[PRCo] Re: [PRCo]End of a Street car line?

[Fred Schneider]

There is an old story, Jerry,

                            that my father once told me about  
industrial relations.   In a business you can change the light bulbs  
from bright to dim one year and convince the people in the factory  
you are saving their eyes and preventing eye strain and they will be  
happy and they will believe you.   A few years later you can install  
brighter bulbs and tell them it is because they can see better and  
they think you are doing something to make them happy and they will  
believe you.

In the 1960s the buses were still the new thing.   The politicians  
job was to convince the public that it was better for them.   They  
were modern or least considered by some to be more modern than  
ancient streetcars.  The politicians said we are doing something for  
you.  And the public believed it.  All they had to do was tell the  
public that we would have a better drive in our own private car by  
getting rid of those ugly red beasts that are hogging up the  
streets.   And we will get rid of the rails and those terrible  
belgian blocks that are rough and your automobile will have a smooth  
ride.  You will be forever happy with us.  And the people who need  
transportation will have new buses.

By the 1960s we were down to 10 cities in the United States and  
Canada with trolleys or subways.

It is now 2008 and it is time to go back and have the politicians  
tell them that we have this wonderful, brand new, non-polluting form  
of transport.  It runs on rails.   It's called light rail.   It's  
green.   And the public will believe the people they elected.

In December 2008, when the Phoenix light rail opens, we will have 58  
cities in the Unites States and Canada with light rail or heavy  
rail.   Note that we have changed the name to make the politicians  
feel good.   Only in San Diego can we still feel good calling it a  
trolley!

And in 2058 someone will have a better idea and someone else will be  
talking about what if......

But there will probably always be one constant.   Perhaps someone  
will look back and remember what Will Rogers said in the 1930s.  "We  
have the best politicians money can buy."   Or was it Click and Clack  
yesterday who also said that "Diapers and politicians all need  
periodic changing and for the same reasons."

But you can at least take comfort in the fact that the second busiest  
rapid transit system in the United States today is in Washington, D.  
C., a city whose only purpose is to tell the rest of us how to live  
our lives.

Have a wonderful week, yins ... you'all.

Fred Schneider


On Aug 3, 2008, at 1:16 PM, Jerry MATT Matsick wrote:

> My question when PRCo/PAT decided to cut a street car line, did not  
> the people fuss about it?
> I was in the Service during the 60s, if I had been in town I would  
> have tried to stop it, but was
> it just the sign of the times?  I remember when the drop the Donora  
> car? I was just 11 but I was
> upset.   Now cities are looking and the establishment of new RAIL  
> LINES , I guess it is what
> comes around goes around!    Groups thought?
> Jerry Matsick
> Former Donora/Pittsburgher (North Hills)
>
> --
> Jerry "Matt" Matsick
> You don't stop laughing because
> you grow old. You grow old
> because you stop laughing from the
> River City by the sea!
> Jacksonville, Florida!
>
> -------------- Original message from "Ken & Tracie"  
> <ktjosephson at embarqmail.com>: --------------
>
>
>> OFF TOPIC WARNING!
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Fred Schneider"
>> To:
>> Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2008 5:28 AM
>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Greyhound crime
>>
>>
>>> I love the choice of advertisements that go with it, Philip. Teen
>>> teeth whiteners and high blood pressure medicines! They're a hoot.
>>
>> Back in 1981 or '82, some jerk in Waukesha, Wisconsin kidnapped his
>> estranged wife (she lived across the street from me), murdered her,
>> hacksawed her head from her body, dumped the body in a cornfield  
>> and burnt
>> the head in his parents' wood burning stove.
>>
>> Anyway, I was listening to a news report about the case some  
>> months later.
>> Immediately after the newscaster mentioned that the suspect had  
>> sawed off
>> his wife's head, they went to a commercial break. The commercial  
>> was for a
>> home improvement store and began with the sound of somebody  
>> sawing. Then the
>> music started with people cheerfully singing, "When you're working  
>> at home,
>> and you need a helping hand.............."
>>
>> K.
>>
>>
>