatever you have on your mind.
I understand it might take too much of your time though, but, yeah, still felt like I should use the opportunity and give you some of the praise that I honestly think you deserve.

@Pangolin - Also, frankly, I think I should make it clear that I'm mostly messing with ya at this point. I've pretty much learned that it is impossible to talk with you about machines and, frankly, this is one of the few areas where I as well refuse to listen to other people. Hot-rods and muscle cars are my true passion, one of the few things in the world I truly love, without any kind of logic behind it, so listening to your talks about seatbelts in Bel Air is like listening to a suggestion that I should probably swap the face of my wife for some other random slut. Probably even worse.
And after you've posted that photoshopped 350Z with RX-7/MX-5 headlights as proof that cars with pop-up lights are still in production, I'm quite sure you have next to none of actual ideas what you are talking about either way...
Ehem. I digress. Peace and love, Pango. Don't take me too seriously, you are alright. Though I sincerely hope people like you will never make it to any kind of positions of power - life is quite unbearable for me as it is, without mandatory fire alarms in every room and driving exams every 10 years. Which, if we will for a moment talk seriously about the last point, will only promote corruption further. And won't make life for commuters anyhow easier.

 

[K0WLOON]

Better than a 15 minute city.

only if you do all the jacking off in traffic

 

[bnuungus]

Frankly, please do. You are one of the users whose posts made me join this place. I'm quite glad to see you posting again and I bet I will with great pleasure read whatever you have on your mind.
I understand it might take too much of your time though, but, yeah, still felt like I should use the opportunity and give you some of the praise that I honestly think you deserve.

I'm honestly flattered, this made my night I think I said everything I wanted to say. I just condensed it into a couple paragraphs instead of breaking it up into multiple replies to different people

 

[Pangolin]

I can only assume you are being ignorant on purpose here, just to diss me. You could definitely spend 5 minutes and run a web search, if you've actually wanted to make it a discussion. Though it is really just hard to believe that you have never heard about rail system around this place, if not for its efficency - than for its beauty. I do not know to what I can attribute that, if it is true.

Litterally, I have almost zero conception of Moscow. It is about the same level of a nation in South East Asia on how much I know about it. I know the Moscow Mule. That you have those red buildings and the pointy buildings. I one one of them is the Kremlin and the other is St.Peter's Basilica. Metro? Never. Tokyo Metro is the pinnacle of Metros the entire world over.

Have you seen what they have? Does Moscow even have anything remotely resembling the Shinkansen the fastest train in the wolrd? Not even the United States with all its money can come close to approaching the speed of the Shinkansen. The US has other priorities. Nation building...and the like...you know the official party line.

Web searches don't turn up much about the metro. I have to really dig for it. You vastly overestimate what westerners know about Russia as a whole.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtU77h1B5TM

Surely, you are, lil' Hitler. Kind of a joke, but you just love to enforce people do stuff, it seems. Seriously, I'm starting to think you have complexes.

Like I said before, I think America has a massive crime and mental illness problem and a dire situation means you can take extra steps beyond the norm. To say that you are probably safer in Moscow than basically any major city is no understatement. Criminals get such a weak slap on the wrist for massive life-endangering crime which only encourages more crime. Look at how the drug addicts are allowed to just drug themselves to oblivion.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jg3iacqrbA



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9478Uqe7co



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5AeGKSDVdE


I have been to Portland Oregon, and have personally witnessed the tragedy with my own eyes.

Frankly, talking about cars with you is just... like talking to a wall or something.
"I hate driving, so here's my list of requirements to make it worse for everyone else" - yeah, right.

I spent some time today listening to a car guy explain his hobby and it gave me a good impression on the car culture. Hopefully you are taking care of that 80s Ford. Meaning no rust, and kept in pristine condition. But I think some common sense limitations like exams ensure that people know the rules of the road before they are allowed back onto the road. And ensuring that people have vehicles that are safe for the road is also a common sense limitation. A little bit of upgrading the common driver and adding some skill requirements would go a long way towards making the roads safer.

Screw you. I can only dream of a car like that. Clarkson probably talks jokes like he always does, but only americans, with their once incredible automotive industry of 1900's, can perceive land yachts as a bad thing. For everyone with a common sense, that's a peak of luxury.
Either that, or you go for japanese rice boxes. Frankly, there are just these two ways for car lovers.

You have absolutely horrid taste in cars. That 70s jalopy rides like trash. The suspension is trash. You try and stop and you'll sway like a spring all day long. It stops in 30 Feet. It probably goes at 6 miles per gallon. And in an accident it'll probably survive, but you will be fully destroyed. I am talking broken pelvis, femurs, knees, and ribs.

This Honda Accord from 1981 out drives it in both style and quality. This is true luxury.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdPkxKjceCw

@Pangolin - Also, frankly, I think I should make it clear that I'm mostly messing with ya at this point. I've pretty much learned that it is impossible to talk with you about machines and, frankly, this is one of the few areas where I as well refuse to listen to other people. Hot-rods and muscle cars are my true passion, one of the few things in the world I truly love, without any kind of logic behind it, so listening to your talks about seatbelts in Bel Air is like listening to a suggestion that I should probably swap the face of my wife for some other random slut. Probably even worse.
And after you've posted that photoshopped 350Z with RX-7/MX-5 headlights as proof that cars with pop-up lights are still in production, I'm quite sure you have next to none of actual ideas what you are talking about either way...
Ehem. I digress. Peace and love, Pango. Don't take me too seriously, you are alright. Though I sincerely hope people like you will never make it to any kind of positions of power - life is quite unbearable for me as it is, without mandatory fire alarms in every room and driving exams every 10 years. Which, if we will for a moment talk seriously about the last point, will only promote corruption further. And won't make life for commuters anyhow easier.

I think its cool that you like cars so much, but you should be realistic towards their downsides and not view junk cars with such an air of nostalgia for something that wasn't that great even during its peak years. Especially when that era produced so much nicer and better vehicles like that 81' honda. Notice how its suspension doesn't ride like a fishbowl on wheels?

Oh yeah, and that abomination of the 70s was contributory towards the downfall of American auto manufacturing. They simply were defeated by the vastly superior and cheaper Japanese imports.

I am not in a position of power, and I honestly don't want to be in one. I would rather want to be someone behind the scenes. Power tends to be a problem more than a benefit. If I could have the money, yeah why not, but the power nah. Keep that trash.

 

[Ross_Я]

I think its cool that you like cars so much, but you should be realistic towards their downsides...

No. Fuck your Honda. And fuck japanese cars. Land yachts. Now.

 

[Pangolin]

No. Fuck your Honda. And fuck japanese cars. Land yachts. Now.

I bet you also think the Ford Pinto is sooo awesome.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZKPazyQw0A


American cars of the 70s and 80s tended to be the worst you could buy. I think the American auto industry never fully recovered from the superiority of the Japanese imports. For Proof: see the destruction of Detroit. Know as Motown short for Motortown.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jce-tg4TEUk

 

[Ross_Я]

I bet you also think the Ford Pinto is sooo awesome.

It is.

Web searches don't turn up much about the metro. I have to really dig for it. You vastly overestimate what westerners know about Russia as a whole.

Fun. I have lots of links. On english. Quora, UrbanTransportNews.com, The Moscow Times... whatever else. Well, I really do not know what can I attribute this to. A goblin in me wants to say your government censors it from you on purpose.

Does Moscow even have anything remotely resembling the Shinkansen the fastest train in the wolrd?

It actually does have Sapsan... for whatever that means. I'm not much on trains, you'll have to do your own digging if you are interested in this topic. I've did a very bried search and it looks like Shinkansen does 320 km/h while Sapsan does 250 km/h. That's all I can tell, and I'm already bored of the trains. Who needs stupid trains when you have cars like Ford Pinto.
Can a train do a wheelie? Yeah, I've thought so.

 

[BlackControlBoxer]

View attachment 90253
bring back the full bed minitruck

Unironically the reason they stopped making those was because it made it so easy for insurgents to have light mechanized infantry / aa capabilities.

 

[bnuungus]

Unironically the reason they stopped making those was because it made it so easy for insurgents to have light mechanized infantry / aa capabilities.

actually the reason was that the classification of light trucks comes with less regulation and to appeal to more people they made the human element of the car more comfy while still keeping the light truck status