Wednesday, December 29, 2010

My Last Rant of 2010


New York City is a mess.  Everyone is pointing fingers at the next person, but no one seems to be doing much about fixing all this.  We've had storms far worse than this that got cleared up in much less time.  I remember the storm of 1996, and the next day, everything was pretty much in order...at least, more order than this storm.  The mayor comes on television and blames the storm; the sanitation department blames the people for driving their cars despite their meager warnings, and then abandoning them;  and the people blame the sanitation department....

....Okay, it is true what sanitation says.  Too many people were out there in their cars in the midst of a storm.  As adults, they should know better.  Children, you warn about dangers; adults should at least have developed some common sense.  After all, with the snow coming down and 50 mile an hour winds blowing it all about, besides an medical emergency, there is nothing that important to make you drive your car in the city during a blizzard...what with mass transportation all around you.  (At that time, mass transit was still working).  Today is my first day out, and as I was climbing the stairs to the subway, I was shocked at the sight below me.  I wished I had my camera along just to show you.  It was like a scene out of a movie...abandoned cars all over the place.  No wonder the roads were unplowed....

....Now, usually sanitation is more on top of things.  I remember other snowstorms when the salt spreaders used to be out at the beginning of the storm... Didn't happen this time.  And it's usually pretty rough to fall asleep on the night of a snowstorm because of the plows going back and forth throughout the night....Didn't happen this time.  As a matter of fact, there's been reports of slowdowns and workers driving down the streets...with their plows up.  Some kind of union contract thing....a protest of sorts.  Well, I hope that that is not true because two people have died because of the city's inefficiency....an elderly woman and a newborn baby.  Emergency service could just not get through. Someone is responsible for this and someone--union, sanitation, and those who abandoned cars in the middle of the streets--should be held accountable.

Now, on to the transit service.  The entire city was at a standstill...including the subways.  It wasn't only one line that was down....it was 13 lines...and some people were stuck in tunnels for hours until a rescue train could get through.  What's up?  Here's another bureaucracy that makes me wonder where the money goes.  It seems the more we pay, the worse things seem to get.  I know, as I said yesterday, things happen sometimes that are beyond our control, but my goodness, the whole system down?  Tomorrow there is yet another fare hike, yet, not counting this storm, the service is getting dreadful.  What was once a 20 minute ride for me now takes me a few minutes short of an hour....and I am only 12 stops from my job.  

This morning I bore witness to the most unbelievable rudeness.  The finger cannot be pointed at one person, but the three people involved.  I had to put another $20 on my metrocard, so I am at the window of the clerk.  He's on the phone chatting away (making about $50,000 a year, by the way), so I have to tell him three times what I want.  After all, I am only a customer...not that important to him.  While I am waiting for his highness, a young lady comes up on my right and she's yelling to him...Is the train stopping on Avenue N?  Then, to my left, an older women comes up and starts yelling Can you buzz me in?  And while the two women kept repeating their requests, the token booth clerk continued chatting and laughing on the phone...oblivious to the circus going on around him....

...and, by the way, tomorrow the transit fares rise again....and there is nothing we can do about it.  If we want to work, we have to pay for it...and pay dearly.  I get a lousy 3 percent raise each year...the subway fare goes up, cable goes up, comparing electric bills from last year to this--same usage $48 more, health insurance goes up from $120 to $175 a month.  The more I make, the less I have to spend....sadly, a sign of the times...

...and finally, another subway gripe.  The train was extraordinarily crowded this morning.  Guess all those people who normally drive to work have opted for public transportation....or perhaps they have no choice.  (You never know.  Theirs might be one of those abandoned vehicles.)  Well,  most folks nowadays have those little gadgets to listen to their music; they have headphones, but play the darned music so loud that you can practically make out all the words.  It sounds so bad, and I find it so darned annoying....screechy and scratchy.    Back in the old days, there used to be someone blasting their boom box at one end of the train  and another at the other end...and you'd be sitting somewhere in the middle  trying to listen to your little transistor radio...remember them?  Annoying as those boom boxes were, at least you understood what they were singing.  


And now, my friends, there you have it...my last rant for this year.  Hoping you all are safe and warm...surrounded by love and light.

8 comments:

  1. A blizzard really can bring out the worst in all kinds of people! It's a shame the road crews weren't more on top of it as the snow fell, and the people didn't just stay home! I can't imagine going out in a mess like that!

    It's really too bad you couldn't have take some vacation time and just stayed home for the next week! You deserve the break with all you do for your work!

    Please be safe out there Mary! Hopefully the roads will be cleared away soon.

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  2. Glad you came through the blizzard okay, Mary! Sounds like lots of chaos while it was going on and the immediate aftermath, though.

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  3. Bless your heart! I live in SC, so we don't get the amount of snow you do, but I have been in a couple of blizzards during travel, so I know the importance of having the proper pathways clear. I'm wondering if part of it was the fact that this particular storm was "early" in the season and that's a part of the reason for being ill-prepared? No excuse, but it's a thought. It makes me very sad to hear about the elderly and the baby who died because of this. We don't have the snow problem, but the cold tends to be detrimental to folks here. They use portable heaters and put them too close to fabrics and then fires start and well, you can only imagine what happens next.

    Anyway, I'm glad you are beginning to "dig out" now! We had about 2-3 inches here the day after Christmas. It was a lot of fun to have an almost White Christmas!

    Bandhura

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  4. Our roads weren't plowed until Tuesday morning and I kept thinking to myself...what if someone has a heart attack shoveling snow, how on Earth would a squad make it here?

    Obviously living in the suburbs is way different than NYC, but the reason the State of NJ is giving us is people abandoning their cars and making it more difficult for plows.

    I think it was massive layoffs and pissed off workers.

    Just my guess.

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  5. Oh dear lady.....big cities can be the worst when bad weather hits.....that is why I LOVE Montana......there are more cows that people!! (O:(O:(O:

    Stay calm sweet person,

    Jo

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  6. Holy Shit!
    I'm speechless.....well almost. ;0)

    Jot off a note to the transit authority and tell them about their lazy ass worker and one to The White House telling them how far your dollar is STRETCHED!
    The Feds need to start printing RUBBER MONEY.

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  7. I'm still finding it hard to believe that NYC failed so hard during this blizzard. It turns out that the elderly lady that died is related to a high school friend of mine. And from what I understand the woman's daughter was told that she has no recourse against the city.
    I can remember when ever there was snow the plows and salters were out in full force BEFORE it got bad. My uncle is a retired NYC Sanitation worker, and I can remember the nights he had to go in to drive those trucks. And to hear from friends and family that they weren't out or breaking down even is down right ridiculous. I don't think things like this happened or even would have happened under Mayor Rudy's watch.
    But at least you came through it okay. Just be careful out there. Wishing you a wonderful New Year filled with love, peace, joy, health and prosperity.

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  8. All of this just makes me crazy and sad Mary...I am sooo glad you are safe and sound tho!

    I know what you mean about finances...my rent went up $30.00, which means the grocery bills will go down and who knows what else will change the first of the year...gas is going up too, so my precious few trips around town will have to be carefully planned. I do plan now but will have to be even more careful. Americans use too much petro anyway.

    I'm glad you got this off your chest!
    Love and Blessings,
    xoxo

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