Take The A Train To Ineptitude

Today @ 5:00 pm.

Myself and about a thousand other sweaty would-be commuters peering down the track at the 34th Street Stop of the A train.

For 20 minutes. No train.

And then there was one. Only it was the local, E, on the other side of the tracks.

15 more minutes. No train.

And then another train on the local side. This time it was an A.

So along with just 15 others, I darted down the stairs, under and through the tunnel, up the other stairs (bursting through some poor tourists with luggage) to barely squeeze on the train.

Is this the A train?

Yes.

So, let me get this straight MTA: you run the A on the local track, and for some reason don’t announce it?

Yay.

But it gets slightly better.

We run local ’till 59th Street. But then we run express to 125, and then 145. For some unannounced reason. At 145 we pull alongside another A train, which everyone teams into. “Why?” I asked the conductor. “Because that one might leave first.” Then he shrugged.

Very fitting for the MTA. A shrug.

New York City Declares War On Air Conditioning, Individual Liberty

Well, well, well.

Our ever-plucky NYC City Council will be voting tomorrow in favor of actually fining street front retail stores for keeping their doors open while blasting the AC.

Jerks, both of them.

We all remember what our Moms used to tell us, about holding the refrigerator door open?

Yeah, well, same thing.

Only this time it’s not the fridge, but a store. And it’s not your Mom, it’s The Government.

Yay.

Look. Even when we were 7, and it was just the fridge, holding the door open for no good reason was pretty dumb. It was selfish, thoughtless and wasteful, no doubt. And especially in today’s energy-…um… challenged, ?, times, it’s certainly going to be a bigger deal. And should be.

Of course, these shop owners are gladly paying up to 20% more in electric bills to “lull” customers in with that cool, soothing air. And yes, they are being selfish. And wasteful. And evil, evil capitalists to boot.

But really. Think about it. All we really had to do was simply draw attention to their selfishness, and they would’ve gotten the message, quick.

Simple.

Run a few news stories, have some local politicians make some speeches, or even have a little protest and threaten to boycott.

You know, the kinds of things us New Yorker’s are good at doing?

And, because being energy IN-effecient is tres unpopular these days, when consumers start voicing an opinion with their pocketbooks, these storeowners would no doubt get the message in a hurry.

And close their doors.

But to have the Government force these shop owners to do what we want them to is beyond frightening. In fact, it’s downright socialist. And I don’t throw around that word lightly.

But what’s perhaps even more frightening are the comments following this New York Times online piece, where I first read about it:

Link

With caring citizens like these, and a Government to do their bidding, our future is now very much in question.

Egads.

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