My fellow (and few) SFU readers. I am aware of a u-pass referendum coming up about the price increase (along with the other two referendum questions that vary from red tape issues to something that could change a person’s life). I’m not sure what’s happening at UBC or at any other university in the GVRD, but I’ve always been in favour of the u-pass, even when I was driving to school everyday. I chose to drive, despite paying about $100 for the u-pass (I forgot the initial rates, but now it should be $104.20). I knew I was paying for the people who did use the transit system, but it’s not like I never use it. Maybe cause it wasn’t me paying the $100… Anyways, I was in favour of the program because it’s pretty awesome. It’s like insurance isn’t it? We all have to pay a premium. There will always be those that require the service and those that don’t. Those that need the service will benefit from it. Those that don’t…well…too bad :).
What annoyed me and spurred me to write a post (despite the ever decreasing probability of me accomplishing my goal of finishing my readings of the Canterbury Tales exerpt for English) is that I found people (hopefully few) on Facebook that don’t want to pay the new fee of $120 for the u-pass because they drive. It seems like some drivers think that “I drive, so I’m going to vote against the u-pass” or “I have a parking pass, so I’m going to vote against the u-pass”. Or even worse, “If we lose the u-pass, it doesn’t matter because I have a parking pass”. Note these are not direct quotes. Sorry for the rudeness, but that just seems like a very selfish thing to say. You may not need the u-pass, but there are people that do. Just because you don’t use the service, that doesn’t mean that you should be able to opt out. You’re not paying for your service, but for the community’s service. If only people that needed a u-pass paid for it, the price would be significantly higher than $120. Maybe it has something to do with SFU being a “commuter campus” that there is no sense of community there, but the u-pass program requires everyone’s contribution. If you don’t want to pay a useless fee, use the u-pass sometime to recoup the cost!
That being said, I’m sure the u-pass referendum will pass by a landslide. I just don’t understand how there can exist a minority that rejects the u-pass for such absurd reasons. I can understand an unwillingness to pay, but not selfishness.
Also…a three zone pass (which is what the u-pass is equivalent to), is $151/month. The u-pass is $30/month. That’s like $1 a day….There must be tons of people in Vancouver dying for that rate. Sure, translink can keep raising the rate of the u-pass. But I’ll keep supporting it until it goes above the adult monthly pass (which I don’t expect to happen).
Again, I’m not saying this just because I need the u-pass now that I’ve stopped parking on campus. My point is that other people exist too.
Which leads me to another somewhat related point (I guess I won’t be finishing my readings tonight). I’m guilty of this too. You know those times when the skytrain is delayed because an accident has occurred (I’m not talking about the times when a dog gets on the track…)? Or when there is traffic because of a car accident? What is the first thing that comes to your mind?
Do you think, “Oh noooo I’m late for work/school!” or “Now I’m even later for work/school” or “I’m late for my exam!!!” etc… But do you ever think of the person who was hurt by the skytrain? Or the family who was killed in the car accident? I was actually reminded of this when I was taking the skytrain to school last semester and there was a “serious accident”. When I got off at Columbia, I couldn’t switch to the Millenium line and had to take a bus to Lougheed station. Now I waited at the bus station for probably 20-30mins. It was exam period and I had to go meet my prof for his office hours because he had to sign some forms for me when I had my hand problem. Now because of this incident I was late. Thankfully I had his number, so I called an eventually scheduled to meet him after his meeting. But when the bus arrived, you can imagine the number of people that have accumlated over 20-30mins (the amount of people who switch from Columbia to the millenium line over 20-30mins), people were fighting for a spot on the bus (I got on =p).
Then the bus driver said something that got me thinking. And I’m still thinking about that, hence this post. I don’t remember the exact words, but he told the people to calm down. To think about the family that won’t be celebrating a happy Christmas this year.
Especially when travelling and rushing about, all we think about is getting from point A to point B without any delay/disturbances. When something happens that hinders us, we get annoyed. But maybe, just maybe, there may be people, or a family, that is in a worst situation as you.
Reminds me of this song:
Good post~!
I completely agree with you. It’s so easy to focus on our own little lives and forget that other people exist. I enjoyed reading this post…its a nice little reminder =) I’m sure we all want to keep other people in mind…. but our selfishness blinds us. Actually, this applies to a lot of other things… For example this week I had a group presentation, and one of our group members did not at all do his part. In fact, I volunteered to put the slides together and I asked him to send me his information to put on the slides. I didn’t get it, but I had to wait for him to finish the day that we had the presentation. It was so easy for me to loathe him, and I was so ever tempted to tell him that he should have sent his information to me sooner so that I wouldn’t have to sit there doing nothing while I waited for him to do it in front of me. I was actually convinced at one point that he just didn’t care because he was chatting on msn during our meetings… I have to admit that I was really upset at one point. But I tried sooo hard to keep in mind that I’m not in his world, that I don’t fully understand his situation, and that he might have stuff going on in his life that I have no clue about. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s difficult for us to be considerate and acknowledge that the world doesn’t revolve around us. It’s a life-long lesson I guess!
“cause it wasn’t me paying the $100”
So what you’re saying is that your parents pay your tuition. Do you parents also pay for you car? And parking pass?
Of course you support the Upass. You don’t have to work hard for everything you own. But back in the real work, people have to work to afford things. My Upass is 200$ a semester. On top of the 600$ for parking pass. It would take me an hour and a half to bus to school, and somehow, they think that’s reasonable.
I’d rather take my 400$ and flush it down the toilet before giving it up so lazy students who don’t want to work 10 hours a month to afford a bus pass. Unfortunately for me, I don’t have the option.
Socialism at its worst.
First, thank you for reading my old post. I’m sorry you disagree with my view. Yes, I was blessed with parents who wanted the best for me and supported me in my education. Yes, I understand not many have this privilege.
However, I think you misunderstood me. My intent, if I remember correctly, is a reminder to myself and anyone else who wants to listen, that there are other people in this world other than myself. There is a bigger picture. When something bad happens, rather than focus on how it’s awful for my life, think about someone who is worst off. Blame me for being an optimist, but that’s how I view the world.
It’s been many years since I wrote this post and I apologise if it isn’t relevant anymore. I haven’t kept up with the ongoings of the upass as I’ve graduated. However, my commute is still over an hour, albeit to work now. And I still pay an ever increasing fare to ride public transit. I can understand your frustration in working hard to pay for “real life”, but I still am of the same opinion that life is bigger than my own.