Fraters Libertas

On The Bus, That's Where We Were Ridin'

This week's edition of City Pages is what we at Fraters Libertas World Headquarters call "the blogger's jackpot". After picking up a copy yesterday, the Elder was seen running through the halls of our sprawling suburban complex yelling "This is gold, people! Gold!". He was so excited that he eventually had to be sedated.

The current issue features several articles that focus on the Metro Transit workers strike that has halted public bus operations here in Minneapolis for over a month (regular visitors to this site will no doubt recall several posts on the topic) and it contains so much blogging material that we may have to sub-title this site "Everything You Need To Know...About The Transit Strike" so we can cover it all.

The first of these sob stories that caught my eye was the one heart-wrenchingly entitled "Moms Can't Go On Strike".

In this piece, we are introduced to a (presumably) single mother named Sondra Nolan who dealt with her sudden lack of transportation by buying a bicycle and "kid trailer" to haul her twins to daycare and herself to work.

Renowned human suffering expert Jim Walsh writes:

As the strike drew near, a panicky Nolan had called her mother-in-law and convinced her to drive Nolan to a Target store, where Sondra put a $240 mountain bike and kid trailer on her charge card with no real idea how or when she'd be able to pay it back. She makes $7.45 an hour at her part-time job as a Cub Foods cashier in Richfield.

Okay, I'll admit, shelling out 240 bucks for a bike would make a dent in my monthly budget as well and I don't begrudge anyone's desire to get their kids to daycare so they can make an honest wage and yada, yada, yada...

Then I read this:

...Sondra's piecemeal transit system got her to day care and therapy. That night, after putting the kids to bed, she did what she usually does to relax: a little time in front of the TV watching the Sci-Fi Channel or the home improvement show Trading Spaces...

I have a "real idea" how AND when you can pay for that bike, Sondra. Drop the basic plus standard cable package that is costing you $50 a month (including fees) and you'll have that thing paid off by September! Despite all of the quality programming that exists on cable TV (like "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" and women's college basketball), it should not take priority over your day to day transit needs. You need to bite the bullet, sweetheart, and disable the cable. THEN you can complain to me about how you can't afford to get yourself to work.

Walsh goes on to close the article in true Nick Coleman fashion with this bit of teary prose:

Her dreams are modest these days. She's thankful for her job at Cub, and for the welfare assistance she receives, but she'd like a better job. She'd like her kids to have a better life. She'd like tickets to the Prince concert. She'd like the buses to start running again.

That's gold, people! Gold!