Guy across the hall from me bikes to work. A bicycle, in Saskatchewan where you can count on there being snow on the ground at least half the year. He's never missed a day due to bad weather, though I'm not entirely sure what he does when the snow is a foot deep or more - probably the bus, but I don't think he does that very often. It's very impressive.

Another non-driver here. I've never tried to get a license, but I am a bit directional challenged, so I am not sure if would be able to pass the practical exam. I am used to using public transport. It's well developed in my city, so it's fine. My current job is right next to a subway stop, so a lot of my colleagues also prefer using the subway, even if they have a car.

@nikki D -Never tried - too old now - public transport cheaper in the long run. didnt really get the chance or need it when I was young

Wow, another non driver! We seem to be a rare breed. I can't pass a driver's test or drive due to anxiety.

We cant just phone in and say we are going to be 2 hours late because "the car wouldnt start/broke down"

Also the transit system really sucks in my city. To get from my house to my brothers would take 3 hours by bus but 20 mins by car. The bus route should take maybe an hour not 9x that of the car trip.

In the United States public transportation is absolute s**t there are some places where it's more developed but for the most part if you don't have a car your in a very bad position. Good luck on surviving. Life in the US is extremely cruel dog eat dog eat world.

I can't say that I blame her for not wanting to use public transportation. I bought my car so I could stop using the bus. I had too many weird/scary encounters on the bus to really be comfortable using it. Especially after one morning where a guy hopped from one seat to another to sit next to lone women. My stop was the last one on the route with just the bus driver and one other regular guy. I was also the first person at work every morning. When the last women got off the guy came over and tried to sit next to me. I had ear phones on, was sitting in the aisle seat and the dude actually tapped me on the shoulder expecting me to move over and let him sit next to me on an empty bus! When the three of us got off the bus I fast walked to the building with my keys in my hand while planning on purposefully setting off the security system so the cops would be alerted. Luckily the guy walked off in the other direction but it still took me a few hours to calm down.

Glad you have a functional public transit system. If my job required me to be in at a fixed time every morning, I'd lose my job. Even if I tried to get there an hour early, I'd still probably be out often enough to get written up. Fortunately the place I work for now is very flexible about work schedules, so if I show up an hour late or have to leave an hour early because the train schedules are fubar (again), it's no big deal.

@Nikki D - I used to travel all up and down the country every week - using trains and planes. Now, due to anxiety a 10 mile journey on a bus fills me with dread - lol

Yep, not all of them are, but a whole community of normal people shouldn't need to suffer because of special cases that may or may not happen.

I was warned by a boss about the Monday self inflicted illnesses from partying to much. Not that I ever did that. Got out of the partying mode when I worked at Nintendo. But he was a recovering alcoholic and wouldn't tolerate it from other people. His philosophy was..if your drinking is interfering with you normal everyday life, then you have a drinking problem and you need to go to AA. He would also offer to be a sponsor for people that were struggling with alcoholism.

I worked with a Psychologist - she would just never turn in on Monday mornings - from 25 miles away - even though she scheduled appointments in every week for then. Different excuse every time - car wont start (get the bus woman). Boiler not working, stomach bug - every single excuse in the book. I was left trying to explain to her patient patients that there was no-one there to see them. eventually her patients refused Monday appointments with her. This went on for 3 weeks our of every 4 for months. I got there every morning on the bus - 45 min journey. Eventually she got her days of work changed so they didnt include Mondays - she must have partied really hard on weekends.

I had one of those meetings - my boss, her boss and an HR rep, who represented the organization, not me. They claimed that I had a pattern of Monday absences and that I needed to "look at [my] weekend activities". I don't drink alcohol or use substances. I do have a chronic illness that made getting up in the morning difficult at best. Mondays were the worst because my disease can be aggravated by stress. The stressor was working for a demanding micromanager. I was having the worst episode that I had had in years. I called out for the 3rd consecutive day and informed her that I was going into the ER because my symptoms were not getting better and I was dehydrated, among other things. She berated me over the phone that I needed to be there; that she had people crying in her office because of a project that wasn't getting done (it wasn't due until the following week). That was the trigger to IDGAF with that job and I started looking around.