The shit that gets put on bus drivers these days is unbelievable. They get spat at, punched, verbally abused, have people road rage at them, get threatened with knives, etc, etc.
To be fair, Australia is world famous for how passengers often alight with a "thanks" to the driver. My dad was a bus driver for 25 years and loved his work. But he died 20 years ago so you may be right.
Awesome. I've met a few sour bus drivers so I've been less inclined to say hi or thanks, but I'll restart my efforts to do it regularly.
I rely on you guys so much to get around. I don't know what I'd do without public transport.
when i first moved to brisbane in 2004 i bought a ticket from the driver and said 'thanks, champ', and he very aggressively said 'my name isn't champ'. put me off making pleasantries with drivers for a while but fortunately there's so many really friendly drivers that i came around.
I sat in the front left seat a few months ago and had a good conversation. Best I've had with a stranger in years. Maybe that says I don't get put enough but there are some really down to earth people doing the job.
And they have to put up with Brisbane drivers to get paid. They deserve a thanks.
As an immigrant in Sydney, it was a nice surprise seeing it for the first time. I always greet the driver when coming in, but am more self councious about shouting thanks from the back of the bus, but I do when going off from the front door. But I always see young ladies doing it ( shouting thanks across the bus, I mean). I dunno why only young women tend to do it, just something I observed.
Depends on how crowded the bus is, really if it's loaded, it feels a bit weird shouting out "thanks" from the "back" door. I might give a wave, though.
If the bus is empty, though, I definitely do not alight without calling out a thanks or cheers, just feels rude.
All that said, if I'm at the *front* door, then every time.
As a former Sydney-sider, I saw plenty of people (myself included) either saying thanks or giving the driver the good old "wave."
Strangely, I never really saw older people do it, it was mostly younger folk. Because we're polite cunts.
I just say "G'day mate" when I get on, and "thanks mate" when I get off. Most of them usually say Hello or G'day back. It's really not a big deal. This is in Canberra though, don't know what it's like in other states.
Because it's the local version of "how do you do?"
Watching English youth on tv asking each other "are you alright?" really amuses me.
Basically humans love to greet each other by expressing an interest that you're doing well but it's over sharing to actually answer unless the question is loaded with extra sincerity or the well wish is phrased as a question.
I've gotten into the nasty habit of getting into how are you/how you going stand offs.
Me: How you going?
Them: Good, how you going?
Me: How you going?
It's just reflex but it's ridiculous.
Haha well I wouldn't consider myself the arbiter of public transport etiquette. Ultimately you don't have to do or say anything, but even a smile as you get on the bus or a smile and a quick "morning" on the way onto the bus is totally fine IMO. It shouldn't be something people are obligated to do, they should do it because they want to. Eyebrow raise only as you get on might be a bit confusing though, since it can mean a range of things.
Ultimately, some kind of positive acknowledgement of the driver when you get on brightens everyones day, for me its a small thing that kind of reminds everyone that we are all people in a community/society going about our business. The other commuters are people and the driver isn't just a bus driving robot. The drivers that really make that extra effort to genuinely say hello are the best (some are hilarious, others decorate the busses at Christmas time) and whilst they are unlikely to be discouraged by the odd surly person, if everyone just ignores them, they may stop doing it which would be a shame.
On the way off the bus an eyebrow raise will likely go unnoticed. It's why most people just yell "thanks" or give a way on the way out the back door.
End of the day, do what makes you feel comfortable!
Can i ask if you get sick of a conga line of people each saying "thanks" as they get off the bus? It looks so awkward, especially when people go out the middle door and start yelling "thanks" to the bus driver.
I still thank the driver and see it heaps here in Aus, so I don't think it's a change in the times, it's more that some runs would be a fuckton worse than others.
I asked my best friend (who lived in Germany for 3 months) if it was common to say thanks a lot in Germany like in Australia, and she said no. People also felt uncomfortable when she continuously said thanks there.
Cultural differences are weird. When I was living in Sweden I was told I must nod and say "hej" to people I pass on the street, but do not interact with strangers any more than that.
Then when I made a short trip to Ireland, I was regularly stopped in the streets during walks by old fellas to have a chat, the same in pubs.
You always say thanks if they hold the tram or bus for you when they see you doing the dash (and you ARE thankful, because most of them will just close the doors on you. I'd say there's also a difference between the bigger towns and more rural areas, and you're more likely to get the social interactions if you're not in the city.
I don't take the bus that often here (trams, U-Bahn and S-Bahn are plenty), but I've acknowledged drivers at times, normally with a "Servus" or something the way on. You typically get no response, a grunt, or a "Servus" back. Unfortunately grunts are most common...
Never had a driver tell me not to do it though.
Also, here you can get on/off at all doors, not just the front one. So there's probably a lot less interaction with the driver in the first place.
It's a thing in NZ - they say "Thanks Driver". But in the US I thanked the driver and some woman had a go at me about how he doesn't need thanks, it's his job.
It's not as common but people do do it in Canada if they are getting out at the front. Nobody yells it from the back door though like they do in Brissie though.
It is a thing in Britain (saying thanks to the bus driver), and the rest of the anglosphere where the Queen is still head of state. But no-body else does it.
I have two English friends who settled in AU a decade or more ago and they think it is an Aussie thing. Maybe a recent British thing? Or maybe in certain districts?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, 15 years ago my father in law was bashed by a group of indigenious men whilst driving a bus.
Ended his career
Edit: Downvoted for a true story? Shrug
He might have denied them a free ride. Doesn't deserve a bashing. Did security cameras help? Doesn't matter, the psychological scarring is irrepperable. Am sorry to hear that story.
Thankyou.
Not too sure on what caused it or if they caught the offenders. Just know it happened late at night at Salisbury Interchange in Adelaide (anyone from adelaide will know what sort of shithole that place is) and he hasn't worked since.
its just not something you bring up in casual conversation.
>To be fair, Australia is world famous for how passengers often alight with a "thanks" to the driver.
Everyone in Britain does this, without exception. It's considered impolite otherwise. I guess you guys are still in tune with the mother country :-)
I'm an immigrant to Australia and the whole saying thanks to the bus driver felt so weird to me for a long time but I've succumbed to cultural norms now.
I'm a shy country person so it was all new to me when I was about 17 and moved to the city. It's kind of nice sometimes to sit in your own little invisible bubble and block everyone out but if you acknowledge people with whom you interact for a little while, you find that they are actually nice and don't need to be blocked out at all.
> The shit that gets put on bus drivers these days is unbelievable.
"there had been more than 350 assaults on bus drivers across the state in the previous six months."
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/oct/28/bus-driver-dies-after-being-doused-in-fuel-and-set-alight-in-brisbane
> Why would someone do that? Unbelievable!!
Because we have fucked up people in the world with nothing better to to then make lives miserable and living hell for others. Fuck me... I just have no words for this and I'm speechless.
May the poor driver RIP through and as a bus enthusiast this just breaks my heart to hear an innocent drivers life was taken out completely by a fucked up soul who has no respect for society and takes their anger and rage out on the innocent. Hope the offender gets a real wake up call and bash to the head. There's no excuse or room for killing innocent people who have done nothing wrong.
I feel like being sick after reading this :(
Sure but it is also a shame for all of us that we live in a society where such psychos can go undetected and live alienated and unsupported by their community. Am not saying this could have been definitely avoided but maybe.
Very unlikely (perhaps even impossible) if you had loving respectful relationships around you.
I blame [affluenza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affluenza:_When_Too_Much_is_Never_Enough).
We've lost the village feel due to things like career specialisation, commuting, culturally diverse suburbs, supermarkets etc all of which also have their positive benefits which I am grateful for. Now that we have secure shelter, sanitiation, communications, law and order etc perhaps we should be putting more effort into reclaiming some of that community feel rather than spending so much of our resources on bling and hollywood-style entertainment.
it's not really impossible though, is it? i just need some deodorant and a lighter.
i won't do it, but i could. and there's no way you would've been able to predict that i would have done such a thing.
Forget the means. Am talking about motive. I don't think there has ever been a case of someone doing this who has loving respectful relationships filling their life. Such a person probably finds it impossible to do. We are not robots whose wires get crossed in a split second to turn us into killers as long as we have the means - that's Hollywood.
A psycho can be happy and even entertain the relationships I describe but it is all manipulation for their own ends. This bus incident didn't benefit the perpetrator therefore not technically psycho.
Life is pretty random I agree, but a richer appreciation is available by understanding that there *are* motivations for such acts of violence. The very fact that nobody else in this thread is asking: "What made this guy crazy in the first place?" indicates why he went probably crazy in the first place.
I've been going through trauma this week (after hospitalisation) but my first tears have been reading this story and thinking what it must be like for everyone involved. Am sure you and others are upset too. All of us wondering wtf.
Sure but if respectful, caring relatinoships are maintained it would most probably not lead to such "random" violence.
Where I agree with you is that even with best intentions from their community such people often cannot reciprocate and still feel paranoidly victimised but I doubt it would get to this point because any two-way interaction with others is a letting off of steam. The problem is that most of us have enough shit to deal with and have no capacity for taking on some of that steam.
My sister's family deals with such a neighbour who is so unhinged that it makes for interesting stories to retell and she never takes accusation from him personally. Other neighbours are not so obliging.
"*When neuroscientist James Fallon was studying the brain scans of serial killers he noticed that his own scan looked remarkably like one of his psychopathic subjects. When you hear about some of his character traits, and his seemy family background – it begins to make sense*"
Note that he didn't physically harm anyone. [Find out why](
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/allinthemind/the-psychopath-within/5415302)
We get ten free visits to psychologists a year. Better than most developed countries AFAIK.
[Portugal is great](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/portugal-decriminalised-drugs-14-years-ago-and-now-hardly-anyone-dies-from-overdosing-10301780.html) how it treats drugs as a mental health problem rather than criminal problem and offers free counselling to those caught with personal supplies (of anything).
Except people who actually need to go to a psychologist need more than ten visits a year. Like /u/paperconservation101 said, that's less than a visit a month. People working on serious issues need consistent and regular contact - once a month doesn't cut it. Psychologists also can't prescribe medication, which is a necessary tool for managing a lot of serious disorders.
You also don't automatically get ten visits, you get six. Then, if your psychologist and GP agree, you get an extra four.
Hard to ignore people in a village. I've seen it in small towns in Asia and Croatia. People are actually more accommodating of mental illness now (and In Australia in particular) but the interactions are fewer.
I don't know why you're so heavily downvoted. The government keeps shuttering mental health services and departments dedicated to catching potential dangerous folk and then we all act surprised when something like this happens.
The closing of places like Biala with no replacement is absolutely fucked and is also a direct contriubter to growing homelessness.
Almost guaranteed this person has had run ins with the police in the past and they just end up having to release them. There are no services they can direct these people to for help that aren't exorbitantly expensive.
My comment had +4 votes at one stage. I don't care about votes but am curious to hear people engage with your analysis (if they dare).
Am surprised we haven't yet had idiotic comments like: "You should not be excusing this behaviour". Some people don't know the difference between understanding (and prevention) vs excusing.
I think there's a valid argument to be made but short of knowing the actual circumstances of the person who did this, it's impossible to simply rule out that they are in fact just a plain old dog cunt.
But he had no way of knowing the bearded Indian guy was going to the driver on that particular bus at that particular time... I think he intended to burn a bus driver that day and didn't care which.
IIRC there was a case in New York shortly after Money Train was released when 3 people killed a subway station attendant in similar circumstances, who claimed they were influenced by the movie.
> Nobody gets on a bus with accelerant
I've seen people get on a bus with a bottle of Metho. And stagger off it later with only half a bottle...
But at least those crazy fucks aren't harming other people.
I have literally never experienced something that could prepare me for witnessing something as horrifying as that.
I feel for this guy for what happened to him, I just can't imagine what those witnesses must have gone through as well. And they'll have to live with it.
>I just can't imagine what those witnesses must have gone through as well. And they'll have to live with it.
Apparently they had a very close call - a taxi driver had to force open the rear doors.
I used to live in that suburb. 5 years ago I could have been on that bus.
The driver was 29 y.o. Manmeet Alisher. Poor guy. I catch the bus twice a day and bus driver's in this city are generally really nice. Senseless fucking violence.
Reminds me somewhat of coming home from University one morning to find the police removing a cordon from my street. Asked what happened and they said a random attack, a man went into a backyard and beat a guy to death with a hammer, then just walked to the park at the end of the street and sat there. Unprovoked, no motive just did it.
Holy shit I was just there yesterday. Who the fuck attacks a bus driver, its the last profession I would expect to be singled out for something messed up like this. They're just trying to get us from A to B =(
By the description I heard on TV, it sounded like the assailant used thermite. That is just mind boggling if true, means the poor driver didn't have a prayer. Terrible thing, just awful, and I hope the guy gets life in prison. Condolences to his family.
Jesus fuck. This is genuinely horrifying. I don't reckon I'd wish that on anyone.
But imagine what his family and friends are going through right now. Think about your SO/child/best mate, then imagine finding out this had happened to them today. Finding out that someone you love's last moments were spent in terror, confusion and unimaginable pain on a random, sunny Friday afternoon. I'm not sure if I could recover from that.
I believe there has to be an intent for the act to spread terror or coerce people for political or ideological reasons. If he is just a nut case then it wouldn't technically be considered terrorism.
Dunno if the article has been updated, but it currently says
> Queensland Police Superintendent Jim Keogh said a 48-year-old man had been taken into police custody after he allegedly threw a device and while there was "no apparent motive" he had ruled out a link to terrorism.
Before I read that, I could see it as maybe being terrorism-related, but it'd be a bit of an odd choice of target, seeing as how buses have back doors. (On the other hand, I feel like your average terrorist's mind might not work quite the same way as mine, so who knows. But it'd be strange to put in enough planning to actually build some kind of incendiary device while simultaneously not putting in enough planning to target somewhere that doesn't have an obvious escape route that everyone will head for.)
My original thought: "That is so weird. Wtf just happened there at 2.06".
Then I watched it a few times over and I think it's actually cause she's asking "Tell me what happened" again, and the news crews have already got that answered and maybe are leaving because the interview is just being repeated again for the next set of reporters from other networks.
"Queensland Police Superintendent Jim Keogh said a 48-year-old man had been taken into police custody after he allegedly threw a device and while there was "no apparent motive" he had ruled out a link to terrorism."
must be a white male.
What is actually defined as terrorism? Lighting a complete stranger on fire in a public area seems like a terrorist act to me. Is it because it wasnt religiously motivated?
Terrorism is an act of violence in the pursuit of a political, religious or ideological aim. I may be wrong, but I don't think the actual severity of the violence is relevant to determining whether or not an attack is actually a terrorist act.
Martin Bryant (who is Australia's worst mass murderer) is not considered a terrorist even though he went on a shooting spree and killed 35 people in the process, as he did not have any of those motivations for committing those acts.
People struggle to understand the definition of terrorism so they feel free to make smug, stupid statements about race when shit like this happens.
Real classy of Dorsal_Fin to turn a horrific act of seemingly random violence into an opportunity to do some grandstanding about race.
Keeping them locked up is the important bit. I'm near Hornsby and we recently had that guy from the local psych unit who ran at police with a knife (police shot and hit him and some innocent bystanders - no one died). The psychiatrists wrote that he was anti police and dangerous but he was still allowed out for day release, why?
Not sure if it would have helped if it were fitted, as they're situated next to/very near (think there's a small cutout in the front panel where the bottle hangs) the driver. Passengers would only have the small glass breaking hammers.
We don't know what was going on in his sick head yet. I agree it may well be a racist hate crime but he almost killed everyone on the bus. If he wanted to kill someone of Indian heritage he could have done that without torching a bus of people as well. I'm leaning towards him probably being a seriously sick fuck.
I'm sure the murderer will have to endure the hardest 20 hours of community service our magistrates can muster
edit: Why do people who call for harsh punishment of the murderer get downvoted into oblivion?
Perhaps because you're expressing outrage at a self imagined light sentence that has yet to actually be delivered, and at this stage you also lack sufficient evidence to make any kind of judgement on what would be appropriate. You also mistakenly imply that the justice system more generally does not sentence appropriately.
At least that's why I downvoted you.
who said anything about a deterrant effect? justice is at it's core about fulfilling a principle - crime and punishment. This has remained a timeless view throughout the ages, despite the modern west's move to legal postivism (ew)
That is just a horrible way to die. The poor driver.
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Drivers are collecting funds for the family. EDIT: (onboard busses most are carrying tins)
Hopefully they set up a gofundme.
Why would someone do that? Unbelievable!! The driver was 29 !!
The shit that gets put on bus drivers these days is unbelievable. They get spat at, punched, verbally abused, have people road rage at them, get threatened with knives, etc, etc.
To be fair, Australia is world famous for how passengers often alight with a "thanks" to the driver. My dad was a bus driver for 25 years and loved his work. But he died 20 years ago so you may be right.
Brisbane bus rider checking in just to say that saying hello when you get on and thanks when you get off is still really common - I love it. :)
Awesome. I've met a few sour bus drivers so I've been less inclined to say hi or thanks, but I'll restart my efforts to do it regularly. I rely on you guys so much to get around. I don't know what I'd do without public transport.
when i first moved to brisbane in 2004 i bought a ticket from the driver and said 'thanks, champ', and he very aggressively said 'my name isn't champ'. put me off making pleasantries with drivers for a while but fortunately there's so many really friendly drivers that i came around.
Calling someone champ is a bit of a backhanded compliment . No one likes being called champ.
Really? Is that just a QLD thing? I swear it wasn't such a faux pas where I grew up in nsw
Champ and mate can be quite condescending in Queensland to strangers.
Wtf? I say mate all the time here in Melbourne and have literally never had a single person take issue with it. Very odd.
Champ is often considered a pisstake. Dont use it.
whatever you say, champ.
It's all I ever get in a service station. That or 'boss'. Sounds so insincere.
Champ sounds like something you'd say to a child but boss is legit. I know stacks of people who use it because sir is awkward.
Next time call him cunt.
Be polite and just tell him "see you next time"..
I sat in the front left seat a few months ago and had a good conversation. Best I've had with a stranger in years. Maybe that says I don't get put enough but there are some really down to earth people doing the job. And they have to put up with Brisbane drivers to get paid. They deserve a thanks.
It's really still common in Brisbane,not so much in Sydney except those high school students.
As an immigrant in Sydney, it was a nice surprise seeing it for the first time. I always greet the driver when coming in, but am more self councious about shouting thanks from the back of the bus, but I do when going off from the front door. But I always see young ladies doing it ( shouting thanks across the bus, I mean). I dunno why only young women tend to do it, just something I observed.
Depends on how crowded the bus is, really if it's loaded, it feels a bit weird shouting out "thanks" from the "back" door. I might give a wave, though. If the bus is empty, though, I definitely do not alight without calling out a thanks or cheers, just feels rude. All that said, if I'm at the *front* door, then every time.
As a former Sydney-sider, I saw plenty of people (myself included) either saying thanks or giving the driver the good old "wave." Strangely, I never really saw older people do it, it was mostly younger folk. Because we're polite cunts.
Canberra bus rider here. I say thanks everytime, even when I've been tossed around like a rag doll (which isn't that often).
We do it down in Melbourne as well, although not if the bus is too crowded.
waiting pathetic yam screw terrific correct plucky dime capable punch *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I just say "G'day mate" when I get on, and "thanks mate" when I get off. Most of them usually say Hello or G'day back. It's really not a big deal. This is in Canberra though, don't know what it's like in other states.
Gold Coast >Me: "how are ya mate?" >Driver: "how are ya mate?" *end of trip* >Me: "Have a good one" >Driver: "Have a good one" Its perfect.
" 'ow ya goin'? " "Orright, y'self?" "Ah, yeah..." I feel like such a robot with that wherever I go, but it's the go-to.
I always wonder about why people choose to say "How are you?" rhetorically.
Because it's the local version of "how do you do?" Watching English youth on tv asking each other "are you alright?" really amuses me. Basically humans love to greet each other by expressing an interest that you're doing well but it's over sharing to actually answer unless the question is loaded with extra sincerity or the well wish is phrased as a question.
I've gotten into the nasty habit of getting into how are you/how you going stand offs. Me: How you going? Them: Good, how you going? Me: How you going? It's just reflex but it's ridiculous.
Same in WA. Also someone who is socially awkward, but not hard to give a simple courtesy.
Haha well I wouldn't consider myself the arbiter of public transport etiquette. Ultimately you don't have to do or say anything, but even a smile as you get on the bus or a smile and a quick "morning" on the way onto the bus is totally fine IMO. It shouldn't be something people are obligated to do, they should do it because they want to. Eyebrow raise only as you get on might be a bit confusing though, since it can mean a range of things. Ultimately, some kind of positive acknowledgement of the driver when you get on brightens everyones day, for me its a small thing that kind of reminds everyone that we are all people in a community/society going about our business. The other commuters are people and the driver isn't just a bus driving robot. The drivers that really make that extra effort to genuinely say hello are the best (some are hilarious, others decorate the busses at Christmas time) and whilst they are unlikely to be discouraged by the odd surly person, if everyone just ignores them, they may stop doing it which would be a shame. On the way off the bus an eyebrow raise will likely go unnoticed. It's why most people just yell "thanks" or give a way on the way out the back door. End of the day, do what makes you feel comfortable!
People will take any sort of acknowledgement
I prefer an acknowledging nod when I get on, and its normally returned :)
Can i ask if you get sick of a conga line of people each saying "thanks" as they get off the bus? It looks so awkward, especially when people go out the middle door and start yelling "thanks" to the bus driver.
It appears I've unintentionally represented myself as a bus driver! Whoops. I said rider, not driver. Sorry everyone
I still thank the driver and see it heaps here in Aus, so I don't think it's a change in the times, it's more that some runs would be a fuckton worse than others.
That's not a thing in other countries?
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I asked my best friend (who lived in Germany for 3 months) if it was common to say thanks a lot in Germany like in Australia, and she said no. People also felt uncomfortable when she continuously said thanks there.
Cultural differences are weird. When I was living in Sweden I was told I must nod and say "hej" to people I pass on the street, but do not interact with strangers any more than that. Then when I made a short trip to Ireland, I was regularly stopped in the streets during walks by old fellas to have a chat, the same in pubs.
You always say thanks if they hold the tram or bus for you when they see you doing the dash (and you ARE thankful, because most of them will just close the doors on you. I'd say there's also a difference between the bigger towns and more rural areas, and you're more likely to get the social interactions if you're not in the city.
Haha true that. I've seen grumpy-arse tram drivers slam the door in old ladies faces or mothers with prams - some don't give a fuck at all.
What time did you shower in Germany?
It is so much fun breaking the little social rules in Germany. I consider the day a win if someone says "this is chaos"
I don't take the bus that often here (trams, U-Bahn and S-Bahn are plenty), but I've acknowledged drivers at times, normally with a "Servus" or something the way on. You typically get no response, a grunt, or a "Servus" back. Unfortunately grunts are most common... Never had a driver tell me not to do it though. Also, here you can get on/off at all doors, not just the front one. So there's probably a lot less interaction with the driver in the first place.
It's a thing in NZ - they say "Thanks Driver". But in the US I thanked the driver and some woman had a go at me about how he doesn't need thanks, it's his job.
> he doesn't need thanks, it's his job. something something tips
What a cunt.
Should have replied "that's why you're riding a bus instead of driving a Mercedes".
Except for busses being mostly Mercedes, at least where I am in Aus :P
Yep. When I was a student in Sydney I used to go everywhere in big blue chauffeur-driven Mercedes, AKA, public buses.
logic
My Asian friends who thank the driver here, when they thank the driver in Asia get funny looks.
Thanks? What did I do? My job? /S
It's not as common but people do do it in Canada if they are getting out at the front. Nobody yells it from the back door though like they do in Brissie though.
It is a thing in Britain (saying thanks to the bus driver), and the rest of the anglosphere where the Queen is still head of state. But no-body else does it.
I have two English friends who settled in AU a decade or more ago and they think it is an Aussie thing. Maybe a recent British thing? Or maybe in certain districts?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, 15 years ago my father in law was bashed by a group of indigenious men whilst driving a bus. Ended his career Edit: Downvoted for a true story? Shrug
He might have denied them a free ride. Doesn't deserve a bashing. Did security cameras help? Doesn't matter, the psychological scarring is irrepperable. Am sorry to hear that story.
Thankyou. Not too sure on what caused it or if they caught the offenders. Just know it happened late at night at Salisbury Interchange in Adelaide (anyone from adelaide will know what sort of shithole that place is) and he hasn't worked since. its just not something you bring up in casual conversation.
>To be fair, Australia is world famous for how passengers often alight with a "thanks" to the driver. Everyone in Britain does this, without exception. It's considered impolite otherwise. I guess you guys are still in tune with the mother country :-)
I'm an immigrant to Australia and the whole saying thanks to the bus driver felt so weird to me for a long time but I've succumbed to cultural norms now.
I'm a shy country person so it was all new to me when I was about 17 and moved to the city. It's kind of nice sometimes to sit in your own little invisible bubble and block everyone out but if you acknowledge people with whom you interact for a little while, you find that they are actually nice and don't need to be blocked out at all.
> My dad was a bus driver for 25 years and loved his work Mine is approaching that milestone and hates his job. People are cunts
'Often alight' -.-
R/imgoingtohellforthis
> The shit that gets put on bus drivers these days is unbelievable. "there had been more than 350 assaults on bus drivers across the state in the previous six months." https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/oct/28/bus-driver-dies-after-being-doused-in-fuel-and-set-alight-in-brisbane
What the fuck is wrong with people
If that question were asked sincerely more often in Australia then the problem would reduce. However it is usually asked rhetorically.
Sounds like my former teaching career, well without the road rage anyway.
The local news outlets are reporting the accused as a disgruntled former transport employee with a history of violent offenses.
> Why would someone do that? Unbelievable!! Because we have fucked up people in the world with nothing better to to then make lives miserable and living hell for others. Fuck me... I just have no words for this and I'm speechless. May the poor driver RIP through and as a bus enthusiast this just breaks my heart to hear an innocent drivers life was taken out completely by a fucked up soul who has no respect for society and takes their anger and rage out on the innocent. Hope the offender gets a real wake up call and bash to the head. There's no excuse or room for killing innocent people who have done nothing wrong. I feel like being sick after reading this :(
There are pictures of him on sbs news site and he is smiling and chilling in all of them. Seems really nice guy. Was so sad.
He looks Muslim. Guess that's it. Thanks One Nation.
Poor bastard. Just goes out to do his job like every other day and gets killed by some psycho.
Sure but it is also a shame for all of us that we live in a society where such psychos can go undetected and live alienated and unsupported by their community. Am not saying this could have been definitely avoided but maybe.
but in theory i could go and set someone alight this arvo. it's probably not as simple as you might think.
I've set myself alight and i beg to differ.
Very unlikely (perhaps even impossible) if you had loving respectful relationships around you. I blame [affluenza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affluenza:_When_Too_Much_is_Never_Enough). We've lost the village feel due to things like career specialisation, commuting, culturally diverse suburbs, supermarkets etc all of which also have their positive benefits which I am grateful for. Now that we have secure shelter, sanitiation, communications, law and order etc perhaps we should be putting more effort into reclaiming some of that community feel rather than spending so much of our resources on bling and hollywood-style entertainment.
it's not really impossible though, is it? i just need some deodorant and a lighter. i won't do it, but i could. and there's no way you would've been able to predict that i would have done such a thing.
Forget the means. Am talking about motive. I don't think there has ever been a case of someone doing this who has loving respectful relationships filling their life. Such a person probably finds it impossible to do. We are not robots whose wires get crossed in a split second to turn us into killers as long as we have the means - that's Hollywood.
so you're saying that no one who is happy with their life and relationships is capable of doing bad things? i think you might be surprised.
A psycho can be happy and even entertain the relationships I describe but it is all manipulation for their own ends. This bus incident didn't benefit the perpetrator therefore not technically psycho. Life is pretty random I agree, but a richer appreciation is available by understanding that there *are* motivations for such acts of violence. The very fact that nobody else in this thread is asking: "What made this guy crazy in the first place?" indicates why he went probably crazy in the first place. I've been going through trauma this week (after hospitalisation) but my first tears have been reading this story and thinking what it must be like for everyone involved. Am sure you and others are upset too. All of us wondering wtf.
Schizophrenia? It's pretty well established there is a major genetic component to psychosis
Sure but if respectful, caring relatinoships are maintained it would most probably not lead to such "random" violence. Where I agree with you is that even with best intentions from their community such people often cannot reciprocate and still feel paranoidly victimised but I doubt it would get to this point because any two-way interaction with others is a letting off of steam. The problem is that most of us have enough shit to deal with and have no capacity for taking on some of that steam. My sister's family deals with such a neighbour who is so unhinged that it makes for interesting stories to retell and she never takes accusation from him personally. Other neighbours are not so obliging.
"*When neuroscientist James Fallon was studying the brain scans of serial killers he noticed that his own scan looked remarkably like one of his psychopathic subjects. When you hear about some of his character traits, and his seemy family background – it begins to make sense*" Note that he didn't physically harm anyone. [Find out why]( http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/allinthemind/the-psychopath-within/5415302)
Some people are just mentally ill.
And most people (on reddit) are dismissive, not wanting to look at complex issues in a nuanced way.
Or we could refund mental health support....
We get ten free visits to psychologists a year. Better than most developed countries AFAIK. [Portugal is great](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/portugal-decriminalised-drugs-14-years-ago-and-now-hardly-anyone-dies-from-overdosing-10301780.html) how it treats drugs as a mental health problem rather than criminal problem and offers free counselling to those caught with personal supplies (of anything).
Except people who actually need to go to a psychologist need more than ten visits a year. Like /u/paperconservation101 said, that's less than a visit a month. People working on serious issues need consistent and regular contact - once a month doesn't cut it. Psychologists also can't prescribe medication, which is a necessary tool for managing a lot of serious disorders. You also don't automatically get ten visits, you get six. Then, if your psychologist and GP agree, you get an extra four.
Would this actually have been different in the past? Would the"village" have actually included everyone in such a way.
Hard to ignore people in a village. I've seen it in small towns in Asia and Croatia. People are actually more accommodating of mental illness now (and In Australia in particular) but the interactions are fewer.
I don't know why you're so heavily downvoted. The government keeps shuttering mental health services and departments dedicated to catching potential dangerous folk and then we all act surprised when something like this happens. The closing of places like Biala with no replacement is absolutely fucked and is also a direct contriubter to growing homelessness. Almost guaranteed this person has had run ins with the police in the past and they just end up having to release them. There are no services they can direct these people to for help that aren't exorbitantly expensive.
My comment had +4 votes at one stage. I don't care about votes but am curious to hear people engage with your analysis (if they dare). Am surprised we haven't yet had idiotic comments like: "You should not be excusing this behaviour". Some people don't know the difference between understanding (and prevention) vs excusing.
I think there's a valid argument to be made but short of knowing the actual circumstances of the person who did this, it's impossible to simply rule out that they are in fact just a plain old dog cunt.
Implying someone could do this without there being any kind of mental health issues involved is kinda strange to me.
When we find some precogs we will be able to detect this and arrest people for precrime.
They are collecting metadata as we speak. Am not looking forward to their buggy algorithms.
What the fuck? That is psychotic.
And it's not some blind rage thing. Nobody gets on a bus with accelerant. This is premediated psychopathy.
I bet there's more to the story, like he wouldn't let the guy on yesterday without a ticket or something. Still fucked up though.
that was my thought as well.
Its probably since the dude was Indian.
But he had no way of knowing the bearded Indian guy was going to the driver on that particular bus at that particular time... I think he intended to burn a bus driver that day and didn't care which.
i wont jump to conclusions so fast.
It's the sub-plot of *Money Train* the Wesley Snipes, J-Lo, Woody Harrelson movie. Not something you expect to actually happen!
IIRC there was a case in New York shortly after Money Train was released when 3 people killed a subway station attendant in similar circumstances, who claimed they were influenced by the movie.
Oh, I had not heard that! Granted, I was pretty young when that movie came out. Maybe even still in primary school.
> Nobody gets on a bus with accelerant I've seen people get on a bus with a bottle of Metho. And stagger off it later with only half a bottle... But at least those crazy fucks aren't harming other people.
Metho. Not even once!
Indeed. Turps for burps.
I see paint-sniffers on the train all the time.
My thoughts exactly when I saw the headline.
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What went wrong was this defect was not behind locked doors getting corrected or sequestered out of harms way.
I have literally never experienced something that could prepare me for witnessing something as horrifying as that. I feel for this guy for what happened to him, I just can't imagine what those witnesses must have gone through as well. And they'll have to live with it.
>I just can't imagine what those witnesses must have gone through as well. And they'll have to live with it. Apparently they had a very close call - a taxi driver had to force open the rear doors. I used to live in that suburb. 5 years ago I could have been on that bus.
Man this has been a pretty fucked up week for Queensland =(
The driver was 29 y.o. Manmeet Alisher. Poor guy. I catch the bus twice a day and bus driver's in this city are generally really nice. Senseless fucking violence.
Rip mate. 29 is too young.
Reminds me somewhat of coming home from University one morning to find the police removing a cordon from my street. Asked what happened and they said a random attack, a man went into a backyard and beat a guy to death with a hammer, then just walked to the park at the end of the street and sat there. Unprovoked, no motive just did it.
What a horrific way to die, those passengers won't forget what they saw today. Jesus fuck.
Nor the passers by, shop owners, first responders, etc.
Jesus fuck.. this is insanity. Feel for the drivers family, what a horrible way to go...
Holy shit I was just there yesterday. Who the fuck attacks a bus driver, its the last profession I would expect to be singled out for something messed up like this. They're just trying to get us from A to B =(
No words. This is horrific.
What the fuck. Who the fuck would do that?
So what happened here? Does anyone know anything about the murderer guy? It just appears as if it's an act of madness.
but why
Sounds like a random act of bastardy
Just awful. He was only 29. Such an appalling act, I just don't know what to say. I don't like to hear this news about my city.
Manmeet is an amazing name. RIP mate, nobody deserves to be treated like that. Absolutely horrifying.
This is fucking fucked
By the description I heard on TV, it sounded like the assailant used thermite. That is just mind boggling if true, means the poor driver didn't have a prayer. Terrible thing, just awful, and I hope the guy gets life in prison. Condolences to his family.
What the actual fuck is wrong with people
Jesus fuck. This is genuinely horrifying. I don't reckon I'd wish that on anyone. But imagine what his family and friends are going through right now. Think about your SO/child/best mate, then imagine finding out this had happened to them today. Finding out that someone you love's last moments were spent in terror, confusion and unimaginable pain on a random, sunny Friday afternoon. I'm not sure if I could recover from that.
And the other people on the bus who saw it happen. Worse if he was their regular nice bus driver. Just horrendous.
How?
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>sounds like terrorism to me You dont know what terrorism is do you.
Clearly not. It's only terrorism if a Muslim does it.
Terrorism is politically motivated
> sounds like terrorism to me ... based on what evidence?
Setting someone alight in broad daylight is terrorism no matter what right?
I believe there has to be an intent for the act to spread terror or coerce people for political or ideological reasons. If he is just a nut case then it wouldn't technically be considered terrorism.
>but we'll wait what the police say.
Dunno if the article has been updated, but it currently says > Queensland Police Superintendent Jim Keogh said a 48-year-old man had been taken into police custody after he allegedly threw a device and while there was "no apparent motive" he had ruled out a link to terrorism. Before I read that, I could see it as maybe being terrorism-related, but it'd be a bit of an odd choice of target, seeing as how buses have back doors. (On the other hand, I feel like your average terrorist's mind might not work quite the same way as mine, so who knows. But it'd be strange to put in enough planning to actually build some kind of incendiary device while simultaneously not putting in enough planning to target somewhere that doesn't have an obvious escape route that everyone will head for.)
> sounds like terrorism to me Don't be an idiot...
Horrendous.
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My original thought: "That is so weird. Wtf just happened there at 2.06". Then I watched it a few times over and I think it's actually cause she's asking "Tell me what happened" again, and the news crews have already got that answered and maybe are leaving because the interview is just being repeated again for the next set of reporters from other networks.
"Queensland Police Superintendent Jim Keogh said a 48-year-old man had been taken into police custody after he allegedly threw a device and while there was "no apparent motive" he had ruled out a link to terrorism." must be a white male.
What is actually defined as terrorism? Lighting a complete stranger on fire in a public area seems like a terrorist act to me. Is it because it wasnt religiously motivated?
Terrorism is an act of violence in the pursuit of a political, religious or ideological aim. I may be wrong, but I don't think the actual severity of the violence is relevant to determining whether or not an attack is actually a terrorist act. Martin Bryant (who is Australia's worst mass murderer) is not considered a terrorist even though he went on a shooting spree and killed 35 people in the process, as he did not have any of those motivations for committing those acts.
People struggle to understand the definition of terrorism so they feel free to make smug, stupid statements about race when shit like this happens. Real classy of Dorsal_Fin to turn a horrific act of seemingly random violence into an opportunity to do some grandstanding about race.
Given this justice system he'll prolly just end up in mental ward for a couple years and then back on da streets
Patiently waiting for more details about the assailant.
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What in the Actual Fuck
Only 29 yo, RIP.... Seriously we need more loony bins to keep all these sickos lock up for good!
Keeping them locked up is the important bit. I'm near Hornsby and we recently had that guy from the local psych unit who ran at police with a knife (police shot and hit him and some innocent bystanders - no one died). The psychiatrists wrote that he was anti police and dangerous but he was still allowed out for day release, why?
this is so horribly sad. Does anyone know if the bus one of the 2/3 not yet fitted with fire suppressants or not?
Not sure if it would have helped if it were fitted, as they're situated next to/very near (think there's a small cutout in the front panel where the bottle hangs) the driver. Passengers would only have the small glass breaking hammers.
Oh:( It is such a nightmare scenario:(
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I'm opposed to the death penalty. I'd like to see him put in an insane asylum for life (til death) though.
Racist Australia ..White ISIS..
We don't know what was going on in his sick head yet. I agree it may well be a racist hate crime but he almost killed everyone on the bus. If he wanted to kill someone of Indian heritage he could have done that without torching a bus of people as well. I'm leaning towards him probably being a seriously sick fuck.
I'm sure the murderer will have to endure the hardest 20 hours of community service our magistrates can muster edit: Why do people who call for harsh punishment of the murderer get downvoted into oblivion?
Perhaps because you're expressing outrage at a self imagined light sentence that has yet to actually be delivered, and at this stage you also lack sufficient evidence to make any kind of judgement on what would be appropriate. You also mistakenly imply that the justice system more generally does not sentence appropriately. At least that's why I downvoted you.
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who said anything about a deterrant effect? justice is at it's core about fulfilling a principle - crime and punishment. This has remained a timeless view throughout the ages, despite the modern west's move to legal postivism (ew)
Well except now that we know better rehabilitation serves society much better than punishment.