The frustration of transit riders made clear on April 27th, 2008, the day after a midnight wildcat strike by transit personnel in Toronto
On April 26th, 2008 unionized staff of the Toronto Transit Commission walked off the job at 12:01 am. The action occurred on a Friday night, thereby stranding late night workers, revelers and bar patrons.
People were not happy.
At the time, I was without a contract and was scrambling to find a way to continue my research and pay my bills. I’d been playing with the idea of soliciting donations online, but thought better of it. I’d rather a good idea not be subject to the irrational whims of charity and realized such a strategy would bear few, if any, fruits.
Nevertheless, I’d mentioned the idea to some friends and colleagues and the concept, if not the act, was out there.
But back to the strike . . .
I’d gone to sleep early that evening and hadn’t even been aware that a strike had occurred. The next morning I had two phone messages from friends. Each message said that they and their friends were stranded in a bar somewhere in downtown and they had dozens of people ready to each give me $10 right there to continue my work.
Of course I never took them up on their offers for three reasons:
a) Canadians are notorious story-tellers with a fondness for exaggeration. “Dozens” likely meant “three.”
b) The offers were likely made in a state of drunken, angry rebellion (which only heightens Canadians’ fondness for exaggerated story-telling) and;
b) The logic behind the offers was misguided. Just because a city has urban gondolas or cable cars as transit, doesn’t prevent the workers from halting the operation of that transit (although that very thing occurred in New York City once).
Nevertheless, the gesture had an impact on me: People were behind this idea not despite it being revolutionary, but because it was revolutionary.
Revolution, after all, is just a synonym for change. On that night, people had had it with the status quo and wanted change.
Creative Commons image by jbcurio.