I’m pissed off and if you’re not in the mood for some angry words, but hit the back button. It’s Day 5 of the public transit strike. I’ve put out $45 in parking fees and then was hit this morning with a $115.50 ticket from the Philadelphia police. I was merging into traffic and crossed over a solid line. A cop appeared, pulled me over, and slapped me a nice $115.50 fine.
In the past week, I’ve dealt with long hours at work, fighting to get a parking space in a lot, walking to get to my work from the parking lot, and then dealing with traffic to and from work. But I have nothing to complain about compared to some children who can’t get to school. A friend of me told me that her son’s class has a 30% absentee rate—and that some of the teachers can’t even make it to school.
What about the businesses in Philadelphia? Restaurants are reporting big losses because people aren’t staying in town after work (or they’re not coming in via the buses). No one feels like dealing with all the traffic if they don’t have to. So what I am pissed off about? Not only is the strike still going on, but the two sides aren’t even talking. What disgusts me more than anything is that the low quality service that commuters have has been stopped. So your choice is either: Car pool, drive in, or take a regional rail (which was reporting delays of up to 90 minutes yesterday).
What I would like to see happen is to take the union boss and SEPTA management and force them to try and get to work each day without public transportation. For all the mothers out there who are struggling to get your kids into daycare so that you can get to work on time, I feel for you. I may be having a rotten time with the strike, but at least I have the choice of driving in (and getting a ticket for a mistake I made)! Many people do not have a choice. Philadelphia is about to enter a busy time of year: The holiday season. SEPTA is losing money, businesses are losing out, and in the long run SEPTA workers and the union will also suffer. Ridership will continue to decrease and people will remember the strike and find other ways to get to work.
So what’s my suggestion: Get the two sides together and formulate a plan. Understand that the public transit system sucks, is rumored to be riddled with corruption, and mismanagement, and deal with the problems. However, the chance of the problem ever being solved is beyond imagining. The Second Coming will probably happen first. I have very little faith that the union (I have no respect for in what I’ve seen and read in the papers—their leader is actually smirking that he has Philadelphia commuters where he wants them—in the palm of his hand) will act honorably. There is only so much money to go around. With rider levels decreasing and the operating costs increasing, where is the money going to come from?
Stop wasting your time and the riders time: Work out a deal. But again, I doubt that’s going to happen soon. Many people might wonder about Philadelphia and the status of it being a city and I would say this: I am so tired of the city. In growing up, I used to call the city a “cultural wasteland.” But before I wax too negative, I will say this:
Philadelphia has a beautiful Please Touch Museum (for children), the Rodin Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I’d also put the Academy of Sciences and the Franklin Institute up there on a list of things to see in the city.
As we all try and get through this public transit strike, I wanted to take some time out to release my frustration and bitch. To put the words on paper and to express my frustration and being a pawn in a battle between the union and SEPTA management. When over 400,000 people are being affected by the strike and to learn that talks aren’t even taking place between the opposing sides, I can only shake my head in disbelief and say that both sides are losing site of their customers and the support of the riders. When your business is to help people with transportation and you’ve shut down the entire city of all the major buses and subways and aren’t talking to solve the problem, you can beat that the disdain of the average everyday commuter will grow, grow, and be remembered.
We will remember and the loss in business will affect your bottom line.
To end on a good note: Philadelphia, you can have the city of brotherly love. I need a break from her right now. She’s a city that I’ve seen enough of for a bit. But I put up the picture of a fountain with a rainbow to express hope. I do not have hope that the problems with the Philadelphia transit authority will be worked out. The mismanagement has been going on for decades. Rather I’m talking about the hope of better days to come. A day in which I will shake off my frustration and angst and smile and laugh. About something my son did, or a funny moment in life, or at the joy of succeeding in a personal goal. With the world being filled with frustration and angst (and traffic jams!), I want to waste no more time on the sad story of the strike. I do not wish to validate or give my words to a sorry affair. I needed to clean my palate of the foul taste and to just release my frustration in a healthy and constructive way. I release all that bullshit and let it go. Bye bye.
There are fountains to see with rainbows and things all blue to be seen. Look up, out, and smile. My time will come. Je t’aime.
Pissed Off
In the past week, I’ve dealt with long hours at work, fighting to get a parking space in a lot, walking to get to my work from the parking lot, and then dealing with traffic to and from work. But I have nothing to complain about compared to some children who can’t get to school. A friend of me told me that her son’s class has a 30% absentee rate—and that some of the teachers can’t even make it to school.
What about the businesses in Philadelphia? Restaurants are reporting big losses because people aren’t staying in town after work (or they’re not coming in via the buses). No one feels like dealing with all the traffic if they don’t have to. So what I am pissed off about? Not only is the strike still going on, but the two sides aren’t even talking. What disgusts me more than anything is that the low quality service that commuters have has been stopped. So your choice is either: Car pool, drive in, or take a regional rail (which was reporting delays of up to 90 minutes yesterday).
What I would like to see happen is to take the union boss and SEPTA management and force them to try and get to work each day without public transportation. For all the mothers out there who are struggling to get your kids into daycare so that you can get to work on time, I feel for you. I may be having a rotten time with the strike, but at least I have the choice of driving in (and getting a ticket for a mistake I made)! Many people do not have a choice. Philadelphia is about to enter a busy time of year: The holiday season. SEPTA is losing money, businesses are losing out, and in the long run SEPTA workers and the union will also suffer. Ridership will continue to decrease and people will remember the strike and find other ways to get to work.
So what’s my suggestion: Get the two sides together and formulate a plan. Understand that the public transit system sucks, is rumored to be riddled with corruption, and mismanagement, and deal with the problems. However, the chance of the problem ever being solved is beyond imagining. The Second Coming will probably happen first. I have very little faith that the union (I have no respect for in what I’ve seen and read in the papers—their leader is actually smirking that he has Philadelphia commuters where he wants them—in the palm of his hand) will act honorably. There is only so much money to go around. With rider levels decreasing and the operating costs increasing, where is the money going to come from?
Stop wasting your time and the riders time: Work out a deal. But again, I doubt that’s going to happen soon. Many people might wonder about Philadelphia and the status of it being a city and I would say this: I am so tired of the city. In growing up, I used to call the city a “cultural wasteland.” But before I wax too negative, I will say this:
Philadelphia has a beautiful Please Touch Museum (for children), the Rodin Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I’d also put the Academy of Sciences and the Franklin Institute up there on a list of things to see in the city.
As we all try and get through this public transit strike, I wanted to take some time out to release my frustration and bitch. To put the words on paper and to express my frustration and being a pawn in a battle between the union and SEPTA management. When over 400,000 people are being affected by the strike and to learn that talks aren’t even taking place between the opposing sides, I can only shake my head in disbelief and say that both sides are losing site of their customers and the support of the riders. When your business is to help people with transportation and you’ve shut down the entire city of all the major buses and subways and aren’t talking to solve the problem, you can beat that the disdain of the average everyday commuter will grow, grow, and be remembered.
We will remember and the loss in business will affect your bottom line.
To end on a good note: Philadelphia, you can have the city of brotherly love. I need a break from her right now. She’s a city that I’ve seen enough of for a bit. But I put up the picture of a fountain with a rainbow to express hope. I do not have hope that the problems with the Philadelphia transit authority will be worked out. The mismanagement has been going on for decades. Rather I’m talking about the hope of better days to come. A day in which I will shake off my frustration and angst and smile and laugh. About something my son did, or a funny moment in life, or at the joy of succeeding in a personal goal. With the world being filled with frustration and angst (and traffic jams!), I want to waste no more time on the sad story of the strike. I do not wish to validate or give my words to a sorry affair. I needed to clean my palate of the foul taste and to just release my frustration in a healthy and constructive way. I release all that bullshit and let it go. Bye bye.
There are fountains to see with rainbows and things all blue to be seen. Look up, out, and smile. My time will come. Je t’aime.
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