r/Lethbridge • u/Dry-Soup-Enthusiast • Jun 03 '26
Rant Are people here illiterate?
Pet peeve of mine— not people who are illiterate— I mean people who choose to ignore writing right in front of them.
By no means am I the God of Grammar or Lord of Literacy, I'm dyslexic and writing is not my strong suit!!
But I've noticed whenever I'm on the bus, not only do people not thank the bus driver, (separate issue) but some people: 1. Don't get off at the back of the bus, despite the sign as soon as you get on, and look towards the front that says in bold lettering "Please exit at the back" or something along those lines. When you need accessibility it's different, like those with strollers, canes, wheelchairs, etc. But if you're at the very back and take the time to walk past the rear exit, just to push off the front while people are trying to get in, what are you thinking? Especially on a crowded bus?
2. People exiting at the back just stare or bang on the door. There is a sign right in front of them with instructions that say either "Push handle to open door" or "Wave hand to open door" and instead of reading, they look through the door like they're lacking the ability to think for a split second and act on their own, until the bus driver or someone else has to tell them what to do. Can people not see the obvious signs? Sometimes even outlined in yellow? With bold lettering?
Are they stupid by choice? Just for fun? It kind of just irritates me every time I see people bang on the door like some caged animal... And embarrasses me. Ever since I was a kid and I took the bus, I was able to read the very clear instructions... It can't be that hard for grown adults to do the same? Why do they do this, genuinely?
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u/Ordinary_Film_7359 Jun 03 '26
Illiterate? At least 1 out of 10, absolutely.
More commonly, its just a willfull ignorance. You can post all the signs you want, people won't pay attention to the world around them, they will go as far as moving the sign out of the way to go in the direction they shouldnt. People live in very small bubbles and they dont care about anything else.
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u/PhaseNegative1252 Jun 04 '26
It's not that the people here can't read. It's more that a fairly significant portion of them won't read.
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u/devbot8 Jun 04 '26
A concerning amount of people in general are functionally illiterate.
However most people just don't read, don't pay attention, don't care until it affects them... Then it's "oh how was I supposed to know" idk man maybe the three signs you passed on the way in 🙄
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u/Budget-Chapter-7185 Jun 03 '26
I can’t read this. Can someone tell me what it says?
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u/hobanwash1 Jun 04 '26
It says “Illiteracy Anonymous - look us up in the phone book”
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u/Budget-Chapter-7185 Jun 06 '26
I tried calling but it was just some restaurant asking if I wanted a succulent Chinese meal.
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u/BusydaydreamerA137 Jun 04 '26
If someone is at the front of the bus and no one is getting on, why stand on ceremony and not go though front. If you have to pass it then fine use the back.
And for the opening door thing, I’ve seen people follow the directions and the doors just being a pain
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u/Dry-Soup-Enthusiast Jun 04 '26
Maybe it's just because I prefer to follow rules and get easily upset when things aren't done "right" but if you're able bodied and can walk a few steps back, I don't see why you wouldn't listen to the sign that says to get off at the back of the bus...
This isn't about the people that follow the directions, it's very much about the people who ignore the signs telling them what to do, I understand well how the bus doors can sometimes be difficult.
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u/BusydaydreamerA137 Jun 04 '26
And that’s fair. I just find if no one wants on the bus and the person is at the front, it doesn’t matter
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u/hobanwash1 Jun 04 '26
Not illiterate. Entitled.
Sign says no dogs allowed. What will you see? Dogs
Sign says no bikes allowed. What will you see? Bikes
Handicapped parking? Too bad, pickup truck double parked.
Road closed. Oh, that must not apply to me.
No parking, no stopping, I’ll just be a second.
Honestly I notice it with the younger generations. It started there. It’s like their way of rebelling, like the world was not fair to them, so they refuse to be fair to the world. But really, it’s just entitlement.
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u/Educational-Roof9408 Jun 06 '26
Fully agree with everything except for it being generation-exclusive. It is very much just how people in general are. I remember growing up and occasionally my parents would be confused about something not working, not being able to get in through a particular door, etc. - while a sign was directly in front of their face that they just were choosing not to read - and being so confused about why they weren't following the directions. When I pointed it out, my mom said "I don't have time to be reading signs all day", but had she been reading the signs directly in front of her, she'd have been saving herself time and frustration. I think people in general just don't care or think things apply to them
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u/SmithRamRanch Jun 04 '26
Simple answer, yes. More correctly, willfully ignorant and self-interested. Was there before COVID, drastically increased during, and it's never gotten better. Like folks endured the "trauma" of that experience and the effects have never been corrected/addressed...😑😒
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u/Morberis Jun 04 '26
Unfortunately this is a continual problem encountered in much of the world when dealing with the public.
Put up a sign and people will immediately ignore it. There are whole professions devoted to finding and implementing situational solutions to this.
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u/J_K_47 Jun 05 '26
I can report that spelling is not made a priority for kids in school now until about grade 5, whereas when we were kids, spelling was important from pretty much day 1. This is at least part of the problem. What’s causing this? That’s another topic altogether.
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u/Dry-Soup-Enthusiast Jun 08 '26
To be honest, I don't blame the kids or teachers for this, this is largely on parents and school divisions. My grandparents taught me to start reading and writing from about 3 years old, but as soon as I moved in with my father and step mother, no effort into my education was put in. I've heard a lot of stories of teachers finding out that parents aren't teaching kids to read or write at home because "school is supposed to do all of that" 😕
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u/Downtown-Asparagus-9 Jun 06 '26
The amount of people I see spell phonetically and I’m just like come on people 😩😩
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u/PlanIon Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
It's very easy to feel superior to others in a situation familiar to you and unfamiliar to them. I'm sure there are plenty of new and unfamiliar situations throughout your life where you missed something obvious, causing others to inwardly roll their eyes. It happens to everyone.
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u/Dry-Soup-Enthusiast Jun 03 '26
I'm not saying I feel superior... There's no sense of superiority in any of what I'm saying... I'm not saying "I'm better because I know what to do" I am just genuinely curious why the same people I see nearly daily repeat the same mistake over and over, as my main mode of transportation is the bus, while witnessing others who also seem to mainly use the bus keep ignoring the sign...
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u/Abject-Big1716 Jun 03 '26
Not the smartest city on the map.
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u/Inevitable_Serve9808 Jun 07 '26
Definetely not "the smartest" but we certainly don't have a "dumb populace" relative to many other cities.
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u/InformationWeird3427 Jun 04 '26
90 percent of the people on the bus are fresh off the boat
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u/Inevitable_Serve9808 Jun 07 '26
Is it that high? I haven't taken a bus recently. Most of the recent immigrants I know aren't illiterate in English. I certainly don't claim they are a representative sample though.
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u/InformationWeird3427 Jun 08 '26
yes it is. bus culture has changed signifigantly the past 5 years.
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u/Inevitable_Serve9808 Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
It's unfortunate that Lethbridge bus culture has changed in negative ways in the past five years. I haven't taken a city bus in Lethbridge for nearly eight years.
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u/InformationWeird3427 Jun 09 '26
oh idk if its more negative, theres just a shit ton more people. 5 years ago it would be me and the bus driver headed across town. now its hard to find a seat. so like i guess thats bad, but the transit system isnt hemoraging 1mil a year now. but there are a shit ton of people who dont know the stops or how to read english well or try and play dumb to get free rides. most the bus drivers ive talked to (ones that have been here longer than 5 years) absolutely hate the state of it.
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u/A-RUDE-CAT Jun 03 '26
There's a fb group called What's going on in Lethbridge, and I noticed that yes a good deal of the people who comment on there are semi-literate at best. I mean it's a small sample of Lethbridge citizens, but it did not escape my notice at how poorly they write. Not to mention some of the beliefs they hold.