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Thursday, February 4, 2010

On Unions and Strikes

As a result of my new job, mentioned in a previous post, I now park my bike at the Union Station Bicycle Station. What this means is that my winter route has changed. I now ride across Wellington Street to University and south on University to Union.

Generally speaking I don't mind a little change, well truth be told the change in route is frankly unimportant. Except that Wellington Street has every cyclists' most dreaded road hazard. No not ditsy blonds on cell phones in over sized black SUVs, although Wellington has those too, no I am talking about stationary road hazards. Yes, that's right, street car tracks! As Wellington is four lanes of westbound only traffic with the middle two lanes taken up with street car rails from Church all the way to York (why do two lanes need to be gobbled up with those horrible rails on a one way road?) I am forced to ride between parked cars and rails. (You could say between a door prize and metal place.)

Well the tight squeeze is bad enough, but for reasons that escape me, some union is striking in front of TD place. So imagine, if you will, I am riding on the right hand side of the road. As I described above, between parked cars and the street car tracks, then as I near York street, I am confronted with two gleaming tons of steel directly across my only safe path. Every day there is a queue of cars and trucks attempting to turn right, blocked by strikers who seem to think the best place to strike is the place that puts my life at the greatest risk, in front of the parking lot entrance.

I am sure these guys have what they feel is very legitimate complaint but with all due respect to the strikers, when they block the road they not only inconvenience drivers, but they put my life at a very significant risk, I am supposed to be okay with this?

I think, no strike that, I know exactly what the problem is. Auto and truck drivers do not realise how dangerous their actions are. Second thought, strike that to, most people in general just do not bother to consider the implications of their actions. Consider, in recent headlines I read scientists warn that if all current global warming targets are achieved it still will not be enough to arrest the damage of climate change. Something tells me that despite this news the only change, if any, we should expect is even more watered down non-binding legislation that will ultimately just be ignored.

Do people forget that if, us in the developed World particularly, don't change our lousy habits we lose the one thing we cannot, ever, replace, our planet?

I know, I am ranting, and nobody likes to read my rants. Sorry, I guess I need to vent. But on the other hand, well let me use a historical analogy, we are all aboard the Royal Mail Ship Titanic, we are steaming away at full speed, 21 to 23 knots in the icy North Atlantic sea lanes and from a distance we here those famous words "Iceberg right ahead!" But instead of full reverse engines and rudder hard to port, we have Sean Hanity and Rush Limbaugh to tell us everything is fine and buy a new truck.

Am I the only person who is asking the question, what happens next? What do we do when the ice caps melt, New York floods, Paris freezes and most of the arable land turns to desert? Actually I know lots of people ask that question but their voices are being overpowered by civic leaders who decry the "war on the car" or Faux Talking Heads who rage against progressivism.

I started this thought with a consideration of bad drivers and how some strikers were putting me at risk of getting killed. I am not quite sure how but somehow this posting has become another one of my 'oh god we are a shorted sighted species, whatever shall we do?' Well I do not know what the answer is, but I do know if I ride to work I am part of the solution, not the problem.

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