I'd hate to after school or before school... It's 3 or so miles and my backpack is waaayyy over the weight limit that causes back problems. I have a few times, and it has been hell, especially in our hot weather.
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There's another one. Places like school start at a time where, unless you drive, you will be a couple of hours late. For me, anyways. Also, if you walked, it would be freeezzing in the winter. I have stayed home before since my car wouldn't start and I knew if I walked I'd end up with frostbite.
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I agree... I never understood why a car would go up to like 230 miles per hour (yeh, right...), and yet the HIGHEST speed limit, anywhere here, I believe is 70-75 or so.
Although, I would like more acceleration in my car. It's annoying when people pile up behind you because your car doesn't have the power to get to the correct speed fast enough. | |
Elation wrote:
Why'd you go to school so far away, then? Is it the nearest to your house? my high school (college, for you?) was about 6 miles away. there's another high school about the same distance away, maybe even a little closer, but that's in a different school district so it would cost money if i wanted to go there. i wouldn't want to start my day with an hour and a half of walking, especially on busy highways. and going on back roads, it'd be about a 2 hour walk. | |
Although, I do find it a bit extreme when people DRIVE to go only a block. I drive to go only a block for one exclusive reason: because my grandma can't safely walk that far. However: almost every car trip I make, I do with another passenger in the car during at least one leg (two legs per trip -- there, and back). I think anyone who takes a car exclusively for their own use as the norm, not the exception, and who doesn't bother looking into carpools (or even consider starting their own carpool) or public transit, should have to pay double for fuel. Too bad it's unenforceable. =) | |
Spuzz, with respect to your relatives, why can't she use a slightly cleaner alternative; a wheelchair?
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My school is 4 miles away. I've had to walk there before, and during the winter, ALL sidewalks are frozen. Almost busted my tailbone twice in 1 day because of the ice.
And every single time I've had to walk, it's taken me about 2 hours to get to school, so if I wer eto do it on a regular basis, i'd be up at 4:00 in the morning every day, because I needed to get started walking. | |
:S
Strange place, is America. So rich and developed, and yet it has distances and seclusion from 100 years ago. You should see England, we never seem to be more than 2/3 miles away from a school. (and at 3 we take a bus, why can't you guys?) | |
There is a bus, but there always comes the circumstances when you miss the bus, and that usually isn't an excuse to stay home.
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You've gotta feign the cough, too.
And grimace. Then you'll be able to stay off school. ;) (Anyone ever seen that Simpsons episode when Bart and Lisa miss the bus by a fraction of a second, and Marge drives along side it to try and halt Otto? They end up getting into an extremely destructive drag race =D ) Maybe the American Government should spend a little more on school placement and general city planning- then everything would be a lot more efficient and cleaner. | |
Elation wrote:
:S UK = 241,590 sq km US = 9,161,923 sq km i wonder why things are farther away in the US. it depends on where you live. i could probably walk any place i need to go. in other parts of the country, stores and schools may be 10 or 20 miles away. you can't judge the whole country based on just one place. well, you could, but you'd probably be wrong. some schools have busses, but some allow you to drive (my high school had busses and seniors could drive). if you drive, you can probably leave your house later (later than the bus would pick you up) and still get to school on time. twenty more minutes of sleep is way more important than conserving fossil fuels. | |
OneFishDown wrote:
UK = 241,590 sq km :P But then, since America has a higher population (and therefore more tax income), why can't the Government spend that cash on schools? Remember, America's richness isn't relative to it's size (in comparison to the UKs). America is also much richer regardless (eg, back in the cold war, America spent more money on it's Military than the UK spent on it's entire budget.) So I think America SHOULD be able to find the funding needed to cater for the extra size. twenty more minutes of sleep is way more important than conserving fossil fuels. Uh huh, I'm sure. :) | |
Not everybody goes to public schools, and not everyone wants to just change schools. I go to a private highschool as I also used to go to a private elementary/junior high school, I however lived 5 minutes away with driving to these schools, but I moved out of town in about the 5th grade and didn't want to leave my friends, and all my friends went to the highschool that was near my old house. I also couldn't walk to these schools from my old house since it would take about 40 minutes to do so by foot, and I lived in a pretty shady part of town. Sure it may be selfish to the environment, but I really couldn't care less. I myself think it is extreme that people want to punish people who choose to do things differently for personal reasons.
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Elation wrote:
Spuzz, with respect to your relatives, why can't she use a slightly cleaner alternative; a wheelchair? Heard of snow and ice? :) | |
Jon88 wrote:
Elation wrote: Actually, No, I haven't. :P I haven't had a White Christmas in my town for a few years...so it completely slipped my mind. =) | |
Elation wrote:
So rich and developed, and yet it has distances and seclusion from 100 years ago. I live in Canada, and if anything, the problems is even worse. My town(40 000+) is about 20km long, and about 7-10k wide. Around here, their is a small town every 20km or so, but most areas, its at least an hours drive to the next town. Out here on the prairies at least, 10 000 people in a community is considered a city. Because of the distance, our towns tend to be very well serviced. Walmart, Staples, visions, Canadian tire, et cetera; three movie theatres, an airport capable of landing a 747... Racetrack, two or three public pools, at least four indoor skating rinks; more than 40 licenced pubs, lounges, bars and clubs(and many restaurants!). All these things my town has, and more, so it came as some surprise to me when I visited large American towns and found nothing but houses and supermarkets! Elation, about the distances, my co-worker visited Germany right after the fall of the Berlin wall. She became good friends with a girl there, and when she headed home to Manitoba(in the centre of Canada), her friend said: "Maybe I will come to Canada to visit you! My aunt lives in Toronto, she can drive me to your town." What she failed to grasp was the sheer distance! Its a two day drive, ONE way! Connie drove home to manitoba from the town we lived in in Alberta. It was 19 hours driving, without stopping! I've never been to europe(yet), but I know two days of driving will put you in a completely different country (maybe two)! Anyway, you seem to already have a good grasp of the distances we deal with, so I probably didnt need to use those examples, I just thought you might find it interesting, just like I am fascinated by the idea of driving out of town, over a hill, and into another town(both of which have been there 1000 years)!! | |
ThreeFingerPete wrote:
I live in Canada, and if anything, the problems is even worse. My town(40 000+) is about 20km long, and about 7-10k wide. Around here, their is a small town every 20km or so, but most areas, its at least an hours drive to the next town. My town is 20,000 in population and less than 5km across! You could go from one end to the other in no time! :P The closest next town is about 4/5 minutes drive. Out here on the prairies at least, 10 000 people in a community is considered a city. Because of the distance, our towns tend to be very well serviced. In my home town, it's usually not been more than residential areas and a slightly lagging high-street. A big city Bristol is about half an hour (when traffic is sparse) away, and that's where we get lots of our goods. However, since the council has decided to go heavy on new residential areas, so some company has decided to set up a mini-mall here, complete with Mac Donalds (oh joy of joys.). The new residential areas should boost the population from 20k to 50k. It's been a real concern for the British government to build new houses as Britain's population, while not exactly growing (it's stable), is spreading out. A new culture of multiple houses, students growing up faster and moving out earlier. Thing is, if global warming continues, a large part (60/70%) of my town will be flooded, as it's below sea level right now. Elation, about the distances, my co-worker visited Germany right after the fall of the Berlin wall. She became good friends with a girl there, and when she headed home to Manitoba(in the centre of Canada), her friend said: Heh! You could get from the bottom of England to the top in less than a day. England isn't the biggest country in Europe- France is about 4 times as big. But still, yes, 2 days of driving could probably get you from one side of a country to another, traffic permitting. You should definately come to Europe sometime- I recommend Germany, a *very* beautiful place. Anyway, you seem to already have a good grasp of the distances we deal with, so I probably didnt need to use those examples, I just thought you might find it interesting, just like I am fascinated by the idea of driving out of town, over a hill, and into another town(both of which have been there 1000 years)!! Not every town has been in England for a 1000 years, but a great deal have been- or at least the basic structure and road foundations have been. All our big roads going up through England are Roman-built, if you dug through the tarmac you would find the ruins of stone and rock from the original structures. But yeah, you can't go long without finding another city, 5 minutes could get you from one to another. I have found it very interesting, thanks. :) | |
Hear hear! I really don't see the point of getting having a car that does anything apart from getting you from point A to point B. Driving to work every day, by yourself, in a huge SUV... now that's just silly. Don't use a heavy two-handed sword when a toothpick will do.
The same goes for muscle cars. I have little sympathy for motorheads. =)