Train Rider Steriotypes | Squat the Planet

Train Rider Steriotypes

st1tch

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When I watched the Wedding Train (if you haven't seen it, I wouldn't advise watching it, just to give you an idea, it's a doc about train riders, and the one guy gets so drunk he throws his girlfriends puppy into a fire, and then goes on to beat her), I thought, "Holy fuck, people like this exist?!?!" and then I thought, "A lot of people generalize travelers as moronic, drunken, violent idiots like these people!"

After being on this site for even as short a period of time as I have, everyone seems very intelligent, "civilized"-if I can be so bold- even. Yet still this generalization lives on.

So my question is, are there a lot of stupid, violent travelers that just aren't on this site? Are the majority of people you meet on the road cool? Or are they candidates for the Wedding Train 2? I'm just curious, because all of the hoppers I've met in real life are just as cool as everyone on this site seems to be.
 

Dameon

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There's a pretty decent amount of junkie, violent, stupid train hoppers I've met. I wouldn't say they make up the majority, but there's definitely a good amount of them out there. They just don't tend to last long on this site, I suppose.
 

st1tch

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There's a pretty decent amount of junkie, violent, stupid train hoppers I've met. I wouldn't say they make up the majority, but there's definitely a good amount of them out there. They just don't tend to last long on this site, I suppose.

I would have to say that the majority of people I meet, I would rather avoid than kick it with.

I guess I just had some fantasy ideal that all train hoppers would be super cool, intelligent people like they are here. Fuck.
 

drunken marauder

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Everybody knows that I'm a scum bag.... Nah just kidding but yea I dont know there out there.. They tend to find you before you find them..
 

Dirty Rig

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There's a pretty decent amount of junkie, violent, stupid train hoppers I've met. I wouldn't say they make up the majority, but there's definitely a good amount of them out there.

Yeah, this is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. I've met plenty of fucking assholes out there that have warranted and received bootparties. It's not uncommon for me to have to share a squat with some junkie piece of shit or a prick who hits his dog. Those people are out there, but that doesn't mean you have to be their friend. A lot of new kids are easily attracted to the "tribal mentality" that might seem apparently when this lifestyle first becomes available to them. And speaking for most kids I've met on the road, that mentality does exist among many people. But it's also dangerous. People will fuck you up if you're too trusting. Just because he's got a UP patch on his jacket doesn't mean he won't make off with yer pack while you're asleep.

On a tangent, we were having fun in another thread about more friendly stereotypes of dirty kids (dogs, guitars, stick'n'pokes), but this is an unfortunate stereotype of a lot of travelers and certain broader connotations come with the "homelessness" association as well. Optimistically, though, every sub-culture or counter-culture has negative stereotypes they struggle to disprove, but in the long run, I'm just gonna watch my ass and hang out with cool people.
 

Bendixontherails

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Also, assholes get remembered. They tend to be loudmouth, worthless, thoroughly useless people,often thieves and tweeker douchebags, who are unfortunately often someone's first impression on our 'world/lifestyle/scene/whatever'.
 

whaleofashrimp

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the problem with many sterotypes is that many of them are based on actualy observation
of first impressions
Everyone has a core of decency to them when you get to know them ptroblem is most people arent willing
 

veggieguy12

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Being on this site requires a bit of people that kinda screens out some of the most absolutely incompetent and strung-out: Libraries don't let "visitor Internet" computers go to nod-off'ers, and you gotta remember a username and be able to do basic computer stuff. Y'know, it's kid's stuff, really, but I'm sure it keeps some people filtered out.
 

compass

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Damn, what a bunch of anti-social assholes. Just kidding, I'd have to agree with y'all. I rarely see anyone at catchouts or riding, but the ones I do meet aren't exactly my idea of good company. I have also met some really nice good people.
 

oldmanLee

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hitching,catching out,rubbertramping,or just plain wandering,you're going to meet folks that could,to borrow a line"use a little killin'",but trying to get together with folks that are indeed worth a damn is part of the reason for this site.And if you survive the assholes,not only are you stronger,but what stories!
 

wartomods

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not to mention sometimes is much easier to sound and act nice in the internet, internet personas does not equal real life.
 
M

Monkeywrench

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One traveling kid's "Scumfuck" is another traveling kid's "down ass super chill homie", know what I mean?

There are stereotypes and terrible people in every facet of any culture. Unfortunately, our specific nomadic culture allows for some pretty awful life choices and self-destructive behaviors. ie throwing fucking puppies into fires, drinking to the point of beating one another up, stabbings, heroin, dying on the tracks, etc etc.

Some people learn from it. Some people have the right head on their shoulders to never act like that to begin with. Some people just want to drink and be dickfaces all of the time.

It takes all kinds. The Wedding Train kids aren't even the worst of the worst--but I sure as hell wouldn't want to kick it around them at all. Don't let that movie freak you out. There are a bunch more docs about us that I think portray us fairly well. :)
 

Dirty Rig

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I've been seing a lot more the sugar-coated, over-romanticized and glorified stereotype of riding trains lately. Especially when I'm selling my story. Positive stereotypes are just as irritating as the negative ones. There's not much glamorous about my "crazy gypsy lifestyle". It's not all boxcars and blunts. More often then not, I'm sitting a bush somewhere, drinking a 40 and reading a book. The 17 hours you spend riding that gondola will be one of the most enjoyable experiences of your life. The two days you spend WAITING for it are not. The good times definitely outweigh the bad, but I think a lot of people outside the counter-culture will side with one of the two stereotypes: the kerouacian "just a boy and his dog, roaming the country and sleeping outdoors", or the trainspotting-style junkie living in a delapidated warehouse. Being told to get a job and kick drugs is just as infuriating as hearing "Oh, I wish I could do that! But I have this car payment..."
 

st1tch

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Well, there's a consensus here that there are going to be assholes in any scene, which- now that I think about it- is pretty obvious, no group or subculture will ever be perfect.

And I agree with Dirty Rig that often times riding trains as a way of transportation (which is what it is) is glorified, and that to look at it as more then a not-so-convenient mode of transportation- with some beautiful views- is going to skew what it entails on the whole.

Wartomods, I disagree somewhat. Although it IS easy to be nice on the internet- with all the time you get to make an educated, polite response- stupid assholes usually don't care to take the time to make an appreciated and useful response. I've been on other forums where you can tell that these people are loser dickheads who get an ego boost from telling people off on the internet.
 

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