Andrea Ratti
[Ed. note— The following piece, written by Signal Tribune intern Andrea Ratti, was only lightly edited in an effort to preserve his “voice” and writing style as he makes his transition into learning English. Ratti is a native of Piacenza, Italy.]
The main difference between having a trip on a bus in California and Italy is that here in the U.S. it’s usually on time or with five minutes of delay.
In my town they have 10 minutes of delay or more, and it makes no sense because the city is so small compared to Los Angeles or other cities in LA County.
I guess the main reason is that the public transport organization here is more efficient than in Italy.
The second difference I see is people’s attitudes on the buses. When an old man or woman gets on the bus, and there are no seats available, the younger ones stand up, leaving their seats to the older person.
The nicest thing is that the older people don’t have to ask if they can take a seat. Here, being polite is deep-seated from people’s upbringing.
In my country, when the older people get on the bus, they have to ask if they can take a seat, and sometimes the youngest don’t stand up.
I know it’s sad, but that’s what happens. Only a few guys will leave their seats to ask older people if they want to sit down.
Another important reason why buses here are better than in Italy is that people in a wheelchair can ride them with full independence. An automatic platform gets out from the front door of the bus, and the person with the handicap can get on without the help of anybody. Once he/she is on the bus, he/she is fixed safely to a close seat thanks to a seatbelt. In this case, the bus driver helps him/her.
In Italy buses have no handicapped facilities, so only in a few cases will you see them on the buses.
In fact they need a person that can help them to get on it, and once they’re on the bus, they can’t fix the wheelchair, so it’s very unsafe.
Another difference I see on the buses is the homeless riders. It’s so sad to see them lost in their thoughts, for what their life should have been, or why they have made the decision to live that way.
In Italy they don’t catch the bus because they have no money for the ticket, not one dollar, and most of the time if they ask for money no one gives them any.
Here it is different, most of the people are going to give them one dollar if the homeless ask for it.
There’s a high spirit of charity in Americans compared to Italians especially now that Italy is in an economic crisis, and a lot of people don’t have enough money to last to the end of the month.
Finally, LA buses are safer than Italian ones because they have at least three cameras on board that could record every single instant, and if something is going to happen, like a fight between two guys, the bus driver has the power to stop the bus, call the police and close the doors until the police come.
I guess this is the main reason why people are pretty confident to take the bus, at least in the daylight.
So, let me tell you, try not to complain too much about your public transportation, because they’re safer and faster than other ones in civilized countries in the world.
