Grown Men who can't drive. Do you find them weird?

macker33 · 19-02-2014 06:12PM

I cant drive, never bothered

Galwayguy35 · 19-02-2014 06:13PM

Ray Palmer wrote: »

There is these things called trains, planes and buses that work very well to get outside Dublin. I tend to travel quite a lot more than some culchie who needs a car to get a pint of milk because their best friend/cow died.

Hopefully you will stay in Dublin, they're welcome to you.

MadYaker · 19-02-2014 06:14PM

Depends on the circumstances. If the person lives in a city where it makes no sense to own a car, Dublin, New York, London etc then fair enough. Same for people who can't drive due to a medical condition. But someone 30 year old who lives in rural/small town Ireland and still relies on his mammy/gf to drive him around? Yeah thats weird.

Even if I lived in a city where there was no point owning a car I would still learn. Not being able to would be a major handicap, even just for going on holidays and stuff.

The Backwards Man · 19-02-2014 06:14PM

shs08 wrote: »

Public transport doesn't exist outside Dublin.

That's twice you've said that. And twice you've been wrong.

shs08 · 19-02-2014 06:15PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

That's twice you've said that. And twice you've been wrong.

I'm not wrong at all.

The Backwards Man · 19-02-2014 06:18PM

shs08 wrote: »

I'm not wrong at all.

Really? I must have an imaginary job then so. No more income tax or USC for me. Whoopdedo!!

Who wants a drink? I'm buying!

PizzamanIRL · 19-02-2014 06:19PM

Do you find grown men weird who can't fly a plane?

If driving isn't something they practiced or learned then what's weird about that?

shs08 · 19-02-2014 06:21PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Really? I must have an imaginary job then so. No more income tax or USC for me. Whoopdedo!!

Who wants a drink? I'm buying!

I'll have a pint of tap water with ice please.

MadYaker · 19-02-2014 06:25PM

People who say you never have a need for a car. What if on a Friday evening you decide you want to go to Kerry or west Galway or some other place for the weekend. What if you want to go hiking or surfing or all the other awesome stuff that requires you to go off the beaten track?

I live in Galway where public transport is sh!t and the only people who use it are people who can't afford to run a car. I guess from my point of view having a car gives me a lot more freedom. If I decide I want to go somewhere I get in my car and go. I don't have to worry about bus timetables or routes or any of that restricting me.

oak5548 · 19-02-2014 06:26PM

I'm not sure if I find it weird, but its something I think everybody should have learned to do by their mid 20's at least.
Having a driving licence and ability to drive a car gives you much more opportunities and makes you far more independant as a person.
It also makes you more employable by businesses as they see this as a negative if you dont have one, even if you live within range of public transport.

Plus, living in the countryside and not knowing how to drive is a bit ridiculous as you literally have no means of transport other than relying upon on others or public transport (not existant).

Also, it shows that you're at least motivated as learning to drive is a long and hard process from the beginning. Also its not getting any cheaper or easier so putting it on the long finger is counter productive.

You dont have to own a car, but at least get your full licence.
I know plenty of adults who cant drive, I dont have any issues with them or view them differently, I just thinking they're missing out on a huge opportunity & are restricting themselves.

Bambi wrote: »

Boggers tend to find it weird

And you would be the first person to call people who dont live in dublin "backwards boggers" etc if a few of us said we found learning to drive is weird. Its a bit counter productive calling us boggers and then saying we find it weird that we know how to do something modern and skilled (in a sense) like driving.

A_Sober_Paddy · 19-02-2014 06:27PM

I can't drive and don't wish to anytime soon I have bad road rage I'd be genuinely afraid I'd kill someone on the road if I drove

keithclancy · 19-02-2014 06:32PM

shs08 wrote: »

Public transport doesn't exist outside Dublin.

Bullcrap.

Tonyandthewhale · 19-02-2014 06:32PM

We've had this thread before haven't we? Anyway, I'm 23 years old, would regard myself as a grown man and I don't drive. I don't have a license and I've never owned a car.

- If I was a driver I'd not be tied to public transport schedules but then again I commute by bicycle and anyway, since flying the coop at 18 I've only lived in Dublin, Limerick, Sofia and the Hague. All except Limerick (which is walkable) have excellent public transport so that's not much of an incentive.
- If I was a driver I'd be able to seduce a certain class of easily impressed women but I'd still have a tiny knob so that's not much help really.
- If I was a driver I'd not have to rely on friends and relatives for lifts everywhere but then again the only time I travel by car is when I go hitch-hiking (a hobby of mine) or when I'm cruising in my mates car listening to trance music and smoking rollies.
- If I was a driver it might create some new job opportunities for me but then again I don't want to be a taxi driver or a delivery man and for less than the cost of car ownership I could learn a new language or even pay the fees for a post-graduate qualification like a master's degree.
- If I was a driver I wouldn't have to deal with a battering from the wind and rain but then again I like the wind and rain. I'm from Galway and I like the outdoors so I suppose I'm acclimatised to it by now.
- If I was a driver I'd be able to go on spur of the moment road-trips to out-of-the-way locations but then again I'd also have way less disposable income to waste on spur-of-the-moment stuff and besides I prefer getting away on my bike or even on foot.
- If I was a driver it might make things easier if I have kids. But I don't have kids and luckily there's nothing to stop me getting a full license and buying a car later in life if I decide to. In the meantime I'm saving several grand a year that I can later put towards my hypothetical child's future or better yet spend on hookers and coke.

#yeahImtotesdefensivebutyoureanosybint.

Dyr · 19-02-2014 06:36PM

oak5548 wrote: »

And you would be the first person to call people who dont live in dublin "backwards boggers" etc if a few of us said we found learning to drive is weird. Its a bit counter productive calling us boggers and then saying we find it weird that we know how to do something modern and skilled (in a sense) like driving.

the fact that you consider driving cars as "modern" says far more than anything I can post

SpaceTime · 19-02-2014 06:37PM

keithclancy wrote: »

Bullcrap.

Yes, that's an excellent description of the fuel non-urban Irish public transport operates on.

shs08 · 19-02-2014 06:38PM

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

We've had this thread before haven't we? Anyway, I'm 23 years old, would regard myself as a grown man and I don't drive. I don't have a license and I've never owned a car.

- If I was a driver I'd not be tied to public transport schedules but then again I commute by bicycle and anyway, since flying the coop at 18 I've only lived in Dublin, Limerick, Sofia and the Hague. All except Limerick (which is walkable) have excellent public transport so that's not much of an incentive.
- If I was a driver I'd be able to seduce a certain class of easily impressed women but I'd still have a tiny knob so that's not much help really.
- If I was a driver I'd not have to rely on friends and relatives for lifts everywhere but then again the only time I travel by car is when I go hitch-hiking (a hobby of mine) or when I'm cruising in my mates car listening to trance music and smoking rollies.
- If I was a driver it might create some new job opportunities for me but then again I don't want to be a taxi driver or a delivery man and for less than the cost of car ownership I could learn a new language or even pay the fees for a post-graduate qualification like a master's degree.
- If I was a driver I wouldn't have to deal with a battering from the wind and rain but then again I like the wind and rain. I'm from Galway and I like the outdoors so I suppose I'm acclimatised to it by now.
- If I was a driver I'd be able to go on spur of the moment road-trips to out-of-the-way locations but then again I'd also have way less disposable income to waste on spur-of-the-moment stuff and besides I prefer getting away on my bike or even on foot.
- If I was a driver it might make things easier if I have kids. But I don't have kids and luckily there's nothing to stop me getting a full license and buying a car later in life if I decide to. In the meantime I'm saving several grand a year that I can later put towards my hypothetical child's future or better yet spend on hookers and coke.

#yeahImtotesdefensivebutyoureanosybint.

Many graduate and professional jobs require you to be able to drive.

19-02-2014 06:39PM

I think it depends where you grow up/live really. I'm from a town in Kerry where there is feck all public transport, so everyone tends to learn how to drive at a young age! I live in Cork city now so I've no need for a car. Get the bus to work, no parking anyway near my house. My boyfriend is from the city and can't drive, he's 23.

SpaceTime · 19-02-2014 06:40PM

shs08 wrote: »

Many graduate and professional jobs require you to be able to drive.

Many are also located in the outskirts of Dublin, Cork etc and are basically 100% inaccessible other than by car, unless you want to leave your house at about 4am and trudge down the side of a motorway.

The King of Moo · 19-02-2014 06:40PM

I don't understand women who can't operate a ride-on lawnmower.

Why?

BECAUSE IT'S WEIRD!!

Xidu · 19-02-2014 06:41PM

lots of people dont drive who live in big cities with great public transportations.

SpaceTime · 19-02-2014 06:42PM

Lia_lia wrote: »

I think it depends where you grow up/live really. I'm from a town in Kerry where there is feck all public transport, so everyone tends to learn how to drive at a young age! I live in Cork city now so I've no need for a car. Get the bus to work, no parking anyway near my house. My boyfriend is from the city and can't drive, he's 23.

There's also the thing in Dublin and Cork where some people don't think that there's anything beyond the city limits thus have no desire to drive (or beyond the two canals in the cases of some city centre Dubliner relatives of mine ... one of them describes Stillorgan as "Down the country")

...

I find the biggest issue living in *ANY* city if you can't drive is that you never actually get a real sense of perspective.
Even if you only drive once in a blue moon and hire a car now and then.

London and Paris are totally different places visited by car vs visited by Metro/Underground.

One can become very 'stuck in a rut' just going to work every day on the same metro route.

Also, what do you do if you want to occasionally go to a big out of town store ? I know you can have things delivered, but it starts to become quite expensive and inflexible.

humanji · 19-02-2014 06:44PM

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

Depends on where I want to travel to, took the car over to Britain a few years ago and toured most of the country.

And if you're travelling further than Britain?

SpaceTime · 19-02-2014 06:45PM

humanji wrote: »

And if you're travelling further than Britain?

You fly and hire a car!

Or, get on a ferry and do a mad Euro-Road Trip.

I've ended up on holidays in places that turned out to be very dull in reality when I got there and when you have access to a car at least you can explore really interesting places.

Like for example, I was in SE Spain recently and I saw absolutely stunning places that were way off the beaten track and that I'd never have seen by public transport or if I'd just stayed in some dull resort on the coast.

Likewise, I drove the old routes of the Roman roads in Tuscany and saw absolutely cool places, that I would definitely never have had the ability to explore without a car.

Blowfish · 19-02-2014 06:46PM

SpaceTime wrote: »

Ireland is extremely hard to function in without at least being able to drive a car. Owning one isn't necessary, but even if you live and work in an urban area it's vital to be able to drive for some things.

Like what? I'm 28 and haven't found the need for it yet.

HooohRaaah wrote: »

How do all the people who can't drive manage to get the bags from the weekly shopping home?

There are 2 supermarkets, plus numerous smaller shops within a couple of minutes walk from my place, all of which are directly on my 15 minute walk home from work. Even if I did drive, I wouldn't bother using it for shopping as it's easier just to pop in as needed on my way home, plus you end up with fresher food.

Most other day to day things are in walking distance, if not then I'll either cycle or if I'm feeling lazy hop on the bus/luas/dart. The only time I'd use a taxi really would be after a night out, which you wouldn't drive home from anyway.

Driving is still useful of course, but for me personally the cost isn't worth the benefits I'd get out of it.

Tonyandthewhale · 19-02-2014 06:48PM

shs08 wrote: »

Many graduate and professional jobs require you to be able to drive.

And many professional jobs don't require you to be able to drive. I'm in a field where this is the case as are a lot of 'grown men' who don't or can't drive I'd imagine.
I understand that there are more 'prestigious' than taxi-driver or delivery man that might also require the ability to drive. If I was a health inspector for instance I might be expected to travel around the country inspecting kitchens and the like and driving might be the only practical way to do this. But then again I don't have a degree in health inspectory so it's irrelevant to me anyway.

SpaceTime · 19-02-2014 06:48PM

I think the desire to learn to drive is a bit like this:

Some people see a hill and go : oh look the hill.
Other people want to be able to get to the other side of that hill and see what's there.

I honestly think being able to drive where you want, when you want anywhere in the country / world is one of the greatest freedoms of the modern technological age, right up there with flying and probably far more fundamental than the internet in many ways.

Honestly, without the ability to drive a car, I would feel very, very restricted.

Even if you go back to the pre-technological age, most people had access to a horse if they wanted to go somewhere interesting.
So, it's not like having personal transport is new, but cars absolutely transformed how we live.

humanji · 19-02-2014 06:49PM

MadYaker wrote: »

People who say you never have a need for a car. What if on a Friday evening you decide you want to go to Kerry or west Galway or some other place for the weekend. What if you want to go hiking or surfing or all the other awesome stuff that requires you to go off the beaten track?

I live in Galway where public transport is sh!t and the only people who use it are people who can't afford to run a car. I guess from my point of view having a car gives me a lot more freedom. If I decide I want to go somewhere I get in my car and go. I don't have to worry about bus timetables or routes or any of that restricting me.

As I said before, if you don't drive, you can still survive. Driving simply makes life easier.

Blowfish · 19-02-2014 06:52PM

SpaceTime wrote: »

Some people see a hill and go : oh look the hill.
Other people want to be able to get to the other side of that hill and see what's there.

Doesn't really work, given that there are multiple ways up the hill. Personally, I'd cycle up the hill to see what's on the other side.

SpaceTime · 19-02-2014 06:53PM

Blowfish wrote: »

Doesn't really work, given that there are multiple ways up the hill. Personally, I'd cycle up the hill to see what's on the other side.

It's a metaphor : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor

Replace hill, with explore the entire West Coast of Scotland or browse France.

Hitchens · 19-02-2014 06:54PM

jamesbere wrote: »

You would walk across cork city in 3 hours,

...and if you were in a hurry you could go by boat.............at the moment like

Grown Men who can't drive. Do you find them weird?

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