More for Less

We've all heard the catchy phrase "more for less." Usually some sort of shopping establishment will pitch this swearing they are almost certainly certifiably insane for charging such amazing, unbelievable prices for the product they're providing you as a loved patron of the establishment. These "sales" can be quite amusing and if one is not careful, could result in a purchase that, though not needed, would have just been a sin to pass up at such a price.

Chicago would not be out-of-bounds if it had this neat little fragment following every mention of it's great name. It could fit right after its present catch phrase: "Chicago, The Second City, More for Less" and somewhere after that in smaller italicized characters a note of warning: the State's Governor's make our license plates and don't try to find the mayor, the Olympics ate him. It really rolls off the tongue and tugs on the pocket book creases. Yes, I am aware that last phrase is in opposition to what stores usually mean when they darn themselves with the "more for less" advertisement. I am aware that what stores mean, is that for LESS money one is getting MORE product or at least quality.

Not so in Chicago. The phrase still applies, only backwards. Taking the city's public transit authority for example, we continue to pay more and get less. With the country's latest economic issue it has become easier for the city to justify higher costs, but it's business as usual as far as I can tell; shoddy, probably corrupt, service organizations cloaked in too much bureaucracy driven by too little motivation backed by sub-par work ethic, the future is soooo now.

I think this happens because as a society we 1) love to sweat the small details (i.e. we'll argue with the guy at McDonald's over whether we were given the proper discount as per our 5 cent-off coupon but fail to grasp the larger problems) and 2) we are addicted to comfort. I'm not saying that it's comfortable to pay too much for a maybe corrupt, badly managed city service; I'm saying we're too lazy and/or addicted to comfort (i.e. needing things to remain the same as change means work and many times pain) to truly stand-up for and want to do anything about major issues. At the end of the day it's easier to piss and moan over a few pennies McDonald's has just stolen from you. It's easy to feel frustrated with the Walgreens Clerk because you feel they ring items up too slowly.

To stand-up to the real issues, however, this takes change. This takes precious time out of our schedules and it puts our comfort on the line. To start with a huge "what if," what if the city commuters were to band together and simply boycott the local transit authority in irritation of their consistently rising prices which come void of any real service or speed increases? This would initially mean we'd all need to find another way to work. Little secret, the transit authority knows this, and it knows that we're not going to give up such a level of comfort, therefore, we're no threat.

At the end of the day, organizations like the transit authority can do whatever they want, charge what they like and have completely arbitrary schedules and all we're going to do is stand on the platforms and swear under our breath. The more daring of us will decide to take it out on a station agent or even call the central office, but again, so what, what ammunition do we have? What is one or even 100 complainers going to solve, even if those 100 people actually do stop using the service? Everyone else still uses the transit authority, and another little secret, a poorly managed service void of work ethic also doesn't care when a few patrons complain even if they swear (note: these people are being paid far too much for doing far too little and it's been going on far too long for them to begin to give an ear to some complainer now, even if the complaints are well thought out, polite and legitimate).

Solutions?
1) Require all transit authority employees (this includes higher officials) to actually use the public transit system. Stand by, use and rely on the fruit of your own labor, transit authority.
2) Create secret shoppers who will begin to pinpoint problem items and areas (these large "evaluations" the transit authority runs every so often, yeah, those are just as much if not more a part of the problem as the entity itself. Sure, they may even be legit, but again, what ammunition do they have either? So they publish their horrible findings, I'll bet there's going to be no less riders the next morning. These reports just give us more to wail about under our breaths as they point out problems (many of which were probably already known) but ultimately affect no change).
3) Properly manage present funds and funding.

Before ending, a note on local transit authority jargon that may save others a bit of time:
Taking the train home from work one evening I found myself, again, stuck on a platform filled with people (you know, because once again the transit authority was caught off-guard by rush-hour). Once the train finally arrived it was found to be packed-tight allowing no new passengers. The conductor said there was an immediate follower so i decided to wait for the next train.

Yeah, apparently the words "immediate" and "direct" as in "immediately following" or "directly behind me" have a more fluid meaning in transit authority land. I think "directly behind" means something more like, there is another train on this track, behind me, somewhere, at this time. Similarly, "immediately following" means, the next train, as in the train that comes after the present train, but be warned that this phraseology implies nothing of the "immediate" follower' position in reference to the present train.

Advice: push, push for your life, yell, yell at those fools for not properly packing the train car, be irritated and irate with the obtuse-angle-leg-sitters who don't allow anyone to sit next to them on the double bank seats, piss, moan and complain of the guy who stands directly in the door-way while the train loads and unloads, shoot dirty looks at he who stands directly in front of the open door of the train attempting to simultaneously enter while others exit. Or, buy an iphone and a set of good earbuds and immerse yourself in technology bliss until you hear your stop called.