"AITA for 'abusing' the bus chain so I don’t miss my stop?"
I take a bus connection route on my way to work every morning. The public transport in my city (in Southern California) is not great, but I am lucky that this bus route works for me. It’s been few months since I started taking this route and there’s so many things I find annoying.
Unlike buses I’ve taken before and the underground trains, buses don’t announce the next stops outside of main stops. Second, buses don’t stop at those “other” stops and will skip over unless someone pulls the chain for it to stop. I’ve even asked the bus drivers to help guide me, but most don’t seem to like their job and are of no help really.
I tried to find ways to ensure I get to my stop without issues. I used Google Maps, the official tracking app as well as actual map of the bus route - but online means always show me when I have already skipped my stop. And it’s frustrating.
There’s no announcements or any main stops I can put a mental pin on my stop with and bus doesn’t stop. I even try to check my surroundings but I take the bus every early in the morning (at 5:50 AM) and it’s still relatively dark outside. It’s frustrating.
So lately, when I have a fair idea I am near (I track minutes and seconds), I pull the chain. Most of the time, bus is forced to stop for like 5 seconds before resuming again, and I can generally tell the next stop is mine.
I don’t like doing this, but if I don’t, I always miss it and have to walk 20 minutes to work when it would take me less than 3. Yesterday it happened again and the bus driver called me out and was clearly annoyed with me. I apologized briefly but I still don’t know what the solution is.
Here's what people had to say to OP:
Mlpflimflam said:
You take the same route to work every morning and you don’t know when your stop is? YTA. That’s your responsibility.
Dreamghost11 said:
YTA I truly don't understand how you can take this route everyday and not know when your stop is coming up.
esk_209 said:
YTA - It sounds like you're just pulling the chain whenever you feel like you MIGHT be close to your stop? If so, then YTA. Learn where you stop is, learn the stop before your stop. Pay attention to what's going on around you (and outside of the bus). Once you pass the stop before yours, pull the chain. It's really not that difficult.
jazzhandsfan1665 said:
YTA. What in the weaponized incompetence did I just read? If it’s too dark outside just start navigation on google maps to take you to your bus stop and when it’s like 100m away pull the stop chain.
QueenSmarterThanThou said:
"I've tried nothin' and I'm all out of ideas!" YTA.
aboatoutontheocean said:
I’m not sure I understand why you’re unable to look at Google Maps and see exactly when your stop is coming up. It’s strange the amount of trouble you’re having for a route you take every day.
GBR012345 said:
YTA. If you don't recognize your stop, and can't figure out where you are via google maps... set google maps to a location a block or two before your stop. Then once you get to that spot, even if you recognize it slightly after the fact, you're still not past your stop yet. This is a VERY simple issue. The fact you can't figure it out means that you need to be more cognizant to your surroundings, and spend more time using google maps.