An uncomfortable bus ride for the elderly
Seaside road bus stop, Eastbourne 03/06/11
Sussex Downs College student Sonia Massessi surveyed Eastbourne bus passengers young and old to discover which generation gets the raw end of the deal.
I created a second questionnaire for people aged 50 and over for their opinion on what bus journeys are like in Eastbourne.
One elderly person stated that: “The same time of day from Monday to Friday at 3.15pm to 4pm there are always school children who board every day buses.
“The environment would suddenly change from peace and quiet to having a bus filled with ecstatic baboons.
“These children will be shouting, screaming, laughing, talking behind one another, crying, food fights, but most of all, the one thing I despite is when one child decides to play their music out loud of their phone and then other children will join in too.
“That is when I really despise my bus journeys.”
The same person stated that the music played was repulsive due to the ‘metallic, crunching’ noise from the mobile phone speakers.
A 73-year-old woman stated: “Teenagers can be very rude when I’ve asked them to give up their chair for me.
“They huff and sigh and become very angered.
“I do feel upset at times that they cannot take into consideration about how I or someone like me might feel or what condition they might be in.
“They just immediately think that we are lazy and take advantage of our age when travelling on public transport.
“They generally have the wrong idea about most of us.”
Another woman aged 76 declared that her journeys through Eastbourne can be quite stressful as she has to tell children to be quiet and to move their bags to allow others to sit down.
One of the themes to emerge from the questionnaire among the elderly was a wish for younger people to be more considerate.
Whether it’s medical, physical or mental, they would feel more at ease by being asked and reject the offer of sitting down than not having been asked at all.
Many elderly people believe have a negative attitude towards because of their 15 minute antics on the buses.
This behaviour shows no positivity for them to judge teenagers by.
Elderly members of the public sometimes, if not most of the time feel violated and disrespected by their behaviour.
Is there are chance that both parties of this argument could change their ways to work together?
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Weather for Eastbourne
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 5 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North west
