To open my window on the bus

Lucky you. Others don't feel the same.

It's like a game of bingo
covid ✔️
public transport ✔️
teacher ✔️
goady inflammatory posts ✔️
I think we can call house

I am immune comprised and also have a severe respiratory condition.

I have been advise by many health professionals to stay as warm as possible during the winter months and limit cold air / drafts. I am susceptible to chest infections which leave me hospitalised and hooked up to machines.

Asthma and lung UK even state cold air can make things worse!

She has Raynaud's. She very well could end up being off sick because of the window being open. And even if by chance she didn't end up being off sick, she should just sit crying in absolute agony all day, unable to write or learn because of the pain, because you are so much more important than her? Talk about self centered and self absorbed!

And no, don't try and invent some convoluted scenario in which someone is going to have their life put at risk by the windows being open.
Several people have given non-convoluted, real-life scenarios that could put their lives at risk. Are you calling them all liars?

If I sound angry, it is because I am angry. How did we end up with such a self centred, self absorbed selfish population?
I'm afraid you could look in the mirror and answer that one perhaps. Why are other people being selfish, but you aren't?

I see so many other people over ruled and bullied when they are just trying to get to their place of work safely.
So you will become the bully because you are right and they are wrong?

Don't be daft. I have arthritis myself. None of those things are going to mean you are incapacitated by sitting on a bus with a window open 😂
YOU don't be daft. You are lucky your arthritis isn't affected by the cold. I have arthritis and I can go out in the cold and because I'm moving and my joints are warm, I'm okay, but if I sit still for a while somewhere cold I literally seize up. No it won't hospitalise me, luckily, but it will incapacitate me and I could easily fall and smash my face in. Which would.

I totally understand why you want the window open, but you are incredibly narrow minded to think because you are a teacher your needs somehow trump others. You could get a better mask that help eliminate more germs. As others have said, you are more likely to pick up any germs from school rather than the bus.

Personally I'm happy with the draught in my face ... better than warm germ filled air

It doesn't cool the air in an even fashion though. The person behind the window suffers from a blast of cold air, which is unpleasant. I think if opening the window just dropped the temperature evenly for everyone, there wouldn't be such opposition. As it is, it tends to be rather uncomfortable for anyone in the firing line of the draught.

Whilst there maybe a very small minority of people who have medical conditions which means they can't take the cold...I'd say the vast majority of people on buses who are closing windows just want to be warm for comfort. I honestly don't understand why. All those people crowded together, windows covered in condensation, warm environments.... absolutely disgusting

I'd suggest moving nearer to the school you teach at, so you don't have to deal with public transport.

@Januarydayssss
Does she actually lean over everybody to do this? 😲

I have trigeminal neuralgia and having a draft on my face is agonising. I can't work with a flare up and it can last for months. It's horrific and I'm not sure I can cope with another episode. However if you explained you needed the window open I would try and compromise by moving seats or holding something over my face because I realise I'm not the only person in the world that is unwell.
I can't believe how dismissive you are of other people's health issues but expect everyone to be so considerate of yours.

I am also immunocompromised OP, so you have my sympathies there, but I Dont think our needs trump any one elses. I would also rather be cold than warm, so again I do appreciate where your coming from. But there are other valid medical conditions that need to avoid wi dows being open - asthma for example, a chill in the air can bring on an attack, pollen & even pollution can also bring on an asthma attack.

But that’s exactly what we’re saying. No one’s needs should automatically trump someone else’s.

What we’re saying is that everyone should at least consider the well being of others around you on public transport, and there’s no single right or wrong answer to whether the windows should be open or shut.

It’s the OP who’s insisting she has some divine right that trumps EVERYONE else in ALL circumstances.

It sounds like buses with set windows are a good idea. Then there's no issue and no choice. Air con or heating only.

Glad I don't ever have to take the bus.

@notknowledgeable I am not immunocompromised but I like the windows open for a variety of reasons... Why does someone who likes the window shut get to trump us just because they like the window shut? It's ridiculous.

Isn't that essentially what happ3ns when the door open and shuts....

Arthritis? Maybe not.
MS - absolutely.
Or MS scary sibling - Transverse Myelitis.

Both of these conditions, and many many others are significantly impacted from cold. Especially a rush of cold when a window is opened/held open near them.

Both of these conditions have a symptom called a hug (and it's not a nice hug - imagine a vice crushing around your ribs while someone force punches you in the sternum with a brick, while you fight to breathe as your larynx slams shut.

This most definitely does land us in hospital.

If we can avoid the hug (which is terrifying to us and those around us), there is also laryngospasm which can also be caused by that open window of yours. An open window in a room is different to an open window on a moving vehicle that continuously pushes cold air into the lungs.

But, you're more important that anyone else of course. As long as you get your open window who cares about anyone else around you?

I agree

Bus windows being open makes me feel ill. Smoke from vehicles outside comes in, plus it's so much noisier and I struggle to cope with that. I much prefer keeping them closed.

In fairness, there’s a difference between a brief wait - potentially at a sheltered bus stop - and spending 30-45 minutes sat immobile with a cold wind blasting directly at you through the window as the bus hurtles up and down the bypass (an example from a PP).

My nan could manage a short walk to the bus stop further down her road and hopping off at the stop right outside the day centre. Put her in a freezing cold bus while sat immobile for the journey and she’d be completely seized up and struggling to move. One thing is not the same as the other.

I like an open window tbh but I think it’s important to recognise that this isn’t one solution fits all.

Put it far more succinctly than I did!

YOUR compromise is bursts of fresh air. Ours has had to be him never going on the bus so he has no independence.

The simple fact is that when you want a "burst" of fresh air you will open the window and that "burst" could hospitalise someone. And will you make sure you close the window again? Or will you, as usually happens, get off the bus and not give it another thought?

My point isnt that other people should do what suits my father best simply because I only know him and his issues, and no more should they do that for the OP or your family members. Sometimes we have to go with "least worst". All I am getting from the OP is that she has no evidence whatsoever that her illnesses have been caused by being on the bus, especially when considering her job. There is no evidence that not having a window open on a bus will cause her to become ill. She has just decided that because a window open is what she wants, and she isnt getting it, that its all the selfish public transport users who are to blame. Not the person who sneezed in the supermarket 30 seconds before she walked around the corner, or the kid who was sent to school less than 24 hours after Noro and isnt that great at washing their hands, or the colleague who's kid has flu and hung their coat up next to hers after the kid snotted on it that morning......

All manner of things can cause problems when you have a chronic (and in some cases life threatening) condition, and its up to you to manage it. Thats what we have done but it seems like the OP wants to make the world turn her way instead of trying to find a way to make her own life easier. Frankly I am more concerned about her stress levels than anything else!

But I think that’s the point @Dismaljanuary isnt it? That we all understand there are people with varying health needs and it’s not just about what we want.

The mature thing to do is to check with those around you before opening/closing windows and to try and compromise as much as possible.

In extreme cases it might be preferable for one party to move to another seat if opening/closing is a very big problem.

Unfortunately the OP is insisting that she’s the ONLY person with a valid health concern or an important job, and as such, the atmosphere on public transport must always be entirely catered to her.