Transit Strike
Since my inbox is filling up with curious onlookers wanting to know what I'mm doing about the transit strike, I thought I'd just put it up here. I'm surprised anyone thinks commuting is that interesting.
No subways are running. It's freezing out. This morning I rode to work in my roommate's boss's SUV. There were four of us so we were fine -- have to have four people per vehicle to get into the city. After work, I am walking six blocks to my church for our Traveler's Christmas Eve service. After that, I could catch a taxi and go home. But, I will probably just find a couch to sleep on in Manhattan, as the night will mostly be over anyway. I could go about this two ways. 1) I could go to a bar, get drunk with a bunch of strangers and see who would inevitably try to lure me back to their lair (this happened a lot during the blackout -- there was reportedly lots of "blackout sex" and even a few "blackout relationships" that sprung from that night or 2) I could go sleep at my friend Sophie's. She has a very comfortable couch. I guess I'll go to Sophie's, I don't have the heart to go be cheery at a bar. This transit strike has a lot more suck to it than the blackout did; that was definitely more of a party. This is just... cold and annoying. However, it's nice to see that the city doesn't screech to a halt just because we have neither cars OR trains. We're unstoppable.
As for the strike, I know I'm supposed to be a dyed in the wool Democrat and union supporter and all that, but as a former member of a (weak) union, I am just having trouble mustering much sympathy for these guys. They get paid mid to high five figures (i.e., more than I make in a bad year) to drive trains around in a circle all day; are we to give them greater recompense simply for their boredom? If they don't like the job, it's an open market guys, go elsewhere. And they want their pensions at 55 instead of 62? I mean, I'd want to retire early too if I had to live a subterranian existence for 35 years, but that's 10 years or MORE earlier than most americans could hope to retire. I don't know, seems like they have it pretty decent to me. Making millions of grumpy New Yorkers hoof it in weather that seems to have come from the moon is not earning them much sympathy.
No subways are running. It's freezing out. This morning I rode to work in my roommate's boss's SUV. There were four of us so we were fine -- have to have four people per vehicle to get into the city. After work, I am walking six blocks to my church for our Traveler's Christmas Eve service. After that, I could catch a taxi and go home. But, I will probably just find a couch to sleep on in Manhattan, as the night will mostly be over anyway. I could go about this two ways. 1) I could go to a bar, get drunk with a bunch of strangers and see who would inevitably try to lure me back to their lair (this happened a lot during the blackout -- there was reportedly lots of "blackout sex" and even a few "blackout relationships" that sprung from that night or 2) I could go sleep at my friend Sophie's. She has a very comfortable couch. I guess I'll go to Sophie's, I don't have the heart to go be cheery at a bar. This transit strike has a lot more suck to it than the blackout did; that was definitely more of a party. This is just... cold and annoying. However, it's nice to see that the city doesn't screech to a halt just because we have neither cars OR trains. We're unstoppable.
As for the strike, I know I'm supposed to be a dyed in the wool Democrat and union supporter and all that, but as a former member of a (weak) union, I am just having trouble mustering much sympathy for these guys. They get paid mid to high five figures (i.e., more than I make in a bad year) to drive trains around in a circle all day; are we to give them greater recompense simply for their boredom? If they don't like the job, it's an open market guys, go elsewhere. And they want their pensions at 55 instead of 62? I mean, I'd want to retire early too if I had to live a subterranian existence for 35 years, but that's 10 years or MORE earlier than most americans could hope to retire. I don't know, seems like they have it pretty decent to me. Making millions of grumpy New Yorkers hoof it in weather that seems to have come from the moon is not earning them much sympathy.
posted by Had To Move at 3:28 PM
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