Wednesday, June 28, 2006

The sun is out, but...

...things are still screwed up in the Nation's capital. Bus service within the District is a damn joke, with people waiting well over an hour during the evening rush to catch a bus, sometimes in the rain. The scene underground is better, but not by much. Passengers can find themselves packed like sardines for nearly an hour without moving, as was the case yesterday. The record-breaking rainfall in the past few days has created mini-floods in low-lying areas throughout the city. With nary a cloud in the sky today, basements at the IRS, Justice, and others along Constitution Avenue, are still closed as everything dries out.

But what really gets under my skin, is the routine indifference demonstrated by the public transportation system, even at the slightest show of precipitation, or congested traffic. You'd think these idiots would realize that people still have lives to get on with, day care centers to get to before they close, dinners to fix, and an overall wish to get home sometime before getting up the next morning. Frankly, I don't think they know, let alone care.

METRO recently got a new general manager, one who's supposed to be a real go-getter. His latest proposal is bringing street musicians to the underground, like so many other cities. I'd actually support such an idea. But frankly, he's got one really big-@$$ first priority. He needs to send a clear, unmistakable message to every last man and woman behind the wheel of a bus or train, a message that can be summed up in two words.

Show. Up.

If there's any part of that two-word message he and those pinheads on his payroll don't get, they should consider another line of work. The rest of us have to get to ours. Even when it rains.

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