metrocake

Hi, everyone! I’m here at work. My “commute” was…uh…totally fine.

I stayed with a friend up on 96th street and West End Avenue, as I knew it was going to be hell on wheels to try and get in from Astoria. While there are carpools set up at Astoria Park, I wasn’t sure how well they’d be running — or how I’d get home. It’s much easier to stay in Manhattan — at least I don’t have a bridge/tunnel to get across.

A few of our coworkers are also on the Upper West Side, so we all made arrangements to (somehow) come in together. Well — turns out one of our coworker’s neighbors was in the elevator with her and announced, “Hey, anyone need a ride downtown?” “Uh, can you take four?” So we got a ride straight down West End to 8th ave. and 28th street — just a short crosstown walk from work. West End was deserted, too, so we had NO traffic whatsoever. My coworkers got in on time (not that anyone’s counting) and I actually got in early. EARLY. On a STRIKE DAY. How can you beat that?! :)

Another person told us to leave without him, as he was running late — HE even got a ride from a total stranger who’d just dropped off his wife and child. Clearly Upper West is the place to be, and everyone’s being nice. :)

I got really excited this morning when I saw 96th and Broadway (just one block over from us) on TV. I came *yay* close to heading over with a “Hi, Mom!” sign. I decided, instead, to show some decorum. (Oh, and I was running late. Um. Yeah.)

Mind, how the hell I’m getting HOME, I’ve no idea. I’m on vacation starting tomorrow, so I was planning to stay late tonight…that may not be so good, though, especially if I have to walk 60 blocks. :( Glad I wore jeans and sneakers today.

How I feel about the strike: I was actually defending the union until last night, when they rejected the final offer. That offer seemed to me to be reasonable, and did make some of the concessions the union had asked for. I’m quite sympathetic about the raise issue, less so about the retirement age. I won’t get to retire at 55, hardly anyone can in this day and age, so asking new hires to put more into a pension plan seems right to me… So while I don’t hate the union, I am less sympathetic. I think it should have gone to arbitration.

This strike is going to hurt the union and its workers — but it’s also hurting people who can’t work from home, who must be at work and on an hourly salary. Someone at Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s — a cashier who needs their day’s pay, and was probably counting on holiday overtime. How will they manage? That’s the unfair part.