FIRST POST. THIS IS NEW GROUND FOR ME.

I don't like being first post. So I waited. Now for my comment:
This one is a tough one Phoenyxx. While the old and mentally disabled have the right to use the public service so do YOU. You deserve to be able to have a safe way to travel. Having to wallow in other people's filth and stench does not sound healthy. You along with the other disabled passengers are being neglected. I would most definitely make an issue about it. To the public transit people, to your local government, to your state government, to the media and to anyone that will listen. Unlike the other passengers you are able to defend yourself. You would actually be doing them a favor standing up for them. My grandfather, God rest his soul, used our public transit system to go to his dialysis treatments. We were treated to clean courteous service. There is no reason why you should but up with this crap. You are not "daring to question the rights of old and mentally-challenged people" you are defending them.

2 comments:
1 - Don't put up with that shit! I would contact the administation of your campus and demand that either more janitorial services be made available or find the asshole perpetrating the terrorism (pun intended)
2- I am by no means an expert or do I know what your handicap is, but aren't there government subsidized programs that would eneble you to buy or rent a handicapped vehicle to use now and pay later interest free?
something to look into.

Phoenyxx welcome to Poop Report!
You bring up some good questions and make good points. I think most of us wouldn't normally think about some of these things because we don't have the disabilities that would make us encounter those problems. Thanks for giving us your point of view and please share more of your odd poop stories.

How you should react to the weird crap that happens in public is going to be different with each instance. It all depends on where you are, who is there, and what tools you have available.

Anal About Poop offers some good advice. You have to stand up for yourself and the other folks that use the lift-van service. There is no reason why it should be dirty and smell like crap. That's a health and safety issue you need to complain about to the higher-ups (not the driver). Take note of all the unsanitary and offensive conditions you encounter when you ride the bus, and compile a log to send along with your complaint. See if you can get some of the other riders to help out. The more people that complain, the better the results. :-)

Ok, this is too funny and ironic, I have to tell you...I was just getting ready to type in a real response when I suddenly was hit the face with breeze of foul poopy air as by 3 year old went whizzing by, so I will have to come back write a real response after I see what wonderous treasure is waiting for me in his diaper.

For a short while after my stroke I was relying on public transportation to get me around town. I wasn't in a wheel chair, but I had to hobble around on a cane for a few months.

I have an idea what you are going through. Not quite to that extent. I noticed how the bus drivers would be less accomidating to me because I was youthfull and intelligent. However, I was generally the one pooping himself on the bus. Sorry for that one.

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Number One . . . I order you to take a number two.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity and access for persons with disabilities.

The Federal Transit Administration works to ensure nondiscriminatory transportation in support of our mission to enhance the social and economic quality of life for all Americans. The FTA Office of Civil Rights is responsible for civil rights compliance and monitoring to ensure non-discriminatory provision of transit services.

For more information as to your public transportation rights as a member of the protected class of people with disabilities, visit: http://www.fta.dot.gov/civilrights/civil_rights_2360.html

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Always looking out for number two!

It's a tough call.You are entitled to transportation and so are the elderly.The question is can the bus companies ban people who don't bathe and people who pee and poop themselves? If you try to do that is that in itself illegal? Maybe we have some poop reporters who have legal expertise.

Sorry about your predicaments Phoenyxx. It really ticks me off when public facilities are abused. Really, I don't shit ten times in my home toilet before flushing and I don't throw wads of pissed soaked toilet paper around in my own bathroom, so why would I do it in a public restroom? It's mind-bending.

Bless you, and everyone with an impairment. The impaired put up with so much stuff, it pisses me off to no end to see some of the things that people do to the disabled.

Now the toilets. How in the world can a grown person make a stall look like Hurricanes: Katrina, Rita, and Wilma tore through there. An accident is one thing, but I've seen restrooms that were Federal Disaster Areas, and were probably eligible for Disaster Relief.

Worst of all, I can't imagine that a grown person (adults are supposed to be responsible)would not have the decency to clean up after themselves.

What is this world coming to?
_______
A man who farts in church, sits in his own pew.

H1, I think its a slow generational rot. In general, people experience less and less resoponsibility relative to almost every aspect of their lives. Respect for others and respect for others' property naturally degrade from there.

"Lame comment! -1 point
Rottenshit (17) -- 11.17.2006
FIRST POST. THIS IS NEW GROUND FOR ME."

I hope it was worth it, there, Rotty. (*giggling just a little, but trying to be polite*)

Phoenyxx, thanks for the insights. It is ironic that the some of the same people who fought for the ADA might lambast you for being "not disabled enough" to rate better service.

NIL, I almost pooped myself when I read your comment about being one of the bus-poopers. That was very funny!

DungDaddy (716) -- 11.17.2006
H1, I think its a slow generational rot. In general, people experience less and less resoponsibility relative to almost every aspect of their lives. Respect for others and respect for others' property naturally degrade from there.

I couldn't agree more. I am so glad that I was raised by parents who grew up during the Great Depression. So many of today's sayings are self centered, like "You pay, you play" and "That's your problem".

Even though I am a Generation X'er, I go by a different set of rules: "Do unto other's as you'd have done to you" and "treat other's the way you would like to be treated".

I am just blown away that people have the gall to not even clean up their excreta if they make a mess. How would they feel if they walked into a stall that looked more like a sewage plant malfunctioned?
_______
A man who farts in church, sits in his own pew.

whats with the lame comment? I followed up

H1, you must be the youngest in your family? My parents are products of the great depression and were quite old when I was born. When I was in high school, it seemed as if all my friends were from a different generation. We find ourselves awash in expectations and attitudes far removed from reality. It's too bad pooping on the wall isn't the worst of the consequences of this devide.

I totally agree with H1 and DD about the degradation of society with each generation. I too am a Gen X-er, whose peers are all about me-me-me and what they can get for nothing. It seems that common courtesy is dying out with the folks from my parents' generation and older ones. It really is a shame on our culture that we treat our poor and disabled with such disregard that we can't even allow them a decent place to do "what comes naturally".

I also have to go along with what other PR's here have suggested. Bring together your complaints about the public transportation and restroom facilities and get others to go with you, and make it known that it's unacceptable. You are human too and shouldn't be expected to shit in a dirty cage (public stall) like an animal. We tend to make such a big deal about animals living in such squalor but we turn a blind eye to how we allow our own kind to live. You have our encouragement here at PR!

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Rock-n-roll! Poopy-poo!

Rottenshit (19) -- 11.18.2006
whats with the lame comment? I followed up

Don't take it too hard. I think that was just a slap on the wrist for waving the "First Post" flag without rounding out the post with your pertinent thoughts as well. Lesson learned. :)

Eighteenth Post. Yeah, 18th post rocks.
Personally I blame the degregation of todays values on the parents. The parents who choose to let the TV raise their child. The parents who drag their kids through one rotton divorce after another until the child doesn't know who he or she is related to whom. The parents who run themselves up to their eyeballs in debt for that brand new gas guzzling $45k SUV and cannot afford to buy gas or groceries.

It's not tainted youth that we should worry about. it's tainting them.

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Number One . . . I order you to take a number two.

Yes, I am the youngest by far. My oldest brother was born in 1950, versus me in 1977.

There is an old Chinese proverb that I live by: If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a month, get married. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help others.

The yuppies have too much impact on today's society. How many people stand up and fight for something that they believe in, like when an unfavorable law is passed. Everyone sits back and takes the heat.

When I stand up for something, it is frowned upon in today's society. Standing up for something is what made this country so great, but I digress to topic now.

It is the principal of the thing. We should help those with limited mobility, without a second thought. How can society be so damned cold and self centered to each other?

Someone will shit all over a bathroom and leave it, yet that same person will blow a ball if they walk into a decimated stall.
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A man who farts in church, sits in his own pew.

"...There is an old Chinese proverb that I live by: If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a month, get married. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help others..."

Is that REALLY an old Chinese proverb? Are there any Chinese Poop Reporters that can authenticate this? (*evil, troublemaking smirk with hand on hip*).

My son is fourteen years old and has to take a shower every day because he's got the "teenage stink".

I wonder how many kids older than him never got the mom or dad talk "boy, it's not your fault, but you have to take care of business.

_______
.....hugging bunnies since 1969
www.daphneszoo.com

The nasty stalls are in part a result of college binge drinking. When you start trying to find the culprits, begin with the local frat boys. They not only drink too much, but have a sense of entitlement that precludes any sort of consideration for others.

In my town, ALL the buses can be accessed by wheel chaired patrons. We use the elderly and mentally unbalanced to drive the busses.
_______
Sir SamDamnit!
The Emir of Crapistan
Join The Poop Reporter's Lounge

"We use the elderly and mentally unbalanced to drive the busses." Right on!

I've become a lot more aware of the problems of the handicapped since my brother was diagnosed with a rare muscular-degenerative disease. He now has a scooter to help him get around, although he can still walk. Slowly.

He and his wife will be building a new house next year, and they will be seeking an architect who is especially well-versed in designing homes for the handicapped. There's a lot those of us who are fully ambulatory take for granted until we or a loved one are forced to deal with this kind of disability.

Anyone befouling a handicapped stall or parking in a handicapped space will hopefully have a little karma catch up with them.

The Big Wiper (1755) -- 11.20.2006
Anyone befouling a handicapped stall...will hopefully have a little karma catch up with them.

I have a story about this, although in my defense it was (mostly) an accident. Perhaps I'll write it up and submit it.

If it was an accident, Dodge, then there's no karma out there. By all means, write it up. We haven't had a story from you in quite a while, and you always submitted good ones.

Sorry about the long absence- I've been busy over the last month finishing up this semester. I really appreciate the responses, and again I'm glad I'm not the only one disgusted by the bad habits and hygene of some people.

The restroom situation hasn't been that bad lately- no WAD attack aftermaths to deal with, and I hope that trend continues and isn't just a lull.

As for the transportation situation, there too I seem to have been lucky lately. I had class Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays this semester, and my morning class was at 8am, so I'd arrange for an early pickup at home around 6:30, meaning that while getting up at 5am for an 8am class in of itself is a pain in the ass, it also means usually being the only one on board the van, a relatively fast trip downtown to the college, and getting there in plenty of time to grab some breakfast before class. My afternoon class was from noon to 2pm, and if I left right after class, I'd also avoid the long smelly and noisy ride home. The worst times to travel are between 7 and 10 am and between 3 and 6pm, during those times that's when unfortunately the ones who smell bad and/or make alot of noise are usually on board.

I did find out recently *why* the van service has morphed into it's current form. Apparently there are privately run van services in town that are better equipped to be the medical transport many people need. More and more those services have become very unreliable and ripping of Medicaid to boot (rides count as a medical need, so Medicaid was covering them) and many of the users of those services have signed up en mass with the transit authority's van service.

Now as for the situation with the passenger's bad hygene, from talking to some of the drivers, they do try to do something about it- not trying to ban them, but reporting it to their supervisors who in turn try to report those passenger's respective families or caregivers to the proper authorities when it's obvious that a family or the people running a group home are sending them out for the day unbathed and wearing dirty clothes, or worse.

So things aren't as bad as I had thought. One disturbing thing I thought of as I re-read the "Helen" story was the distinct possibility that some people with bad hygene aren't suffering any mental impairment but simply for some bizarre reason think they're exempt from the social norms regarding hygene the rest of us follow.
I know that some of the passenger who scream the whole ride away *know* what they're doing and that they're being obnoxious, so it might just be a similar thing with the people smelling bad.

Again, not trying to sound harsh, but trying to be sympathetic to other people's situations while at the same time *not* blindly excusing people who do know better, if that makes sense.

I agree with the suggestions about people needing to stand up more for making things better, and I wish I was in a position to be a real advocate. In my city what usually passes for "disbility activism" usually is just a small faction engaged in a pissing match with the rest of the disabled community over who's more entitled to various services and resources, and generally vieing (sp?) for the title of "World's Biggest Asshole". Not much in the way of actually working for the community at large to solve real problems. Some of that crap is what's led to many things advertised as being disability resources actually *excluding" people with actual disabilities.

I was asked if there is assistance in aquiring a personal vehicle- I'm not really sure, but it's something I was going to start looking into as I get closer to finishing work on my degree and start pursuing real work. Even if I couldn't afford my own vehicle, I'd still look into finding an apartment closer to whatever job I'll have and more accessable to a main bus route, since the main buses are wheelchair-friendly.

Of course, many graphics people work from home, so that too is a possiblity for me.

rottenshit wrote:

"1 - Don't put up with that shit! I would contact the administation of your campus and demand that either more janitorial services be made available or find the asshole perpetrating the terrorism (pun intended)"

I wonder if someone has taken action- no annhilated restrooms in a while, at least in the art building. For that matter, even the graffiti has died down. Like I said before, I hope this is a lasting thing and not a fluke. I've got a month off until the spring semester starts next month, and I hope it's more than mere wishful thinking that realtively clean restrooms become the norm. Or else I'll have to get a hazmat suit!

NIL

"I have an idea what you are going through. Not quite to that extent. I noticed how the bus drivers would be less accomidating to me because I was youthfull and intelligent."

Actually that is precisely what I've encountered. Always been a problem, with so much of what's supposed to be for all disabled persons in reality ends up being biased against "younger", higher-functioning people. Younger is a relative term, since I'm 36, but more recently, I haven't seen many people aboard the vans aside from the elderly or mentally disabled. At one time most of the other passengers were younger people going to college classes or work.

lincoln's log wrote:

"It's a tough call.You are entitled to transportation and so are the elderly.The question is can the bus companies ban people who don't bathe and people who pee and poop themselves? "

They can't do anything directly but like I said earlier, I found out at least they make the effort to get the families or caregivers to be held accountable, since indeed it is both a health and safety issue for the other passengers, as well as the drivers trying to keep the van on the road while not gagging on the smells. I've seen it myself- pulling up to a group home, and seeing several people being shooed out to the van like kids being hustled out to the school bus, all looking dishevled (sp?) and sometimes smelling like no one has had a bath in a while.

The galling thing is when the van I'm aboard pulls up to either a group home or to some work center for the afternoon return trip, and the attendants escorting someone to the van is fully aware of the screaming and/or bad hygene and proceeds to *laugh* at the "interesting" ride home being inflicted on us.

One driver I was talking to told me that when that happens she actually does make it a point to get the attendants to have the decency to clean someone up before sending them out to the van. Really though we need social service agencies with more authority to do something to make the group home and work center aides and attendants actually do their jobs or face legal action.

healthy 1 wrote:

"The yuppies have too much impact on today's society. How many people stand up and fight for something that they believe in, like when an unfavorable law is passed. Everyone sits back and takes the heat."

Dead on! I know from firsthand experience- when a disabled person complains about things affecting the disabled, who yells at them the loudest for complaining? Other disabled people! No shit! The well adjusted, well adapted find themselves persona non grata among the so called "community" for betraying their disabled brethren by going out and doing their own thing. I myself find that most people I meet are very supportive and accomodating, but many times the worst assholes I've dealt with have been other disabled persons in regards to disability issues. Occassionally I've been reminded that most disabled persons, especially those my age, have to get "real" (translation, really shitty with shittier pay) jobs and they don't get to "play with computers all day".

SamDamnit wrote:

"The nasty stalls are in part a result of college binge drinking. When you start trying to find the culprits, begin with the local frat boys. "

Actually it's a community college so there aren't frat boys around, but there are similar mindsets among some students regardless. Wide age range among the students, but invaribly you run into certain stereotypical attitudes and mentalities. Most people I meet, of all ages, are really cool and mature people, but there's always a small number who think college is all a big game and at the same time acting like whatever they're doing is far more important than what you or anyone else is pursuing. Perhaps some of them are inconsiderate enough to trash the bathrooms and not give a rat's ass, and it's also suspected that people from off campus enter the buildings and stage a WAD attack and/or graffiti art show. The campus isn't a "campus" in the traditional sense, but rather it's in the city's downtown areas sort of morphed into the surrounding area, with regular city streets running by and through the campus, so it's possible that anyone can be walking into the buildings and if they're not devastating the restrooms, they're accosting students for money or getting into the computer rooms and looking at porn online.

"In my town, ALL the buses can be accessed by wheel chaired patrons. We use the elderly and mentally unbalanced to drive the busses. "

funny!

big wiper- sorry to hear about your brother.

"Anyone befouling a handicapped stall...will hopefully have a little karma catch up with them."

I did a video skit years ago with a guy illegally parking in a handicapped parking spot, and the karma that caught up with him was called Smith and Wesson! got in trouble for that one too! not because it was in bad taste, or violent, or even because it made vigiante justice out to be positive. The only thing I got flak for was that I was a guy in a wheelchair doing something "perverted" like that. I've pointed out to many people that when one ability is lost, other abilities increase to compensate. So for me, limited mobility is more than made up for with a finely honed knack for irreverent humor! The disabled people who get that pissed off and self righteous about it are the same ones who are given a free pass to be bitter, angry, and just plain nasty to others- putting a lot of energy into making sure the only "face" of disability the world at large sees is very negative, with a very fake air of deadly seriousness.

My apologies for the lack of poop content in this posting, but I wanted to respond and update my initial posting. I do have a more on topic post in the works, with another aspect of the disability perspective and the subject of this site.

An update: My understanding and patience is now non-existant because in addition to the obnoxious behavior and shitty hygiene
of certain pasengers, there's now the acosting of other passengers and subjecting them to the third degree about why they're on the van, and a long talking-to about how they're making everyone else on board late.
I got the lecture this past Monday morning.

So people who might scream, beat their heads against the window, or reek of shit, and not seem to be able to help it, are still lucid enough to get in my face about how *I'm* ruining *their* ride?

Sorry I'm sounding like an asshole. My mom tells me it's an age thing- the older you get, the lower your threshold for bullshit (or any kind of shit for that matter) gets. Or mabye it's really been a shift in who's out and about nowadays- just a few years ago, I never had to worry about my morning commute being affected by rude and smelly people.

On the other hand, I've been relatively lucky this semester: the men's room in the college art building hasn't been a turd terrorism target.

Hey- just got an idea for a version of "24": an elite team pursuing bathroom vandals. Name of the team? CTTU- Counter Turd Terrorism Unit!

If the story of the restroom (actually a lot of hard work, not resting happens in them)vandalism has made the school paper, the campus police dhould have installed a camera to find out who is doing it. Some public libraries have had similar destruction which was discovered to be the "work" of an unbalanced street person.

About the van odors: Terrible odors in air conditioned vehicles are often generated by setting the air conditioning system to recirculate and leaving the recirculation damper closed when the car is shut off. The closed damper prevents the moisture on the evaporator from drying as it warms up which results in stinky microbial growth. Perhaps the drivers have not been instructed in the finer points of air conditioner operation. With the way odors build up in the van, the fetid inside air is probably not being replaced with outside air so the air conditioning might be set on recirculate instead of drawing outside through the vehicle. I wonder if in cooler weather when the heating system is used, the odor is less since it is difficult to use the heater and recirculate the air. If it is even possible with the van' system, it usully results in the windows steaming up to where the driver cannot safely drive.