To open my window on the bus

[notknowledgeable]

It seems to be a mission for some people to fight to have all the windows on the bus closed, for all of every journey? Why? Before covid this wasn't an issue - now it seems people have a point to make.

I get there can be a chilly draught, but just put your coat on, or put your hood up?

I am immunocompromised, and wear a mask and open the window on my way to and from work. Every single time I get ill, ( currently a couple of times a month) my classes are left with non specialist agency staff. I take all the precautions I reasonably can to keep from catching anything, but this constant battle on the bus every working day is really wearing my down.

All the windows are open and I stay more than 2m away.

well, there is no other way to get to work, and no one else prepared to do my job, so either I travel by bus, or a couple more hundred children don't get taught in a core subject.

Do you have children in school? Do you prefer it when those children have teachers?

Oh come on op all your windows are open and you stay more than 2m away from your students!! How's that work then?!

what utter rubbish you're spouting

Exactly. It would drive me nuts.

That is a laughable argument. So all bus windows should be opened to suit you and your needs?

Why do those that want it closed get to choose?

Why have them at all!

Do you wear a mask?
It's unacceptable that you are off work twice monthly.

If people want teachers in schools, people are going to have to make it possible for the immunocompromised ones to get to schools ( 4 out of the 6 in my department, incidentally)

Yes I wear a mask, and no, I am unlikely to be off work twice monthly if there wasn't this bloody battle of the windows every day.

I take it a lift share with a colleague isn't possible?

If I've been waiting ages for the bus and get on and have to freeze some more, especially if it's been raining then I'm totally against windows open.

But when it's stuffy it's fine.

I'm lucky my most used bus is a smallish single decker, that's new and airy.

sadly no, no one comes in from the same direction at the same time.

It does amuse me when someone gets on and arranges the atmosphere to their liking without acknowledging anyone else’s existence. Bold move.

Having the window open doesn't exactly bring in loads of fresh air - it's normally just a load of exhaust fumes.

I don’t think your needs and preferences trump everyone else’s. Most people don’t like to travel with the windows open in January because most people don’t like to be uncomfortably cold. Of course they’re going to shut windows if they’re freezing, or indeed if they would rather not be inhaling traffic fumes. The air on most busy bus routes is far from ‘fresh’ and just as your fellow passengers don’t know that you’re immunocompromised, you don’t know if any of your fellow passengers have health conditions affected by air quality.

Also, from an environmental point of view, opening windows on a heated bus means an awful lot of energy is being wasted.

Why do your needs and job trump everyone else's, though?

It’s January. Windows should be closed in a moving vehicle, unless the heating is doing its job well. The heating never seems to do it’s job well on busses.

Anything that involves making others uncomfortable for your own benefit is selfish.

It might be time to learn to drive, OP!

I do find it interesting though that you're blaming the bus rather than a room full of children for your illnesses. On balance, it's probably both.

I am not able to drive for medical reasons.

And yes, some of the infections I catch might be from school. But the school does everything it can to protect immunocompromised teachers - all windows open, no crossing crowded corridors, etc. The bus is a far more likely suspect in most cases

Nobody has a NEED for the windows to be closed on the bus - many people have a need for them to be open

But those people sitting in the bus are going to be getting off and walking outside. They will have coats on. They will have been waiting outside at the bus stop. Unless you're a newborn baby or very elderly or it's arctic conditions, being a little bit cold is not the end of the world. I'd rather be a bit chilly on a bus journey than pick up a virus and be unwell for a week.

It's a communal environment, so you have to negotiate and potentially go with the majority wishes.

Your needs don't trump everyone else's. Others may have equally good health reasons for wanting the window shut.