this post was submitted on 15 May 2024
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Memes

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[–] [email protected] 46 points 3 months ago (9 children)

Is this a red/blue state reference I'm too non-American to understand?

[–] [email protected] 73 points 3 months ago (1 children)

No, it’s just about 4,700 km.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, living in a country you can travel from border to border on a train in 12 hours has some benefits to it

[–] [email protected] 37 points 3 months ago (2 children)

This would be possible in the US also if the government was willing to put money into bullet trains but like whatever I guess.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

The people in the meme are at about Seattle and NYC, which is a little over 3k miles apart (by car). You'd need to be going 250mph for the entire 12 hours to make that distance. A quick google search says that the maximum operating speed of a bullet train is 200mph, but tests have been conducted at 275mph.

So, you'd need to go non-stop at 125% max speed to make the trip in 12 hours. Even if you went at 275mph, realistically you'd make a lot of stops along the way, which is going to make the average speed a lot lower. Trains are great, but the US is really big.

Bonus fact: a non-stop flight from Seattle to NYC takes about 5.5 hours.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I love me some bullet trains, but there is a certain distance that makes planes way more viable.

There should be a lot more (and higher quality) high speed rail between cities of moderate distance, however.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

Chinese high speed train network operates at 120–240 mph, and their maglev (very short, very expensive, very fast train route from Shanghai airport to the city centre) had the record at 268 mph. Plus, railroad may be slightly shorter due to how it is designed if the road isn't near straight already.

But yes, 3000 miles is a lot and maybe 12 hours will not be achievable for a long time yet

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, all the electric train startups were bought up and closed down by diesel train companies decades ago, and the majority of the rail lines are owned by freight companies as well. This is partly why public train transit is so bad: the government has to lease the tracks from the freight companies, who get priority on the lines over public trains, meaning that if there's freight traffic the commuter rail has to wait for the freight lines to go through first.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

decades ago? those people are all dead now. let's try again.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

If it’s germany, if one of you lives in the north and the other in the south, it’s cheaper to fly to Mallorca and meet there.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

If it's the UK it's cheaper to meet in a random ass village in Lapland. (Or Mallorca).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Yeah, I tried trains in Germany and Italy, the prices were crazy 🤣

[–] [email protected] 55 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Queer folks have a bad habit of falling in love with people on the other side of the country.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think this is a problem for people of every sexuality.

[–] Maven 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's often especially bad in queer/minority communities because the dating pool is much smaller.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

That makes sense. Anybody who has less compatible dating options than average for whatever reason is more likely to run into this.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

Or planet.

[Sighs in time zone ten hours out of sync with crush]

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

Ah. Thank you.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

No, it's about 2 people talking online, and there's some 5 billion dish machines distance between them making the travel difficult or expensive

[–] [email protected] 34 points 3 months ago (1 children)

anything but the metric system

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago
[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Two people met online and live on opposite sides of the country.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Right, but that's not humorous.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

I think for people who have had long distance relationships it kinda is. Like I would say something like that to my ex, but we both knew it was impossible. Sort of a dark humor but you do what you have to do in those situations

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago

My thought was that it's an obscure joke about the two Washingtons in the USA. Like, the state in the north-west corner is called "Washington" and then there's the capital city of the USA on the east coast, called "Washington, D.C.".

But Washington, D.C., is further south from where the person is placed, so I'm guessing not...

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

See Also

Lesbian bed death

This has been an informative 5 minutes

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'm an American and also don't see the humor in it.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago (4 children)

I think the joke is your public transport.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What does that have to do with anything? Or is it just a "haha America bad"?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (8 children)
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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

They're both in coastal states that aren't in the southeast, so odds are they're both blue.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Coming out next fall: RvB: Politics

[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Just fold the map in half, like in Event Horizon.

Shit worked out fine.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Or a Mad Magazine Fold-In

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 months ago

I wish the East Coast person was in Portland, ME

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago

I had worse one time, met a Quebec girl, she introduced me to a friend, a guy from Martinique. And i'm from France...

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Pfft I'm in the us and mine was in Australia. That shit lasted longer than some of our IRL relationships.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

Careful with the distance ones. A girl I worked with left her spouse and took her kids to AUS to be with her dream partner; who only forgot to disclose the fact that he was a high level drug dealer. Sometimes you miss out on important details like that, so just be careful.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I've been in a long distance relationship for 5 years now, still gong strong!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

How do you make it work? I've been in a few but after a while the heartache from missing them gets unbearable.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

I feel like "making it work" often is working towards a long term goal of living together in the future

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago

Hey there Delilah..

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

I'm in this picture and I don't like it

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Literally me every time I find someone bearable

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