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   Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:28:51 JST Evan Prodromou

   Wow, what a strange poll.

   I'm "train". I love taking them. It can be tough if the place you're going doesn't have good regional public transportation, but otherwise very fun.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:33:27 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     The comments on this were wild! People brought a lot of context in that I didn't anticipate.

     First was, "I prefer trains but that's not possible so cars". The question is "what is preferred", so it's interesting that people replied otherwise.

     Second was, "No trains in my home town", which is also weird because the question doesn't ask about your home town or country.

     I'll take those assumptions into account for future polls of this style.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:41:25 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Scott Kellum :typetura:

     @scott that's just objectively untrue. There are Amtrak lines all over the US.

     https://www.amtrak.com/plan-your-trip.html

   • Embed this notice
     Scott Kellum :typetura: (scott@typetura.social)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:41:26 JST Scott Kellum :typetura:

     in reply to

     @evan I would also prefer to have good public transport at my destination. As a US person taking this poll it was entirely hypothetical and not based in reality. Yes I would prefer the train but that is almost never an option.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:47:14 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • mr_eking

     @mr_eking what state?

     https://www.amtrak.com/plan-your-trip.html

   • Embed this notice
     mr_eking (mr_eking@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:47:15 JST mr_eking

     in reply to

     @evan I missed the poll, but ... I live in the southwest US where trains for transportation are not a common thing. It would be hard for me to call trains my "preferred mode" even if I were to think that I'd use them more if they were more available. I would still answer "Car".

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:49:53 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Greg

     @Greg it's definitely contextual!

     If I ask, "Do you prefer cake or ice cream?" you can kind of guess that I'm talking about an abstract preference.

     If I am pushing a dessert cart and ask the same question, you'd expect that I'm asking which of the available options you want.

   • Embed this notice
     Greg (greg@social.coop)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:49:54 JST Greg

     in reply to

     • Brion Vibber :blobcatcoffee:​

     @brion @evan yeah, if "preferred" was meant to elicit "in an ideal world scenario" than that should have been said.

     If I was forced to not use a car to do that length trip around here I would not prefer it :P

   • Embed this notice
     Brion Vibber :blobcatcoffee:​ (brion@bikeshed.vibber.net)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:49:55 JST Brion Vibber :blobcatcoffee:​

     in reply to

     @evan interesting! my interpretation was certainly that I should choose what I would choose for a typical trip of that length in reality

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:57:38 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Scott Kellum :typetura:

     @scott actually you said they're almost never an option.

     It sounds like they *are* an option quite often, but you prefer not to take them because they're inconvenient, expensive, have delays, are annoying, don't have good services at the terminals, etc.

   • Embed this notice
     Scott Kellum :typetura: (scott@typetura.social)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:57:39 JST Scott Kellum :typetura:

     in reply to

     @evan Hm, I wasn’t saying we have no train infrastructure, I was saying it’s not great. My LA to SD trip is inconvenient and expensive and there is little infrastructure in SD to arrive to.

     My DC to NYC trips the train has been ok. A little annoying on the DC side.

     DC to ATL Amtrak runs on rail owned by shipping companies, who get priority and almost always results in delays. That said, the sleeper car experience is nice.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:59:13 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • mr_eking

     @mr_eking that preference makes sense.

   • Embed this notice
     mr_eking (mr_eking@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 02:59:14 JST mr_eking

     in reply to

     @evan Arizona. To get to a train, I'd have to use a car and drive a non-trivial distance. For a trip as short as the poll mentioned, I'd much prefer to just stay in the car for the whole trip.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 03:38:08 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Christopher Neugebauer
     • Greg

     @chrisjrn @Greg not exactly, but it's a polite idiom.

   • Embed this notice
     Christopher Neugebauer (chrisjrn@social.coop)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 03:38:09 JST Christopher Neugebauer

     in reply to

     • Greg

     @evan @Greg Even then "which do you prefer" is not the same question as "which do you want right now"