Jennifer Westhoven on CNN In the Money - "lower income people"

[wiley]

The rare time I bother to see what CNN is doing I watch "In The Money". After a thorough trashing of the corruption and sleaziness of the current Congress, Jennifer Westhoven is interviewing Robert Cervero from UCal at Berkeley. Smart guy. My jaw dropped open when Westhoven says, with regards to the option of buses as mass transportation being worthless because of waiting time, "then, of course, you really only have lower income people traveling. It can really change the tenor of the bus stations and make people really uncomfortable."

I wonder if anyone besides me called and asked just exactly what would make the Business Class uncomfortable about being near lower class people.

[Clovis Sangrail]

1. disease

they might catch poverty.

[enlightenment]

2. I haven't watched that program once that someone

didn't make some jaw-dropping gilded age comment.

Yesterday they did make the comment that "people who live on paychecks" and don't have substantial investments in the market "probably" are not feeling the joy on Wall Street.

A little surprising, that, since they rarely bother to mention that there are people in the country who aren't members of the "investor class."

I'll agree with Cervero on the wait time for buses; many routes in Las Vegas have standard wait times of 45 minutes to an hour. I cannot believe he said the other -- did Westhoven have the decency to look appalled?

[wiley]

8. Westhoven of CNN said it

Cervero appeared pretty appalled but responded with ways to make bus waiting times better.

[enlightenment]

14. Ahh! Now I'm not so surprised.

She is one clueless, um, person.

[kdmorris]

3. It would force them to confront

poverty. Wouldn't want to have to think about how many people are living paycheck to paycheck (or with no paycheck at all). It would make it hard to hide their heads in the sand if they were confronted daily with the suffering of others.

[Igel]

4. Dunno.

I rode the tram in Lodz, Poland, a lot. Around downtown the tram routes go in a sort of square maybe a mile wide--a tram line may take in two side of the square, or one, but never three sides. Of course, the corners of the square are big transit points, leading out of the city center.

In most of town, I found riding the tram was great (a lot of natives don't like them). But there was one line that ran east-west on the south side of the square, and it led to a strictly working class, lower-income area. I was on the line twice. Once I rode towards the SE corner, the other time away from it. The first time, the people overall got scruffier, ruder, drunker, and more obnoxious as we got closer to the last stop before heading pretty much only to the low-income area. The second time, I boarded the tram line *at* that stop, and the people overall got more reasonably dressed, more courteous, more sober, and less obnoxious as we got further away from the stop. Being an American tourist there wasn't a problem; not being able to respond or defend myself in Polish was. After that, I decided that I could wait a minute or two for another tram line.

All white, all Poles, so you can leave race and ethnicity out of it. Poles I mentioned this to laughed, and said they avoid the line, too, if they can: esp. late at night or at rush hour.

Or perhaps you're thinking of something like http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6127&menu=fullsearchresults. (Where my big unanswered question is: What was the SES of the AA subjects?)

[Divernan]

9. I agree - same is true in Paris, and in NYC.

In Paris, I was cautioned by Parisians to avoid taking certain Metro lines beyond certain stops because when you got to higher crime areas there were drug dealers and prostitutes doing business. In Manhattan, there are certain subways lines you don't take beyond a certain time at night. But usually when I go to small countries, I like to ride the local busses to see neighborhoods, people watch and get a feel for the places. It's sort of neat to stop outside a church on an island on Sunday mornings in the Caribbean or Micronesia, or Belize and hear the beautiful harmony of the congregations singing.

My SO and I just waited on a Saturday night at the local Greyhound station to pick up his college age kid returning from visiting friends in Brooklyn. Most of the people there looked very poor. And we're not talking about the budget crowd that flies Southwestern or Jet Blue. Some people had just gotten out of prison. Others had gang and prison tatoos. There was one obviously mentally ill guy with a bottle in a paper bag, wandering around talking to the air. I would be afraid to fall asleep on a cross country bus trip for fear of theft. Which is too bad. If you've ridden on the modern busses used by tour operators, they're comfortable and you get a much better view of the countryside from higher up than if you're driving in a car.

[patdem]

5. But, but, but it was bush* himself said that 'just cause your poor don't

mean you want to kill people' Their own GOD forgave the poor for being poor and thought only SOME poor people wanted to kill people...you know the theme...not all poor people kill, but all people who kill are poor people...:grr:

[Igel]

7. Poverty isn't a vice.

Bednost' ne porok. Dostoyevski, citing folk wisdom. Nothing to forgive.

But bednost'--poverty--is vicious.

[Patiod]

6. that's okay - according to one program, most of us are included

I heard someone on one of the political talk shows dismissively refer to "the 80% of those who are not high income who aren't benefiting from the strength of the economy". Totally writing us off.

[Ayesha]

10. An admission here...

I don't like to ride the buses in LA for reasons that might fall into this category. Some of them are:

-I have a very sensitive sense of smell and if a homeless person sits near me, I will literally gag. I feel tremendous sympathy for the homeless, but I can't be in an enclosed space with strong odors.

-I don't like sketchy men being overly friendly with/flirting with me. You're a sitting duck on public transportation. I hate to admit this but it seems like business types usually keep to themselves while culturally, certain groups tend to think it's more acceptable to chat up strangers.

-The idea of who has been doing what on the seat/walls/rails before I arrived creeps me out. This is not an income/class issue per se as I'm well aware that middle class and rich people are not immune from picking their noses, clipping their nails, and other such grossness in public spaces. Frequent cleaning of the buses (like every couple of hours) would reduce this issue for me.

-Cars give you your own space, privacy and relative quiet if you want it. Gas has to get pretty damn expensive before people will wait for long periods of time in possibly inclement weather, ride with criminals, people who don't bathe, and sexual harassers, and after all that it takes 3X as long to get where you're going, even in traffic-ridden LA. It's easier to just cut back on car use, only driving when necessary and walking or biking at other times.

We Americans are very individualistic, and frankly spoiled. I don't see public transportation in its current form catching on en masse outside cities where it's not already a big part of the culture, such as NYC, and with upper-income white people. IMO we should look for solutions that better reflect our culture, such as modifying cars so that they can connect to powered lines (like some buses) as a gas alternative, and trains or buses with smaller compartments so that people can have privacy and quiet.

I'm sure I'll get slammed for some parts of this post, but IMO I'm just being honest about what a lot of people think, but don't say.

[Catherine Vincent]

16. I agree with you about the smell part.

I ride the park and ride to/from work everyday and it's usually all business people like myself, so I shouldn't have to worry about homeless people riding. I can't stand women that sit next to me and their heavy perfume. Yuck! Now I use the after shower sprays which aren't as strong, but some women I think bathe in that stuff. I don't understand why they do that. Do they stink that damn much to put so much perfume on? What's wrong with wearing no perfume at all? Geeze. And on some occasions, a person will sit next to me that is dressed neat and look clean but will still have a distinct smell. I don't know. I think it has to do with what they eat.

[REP]

19. I Took The Bus For *Years*

You are absolutely right. Unwashed people and windows that don't open; men with wandering hands; undisciplined children ... and getting mugged to and from the bus stop. I was one of the poor riding the bus (though I washed, dammit, and I was on my way to work) and some of my fellow riders scared the living crap out of me (and a few tried to rob me). Not all bus stops are well-lit or near your final destination; like it or not, women traveling alone on a public conveyance have to put up with more than most people may want to admit.

I drive now. I'm disabled now, and driving just makes more sense for me.

[Bridget Burke]

21. "Certain groups tend to think it's more acceptable to chat up strangers."

Which "groups," pray tell? Not the white businessmen who sit in the aisle seat, leaving the window seat empty--to decrease the chance that someone might actually ask to share? Do you consider a word or two as "sexual harassment"? If I ever felt threatened on the bus, I'd complain to the driver.

Yes, I've encountered smelly people on public transit--a couple of times in my years of commuting by bus & light rail. Nearly everyone has a sensitive sense of smell--smell, after all, being one of the five senses. (As they say in LA--"Well, duh.")

Inclement weather? Ooh, I had to use my umbrella for a few minutes today. Blizzards are quite rare in Houston. I had no idea they were such a threat in LA.

How do you KNOW that criminals ride the bus? By the way they look? Do they belong to the same "certain groups"?

Should I shed a tear for the "upper-income white people" going broke filling up their SUV's?

[Metta]

11. Surprisingly classist remark. People need to get out more.

So seeing others won't be off putting. Sheesh.

[sandnsea]

12. Funny thread

If I avoided all the people listed in this thread, I'd never be able to leave my house because in a small town they go to the same grocery store, gas station, and restaurants you do. Only difference is you know their names and where they live; and work because they're the ones who just fixed your stove or car, trimmed your tree, or cooked your dinner. People really have got to stop being afraid of other people. Geesh.

[shance]

13. Many wealthy people are afraid of those who aren't because they know

that they could easily be without money and they are afraid of reality in general. Instead of looking at the dysfunction and cruel/inhumane aspects within our own monetary system, they run away from reality that devastates millions of individuals who were not born into wealth and privelege and/or light skin.

In shorter form, I think it's fear and an addiction to illusions versus reality.

[Catherine Vincent]

17. I agree. It scares them to death so they don't want to think about it

and they don't want to be reminded of it when they come across someone who is not wealthy like they are.

[neverforget]

15. I didn't see that part of In the Money, but I did catch a CNN guy saying

that $3/gallon gas is not hurting average Americans because the economy is so strong. :eyes: I wanted to reach into that TV and punch that elitist POS! He's doing fine with his 6 figure salary (or whatever it is) so everybody else must be okay too. What an elitist thing to say, but then again, the media is out of touch with regular Americans just like the politicians. I know that my wife and I are hurting with energy costs, not just gasoline but electricity and natural gas too.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

20. What a dick

I make a decent living and I'm having to put my gas on my credit card b/c I won't be able to pay my other bills if I don't. I'm single with no kids. I can only imagine how hard it is on you folks with families to support. With summer coming up and the high cost of running my ac (I'm in a hot state so it's not even an option to go without), I'm really worried about piling up the debt. But you are right, schmuck boy's energy portfolio is going up so it's all good! :eyes:

[kestrel91316]

18. "lower income" = ICKY