Walk The Walk

So, the New York City Transit Workers’ Union did it. After so many years of 11th resolutions, I just assumed that threats and down-to-the-wire negotiations were part of the process – something for WB News to cover instead of hard news.

When I lived in NYC, I walked to work nearly everyday. Weather permitting, I hoofed it from 106th Street & Amsterdam to 40th & Broadway. I’d show at my gym before work, and I was much healthier for it. When I first moved to Manhattan, I marveled that Alyssa powered up to 60th & Madison from her apartment at the far end of Park Slope, so I ambled up to 2 Park Avenue from 4th & B – a most entertaining commute. Believe me, I’d hate to be forced to walk on such a chilly morning, I do miss having the option of some method of commutation other than my car.

Having lived through a near-strike, as well as the calamity of September 11, 2001, I am highly sympathetic to those affected by the strike. During my solo commute to work today, I noticed that exactly three cars had a passenger. That’s it: Three cars with a driver and only one passenger. The bulk of the vehicles in the area are honking SUVs, and I do understand that the weather here requires a vehicle with the ability to battle the elements and handle well in snow, but it’s astounding the number of SUVs one finds parked in a single driveway in this area. There is no public transportation, so everyone needs a car. But large companies such as IBM, Vassar College, Marist College, Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Pepsi, etc. should make a conscious effort to encourage their employees to carpool.

I know, it’s a real drag being tethered to someone else’s schedule, but in the name of creating less stress on the highway system, the environmental/ecological system, and our own central nervous system, it seems like common sense to make some rules about ride-sharing.

Why don’t I hear musing about carpooling as a “measure of national safety”? We know that those pesky terrorists feed off of our oil dependency, so where’s the administration’s push to reduce that dependency? Drilling in the wilds of Alaska. Naturally, we’d rather destroy land than ask Americans to compromise their personal rights – unless those rights involve buying French-made articles, questioning the War on Terror, or questioning the lengths to which The Patriot Act and Domestic Surveillance.

Honestly, wouldn't you rather share a ride to and from work with a slightly annoying co-worker than have the government tapping your phone and researching your library and video store history? Maybe that's just me...