• dubyakay@lemmy.ca
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    14 hours ago

    I did not understand at first what this comic was about. And when I finally got it I had to realize that I simply can’t relate because I never drove a car before and the last time I commuted by car was over thirty years ago when my dad had to drive me to school in grade 2 elementary. Been either walking, biking or taking transit for my commute my whole life.

    North American culture is really weird. My wife doesn’t bat an eye for having to commute an hour to her work one way. She’s been doing this ever since she moved back to Canada from Europe ten years ago, and she’s fine with it. Meanwhile I went out of my way to always go for jobs that are no further than half an hour away by transit or bike, even if it meant settling for a lower salary.

    • kamen@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      You could be walking down the street singing along the music in your earphones. It could still be relatable.

    • Gerowen@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      There are lots of places, like where I live, that just straight up have no public transit; no buses, no trains, no taxis. We have a couple medical taxis to take folks to appointments if they have Medicaid/Medicare, and if I drive 2 hours I can catch a Greyhound bus or a plane, but that’s it. If I want to shop at Walmart it’s a 30 minute drive. My in-laws are about 300 miles away, so any time we visit it’s about a 5 hour drive, depending on whether we eat on the way or not.

      • dubyakay@lemmy.ca
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        13 hours ago

        That’s terrible. I can’t imagine living like that.

        Costco is fairly far from me. It’s a 25 minute bike ride in non-snowy weather. I can bike there, load up a cart and uber it home to my wife, or try to haul it back in the bike trailer if not too bulky.

        Walmart is half an hour away by transit, but prefer to just shop local instead. Most grocery stores, butcher, cheese store, bakery all within a 10 minute walking distance.

        In laws are the same deal though, 5.5hr train (due to freight priority), 5hr drive or 6hr bus (due to all the stops). In Europe a train would take me to the next country’s capital within two hours for $35. Here you board the train to Toronto like you are at an airport, with everyone constantly checked for their fares, lined up boarding one by one, luggage check & weight limit, assigned seating. 3x price of European rail and all this hassle for a max 120kmph travel speed. Insanity.

        Car dependency sounds like the opposite of freedom.

        • AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world
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          12 hours ago

          How privileged you are to live with things so close! Us poor car culture slaves will have to continue to drive these devil machines you’ve only experienced briefly as a child. Thank God you can load those mythical beasts and send them home for your wife to unload! Rather then ride in those metal behemoths like us car- brained heathens!

          • dubyakay@lemmy.ca
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            9 hours ago

            How is this privilege? Any city outside of North America will offer this. Or any place without car centric urban sprawl.