rdewald's Journal: Strike (day) II

On the plus side, it is a lot easier to get a table at a restaurant or get waited on in a store right now. There simply aren't as many people around and the ones who are around are neighborhood regulars who know how to cooperate for efficiency and pleasure in these transactions. No "what the hell is a macchiatto?" questions in line at Starbucks, no yokels waiting until their number comes up at a deli counter or for a bartender to get around to them before deciding what they want.

I shared a cab with a very lovely woman (who resembled Lisa Kudrow), who might have otherwise not given me the time of day. much less the seat next to her, if it weren't for the transit strike. We chatted it up quite a bit, I almost asked her for her number (she was too young). I slept very, very soundly last night (probably because I walked about five more miles yesterday than I normally do). My caseload at work is a bit down, it's quite possible I would have either been pulled into the office or to another area to do some extra work were it not for the strike.

On the minus side, I had two patient crises yesterday which I had to resolve over the phone (I would have much preferred to been in the home) and I spent $20 on a shared cab ride that would have been no more than $12 (and solo) sans strike. Also, it's cold, the only break I have from it is in my patient's homes, I'm otherwise in the friggin' cold all the time. Also, a *BIG HUGE* minus is that I left my cell phone charger at the office yesterday, a must have for my practice, so now I am faced with the decision about a $30 outlay or a 7 mile round-trip excursion, either by foot or cab, to pick it up. EFF!

People are coping for the most part by not coming to work or by car-pooling. Right now, we're still in the first couple of days and a lot of people are just putting things off. If this stretches out a few days more it's going to really start to hurt some people who have trouble getting around under the best of circumstances.

A few of my patients have had to do without their home health aides who can't make it into the City, another had to deal with an ambulance service that was overbooked. I'm sure we're going to learn in days to come about deaths and other suffering that can be blamed on the strike, I'll bet a few of these just have yet to be discovered.

The weather has been nice, if cold, which has been a great blessing. It's dry, there's no snow on the ground of any consequence, the winds are mild, the sun is bright.

One thing that's been sort of unusual is that I am being asked by almost everyone "They're going to settle this thing today, aren't they?" I'm the kind of guy that likes to know the names of the clerks, cooks, doormen, and cops that I see routinely, so I talk to people a lot, and recently there's been a great deal of interest in my opinion about the state of the strike.

Heck, I dunno. I tend to not pay a lot of attention to things I can't control, so I'm not very informed about the issues. I just find it a measure of people's general distress that this question is coming up so much. It's as if everyone feels like they can out up with this for a day or two, but if it drags out, well, things are gonna break.

That's the report for now, it's a first and only draft, sorry for the choppy prose and typos. I gotta drink this Grande Americano and walk 22 blocks uptown, there's a little old lady that needs her medicine....

Wow

[BWJones]

A few of my patients have had to do without their home health aides who can't make it into the City, another had to deal with an ambulance service that was overbooked. I'm sure we're going to learn in days to come about deaths and other suffering that can be blamed on the strike, I'll bet a few of these just have yet to be discovered.

So, I just said to one of my colleagues this morning, that I thought this transit strike might very well result in more than a few deaths due to inability of heathcare workers

Re:Wow

[rdewald]

Well, the economics are a bit different here. I make about 40% more than the highest TWU salary I've seen mentioned, also about that much more than I could make west of the Hudson, but the cost of living is very high here, particularly for those of us working class folks who are willing to make the sacrifices to live in Manhattan.

The MTA is widely known to be very successful financially, no one is going to buy the argument that they can't afford anything, so for people who live here, it's not as simple as

Kudrow

[ryanr]

I shared a cab with a very lovely woman (who resembled Lisa Kudrow),

That's her sister, Ursula.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Kudrow

[ryanr]

Thank you!

Traffic attack

[hesdeadjim001]

I live on 95th street on the East Side and I drive to Brooklyn and Queens to see my patients and to operate in hospitals down there. I'm waved through with my ID. Since I do a reverse commute, I see the miles of cars coming in to the city from the outer boroughs.

Some docs and medical office workers can't get to work at all. About half of my patients yesterday did not come for their appointments.

What gives me more pause is that all of the tourists who are in NY now will likely never come back. People wh