our genitalia get squished between our legs

God bless skirts and drafts. Men need to wear more skirts.

The thing I don't understand is the people who won't get up/MOVE THEIR PACKAGES when a disabled or elderly person comes on board. Especially school kids!. Sometimes I yell at them. I suspect that my city, because it is a small one with bad public transportation, has a larger proportion of disabled people riding the bus, and it drives me bugfuck when people won't move out of the wheelchair area! I am guilty of sometimes putting my bag in my seat to avoid certain rather more unsavory bus patrons city next to me, such as the conspiracy theorist who has rid himself of his computer because he thinks the government is trying to entrap him into looking at kiddie porn and that jet engine exhaust is being laced with anti-depressants and spayed on cities.

The thing I don't understand is the people who won't get up/MOVE THEIR PACKAGES when a disabled or elderly person comes on board. Especially school kids!. Sometimes I yell at them.

When I've been on crutches, I've been surprised at how often people wouldn't get up to let me sit in handicapped seats. I just got used to asking people to move when I needed the seat....

The thing I don't understand is the people who won't get up/MOVE THEIR PACKAGES when a disabled or elderly person comes on board. Especially school kids!

I don't know what juliana, Hec, tommyrot and other present and past SFistas have observed, but it's always seemed to me that high school through college students are startlingly good and alert about giving up their seats. I mean, the majority of everyone tries to stay seated and ignore the seat-needer, but I do see kids giving up their seats about as much as any other group. When I was waddly and pregnant, a couple of times I'd get on the bus and see a pack of teenage boys turn on one of their own and start whapping him with their baseball hats, saying, "Dude! Give your seat to the lady, dude!"

They're definitely better about it than men in their 30s-50s, who are horrid (again, not uniformly, but mostly indeed).

And it breaks my heart, but elderly Chinese ladies are always trying to give up their seats to me when I have Matilda. Often while some perfectly strapping able-bodied young fella is sitting next to them studiously examining the text messages on his Blackberry so as not to have to meet the stinkeye everyone else is giving him.

Speaking of genitalia, the news yesterday brought two gems:

Woman jailed for testicle attack

Stab victim 'continued masturbating'

I was just gonna post that it seems that folks in Minneapolis and Chicago are worse about giving up seats for the elderly and disabled. Then I was trying to remember if I've ever had that problem in San Francisco while I was on crutches. Finally I realized that I've never been on crutches while in San Francisco.

I don't think it's uniformly horrible in Chicago. There are some disabled passengers I see frequently on my morning bus route, and people are pretty awesome about moving out of the way and folding up handicapped seating.

I don't know what juliana, Hec, tommyrot and other present and past SFistas have observed, but it's always seemed to me that high school through college students are startlingly good and alert about giving up their seats.

I'd agree.

I currently hate my commute, since the easiest bus for me to use is the one that comes from/goes to the Marina (which is where we keep the yuppies). Overindulged asshattedness abounds on that bus.

(Which means people are not so good about giving up their seats. Or sharing the seat. Or moving out of the way so people can disembark. Jackholes.)

Most people are pretty good about making room and even helping move obstacles (or at least attempting to) when I'm pushing Dad's wheelchair. There are the occasional folks who willfully stand in the way even when facing our approach, but fortunately it turns out metal footrests are less sensitive than ankles and quite persuasive when the twain meet.

(which is where we keep the yuppies)

We have Trixies and Chads.

And I will admit to a mean pleasure in watching people who obviously don't regularly take public transit.