It's the Strike, Stupid

Just because an inordinate number of news agencies are located in NYC does not mean the rest of the country cares about the hassles of transportation in the Big Apple. In fact, I don't care a bit. Oh, the city folk have to walk to work in the "bitter cold." It was 20 degrees in NYC today. Big deal, it was 20 here in Boston. I walked to work. In fact, I do it every day!

Now, I sympathize with the MTA workers on strike. I can't believe it's illegal for them to strike. It doesn't seem legal to make it illegal. What is this, 1920? I thought the whole point of the labor movement and free speech was to set down humane labor laws and allow protest and strikes. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but this current situation in NYC sounds wrong to me.

I'm sorry but I cannot sympathize with the fact that people had to carpool or that schools had to start late. Boo-hoo. Save gas, be good to the environment. Take a day from work and relax (although Americans are often stereotyped as lazy while we're typed as "fat" we are a nation of work-a-holics).

Suck it up.

The thing is, while the media is hopping all over this story they're covering if for the wrong reasons. Heaven forefend NYC-ers have to deal with the hassles of getting to the city. That is a local interest story, not a nation-wide story to sound-bite endlessly. What they should be covering is the controversy surrounding the act of the strike. Their right (or lack of right) to strike. The basis upon which the union is making its demands and the Authority denying them. That's the story. Not a traffic jam. The difficulties of a commute is not a story -- not for me in Boston or my parents in Green Bay or my friend out in Seattle.

The traffic means nothing. The strike should mean everything.