Bob Levey Washington Post Columnist Friday, July 25, 2003; 1:00 p.m ET
"Levey Live: Speaking Freely," hosted by Washington Post columnist Bob Levey, appears every Friday. It is a live, open-agenda discussion offering washingtonpost.com users around the world the opportunity to ask questions and discuss topics of their choice with Bob. Fearless Bob takes your questions about virtually everything, from sports and politics (there's a difference?) to world events, Metro area traffic and issues raised in Bob's columns. Submit your questions and comments before or during the discussion. Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bob Levey: Good afternoon, all, and welcome to the place that gives Friday its zip: Levey Live, Speaking Freely.
Before we start clicking, let me apologize for a comment I made in this space a week ago.
During a discussion about Don and Mike, the radio personalities, I compared some members of their audience to "retarded three-year-olds."
This was an extremely poor choice of words, and I'm sincerely sorry to have offended so many of you. It won't happen again.
On to this week.......
Recent columns are always fair game for what follows in the next hour. So are comments about the news, in any fashion. So are questions about history (one passion), theater (another) and families (a third). In fact, just about anything goes.
So let's go ourselves......
________________________________________________
Herndon, Va.: Mr. L: Did you read's the Post's Thursday story about male/female conflict over the thermostat? It rang a bell with my wife and me -- she wants the house/car temperature higher (too hot) and I want it lower (just right). Since my experience in another matter is limited, let me ask this question -- are there any women out there whose feet are not cold -- especially in the middle of the night? Someone should do an extensive medical survey on this subject!
Bob Levey: A lot of this can be resolved by three methods: a pair of socks, a sweater, and a long, long look at the electricity or gas bill.
In my house, the temp-conflict is very real. We've developed a middle ground, the same way any veteran couple does over any issue, right?
________________________________________________
AU Park: Bob:
What do you think of the new timers below the walk signs in downtown D.C.? It's pretty laughable that the city wasted money on them. Pedestrians pay as much attention to the timers as they do the original signs, crossing the street whenever they feel like it. And D.C. wants to impose a commuter tax so they can make more brilliant purchases like this one?
Bob Levey: DC wants a commuter tax for far more bread-and-butter concerns: ambulance service, road repair, etc. And it deserves that tax.
I agree that these count-em-down signs look like a frill and a video game. I agree that jaywalkers won't be deterred by anything, apparently.
But if one wavering pedestrian takes a look, and sees the clock counting down below five seconds, maybe he won't try to sprint across--and maybe he won't be killed by a red-light runner.
________________________________________________
Washington, D.C.: Bob, I am so proud of our Mayor and others that decided to fight for the commuter tax.
The thing is people are so busy fighting there not hearing or seeing whats being said ... you won't even see it ... the amount is so small.
I am really curious about why people want to fight ... when this is a normal thing for most states. (Very interesting..) Just in wondering ... is it due to DC having a large black population ... or a Democratic one.
I am really not interesed in anyones theory why it shouldn't be done.
I base my theory on right and wrong, bottom line!!
And its straight out wrong.
Bob Levey: How much time ya got?
DC is the national punching bag. It's the place where gutless members of Congress try out social theories and legal experiments that they wouldn't have the guts to try at home. Hatch's attempt two weeks ago to rewrite DC gun laws is only the latest example.
Some of this is race. Some people oppose the commuter tax because it's politically safe, since much of the country doesn't believe DC "deserves" equal rights when it elected a scoundrel like Marion Barry.
Some of it is laziness and selfishness. Some of it is pure misunderstanding (the taxes of Virginians and Maryland would not rise one cent, because they'd get credits on their state taxes).
________________________________________________
Fairfax, Va., Re: This Year's Camp Drive: I'm sure you're bummed about the prospect of not making your goal. Please know that many people out here would love to do/give more, but being out of work -- even the extra $25 is no longer extra. I know it is personal for you, but my not giving this year has nothing to do with you, but rather the last 10 months looking for work. (By the way, know anyone hiring?)
Bob Levey: I'm with you, Fairfax, and I understand how big $25 can seem in a situation like yours. Thanks for your wonderful sense of caring just the same.
By the way, Friday (and the drive) ain't history yet. The credit-card phone lines are going ape. My assistant, Gerri Marmer, tells me she has been stripping credit-card pledges since 5:45 a.m.--and as soon as she strips one load, another bunch is right behind it.
There's hope.
Maybe not much.
But some.
________________________________________________
Washington, D.C.: Bob, I've submitted this question late in other discussions, so this time I'm getting it in earlier. Please help me settle a debate between me and a friend.
What's your view on rogue bicyclists?
My friend says cyclists should have the freedom to openly flout the rules of the road -- zooming through red lights, weaving between lanes of traffic, etc. "When cars give bikes the respect they give other automobiles, we'll start obeying traffic laws," he says. Until then, cyclists need to take every advantage they can get.
I say the city's traffic is bad enough already, Bob! If you want to be treated like a car, act like one! I almost ran down one of these devil-may-care road warriors last week (accidentally, of course) because he was too important to stop for anything so mundane as a "red light."
Please comment, Bob. My friend and I respect your opinion, and you could help bring peace to an old relationship.
Bob Levey: If a cyclist whips in and out of traffic, he's not only being a suicidal idiot. He's violating the law. Cyclists must operate safely in any jurisdiction. They aren't exempt from the rules just because they aren't driving a car.
________________________________________________
Kingstowne, Va.: Bob, you know darn well that suburban taxes would rise. As soon as Richmond and Annapolis see the shortfall from DC's regressive commuter tax, they will increase their own taxes in other ways (sales taxes, user fees, etc.).
Bob Levey: It didn't happen that way in Connecticut and New Jersey when New York City imposed a commuter tax. It didn't happen that way in Indiana and Wisconsin when Chicago did the same.
No, Kingstowne, I can't PROMISE you that Richmond and Annapolis wouldn't reach for the tax-increase trigger finger. But precedent says they don't have to.
________________________________________________
Re: Your Discussion with the Language Policewoman: OK, this may be an unpopular thing to say. But I'm not one of those who say political correctness has gone too far. In fact, it hasn't gone far enough!
When the name of a football team from a major American city can be a direct slap at the heritage and culture of an indigenous people, it may be POLITICAL, but there's nothing CORRECT about it.
It's a simple matter of respect, Bob. I'm not a Native American -- I'm originally from Kansas, actually -- but I know how I'd feel if somebody named their team the "hillbilly crackers," or some such thing. Isn't it about respect?
Convince me I'm wrong, Mr. Levey.
Bob Levey: This is an easy one.
Would anyone stand for a team called the Philadelphia Wops?
The Long Island Hebes?
The Boston Micks?
"Redskins" has to go. No matter how much it would cost Dan Snyder in souvenir receipts.
________________________________________________
Barefoot (Again) & Miffed in Albuquerque: Hi Bob --
I had thought the days of padding around barefoot in airports was over as of TSA's recent decision, but apparently the word has not gotten out to all the airports.
I was made to remove my shoes & send them through the x-ray -prior- to going through the metal detector because my (all latex) soles were "more than 1.5 inches thick." (They aren't, but that's another rant.)
Wasn't TSA trumpeting their standardization of security procedures? It's bad enough that I had to do it, but they were making elderly people also do this without chairs available. I was so angry that I knew I couldn't speak to a TSA supervisor without getting in trouble, so I filled out a complaint form.
Any other ideas? Thanks!
Bob Levey: No other ideas. Let the process work (or try to work). I'm sorry it happened to you. Such deviations from standard policy have happened to many others, if it's any consolation.
In fact, I just wrote a column last month about a TSA agent at National Airport who insisted that some guy send his open soft drink through the scanner. It spilled all over the shoes of the woman who was behind him in line. Yet another case of a TSA person who didn't know his own rules.
________________________________________________
Suitland: Bob, did you see the noon discussion about Americans' short vacation time. Considering your pro-union attitudes and number of jobs you work, do you think we need a kind of cultural re-adjustment in our work hours?
Should we be demanding more vacation through private means?
Should we be using the political process (make minimum vacations the law)?
Do we need more unions to bargain more effectively?
What do you think of the overtime rules that were revised earlier this month?
Bob Levey: We certainly need more unions, for the simple reason that all of us--evefry single worker--is worse off without them. Unions get the job done. They bargain wages and benefits that protect families and retirees. They bring home ownership into the picture for thousands of people. And yet I hear twnety-somethings oppose unions because they want the freedom to earn merit pay! Nice work if yuo can get it. Yet many of these twnety-somethings were washed away during the dot-com crash. Did they get severance pay? Many didn't. All would have if they'd been union members.
I see where you're going re vacations, but I don't consider that a huge issue when wages are stagnant, when emplioyers demand give-backs of benefits that have been in contracts for decades, when two-tier wage scales directly threaten younger workers (and make older workers vulnerable to being canned because they're paid relatively more). I'd say overtime is much more important--but wages, health insurance and retirement $$$ are most important
________________________________________________
Rockville, Md.: Bob,
I was on Metro recently and saw a young man spitting on Metro seats. Just walking up the car spitting on the seats. Do you believe that! I got off the train and approached the driver and he said "That's not for me to worry about, this is my last run!"
No wonder the thing is so filthy and people won't ride it.
Bob Levey: People will ride it and people do ride it. Hundreds of thousands a day. You might as well argue that people refuse to drive I-66 because some clown throws a piece of trash onto the pavement from a speeding car. People look past that. And people should. They have very little choice.
Yet you've hit on a subject that really, really frosts me.
Metro employees who won't lift a finger beyond their narrow job descriptions.
Does that last-run guy think his job is guaranteed forever? Then, last run or not, he had damn well better care about a seat-spitter, because it's all part of the organization he serves.
I said it this way last week:
I'm not an ad salesman at The Post. But if someone has an ad sales cocnern, I always make sure it gets to the right people. How does it help me, the paper or anyone else to hide my head? If I can't solve a problem, I can find out who can.
r
________________________________________________
Children's Hospital: Hi Bob, I will donate my old car to Children's Hospital in the next week or so. I chose their program because I figured that you wouldn't vouch for them unless they did it right--I have heard horror stories of titles transfers mishandled, and well-intentioned donors getting hassled when their cars were auctioned and abandoned.
Is there any way to get the car donation to count toward your annual drive for Children's?
Bob Levey: Car donations already do count in my annual campaign. But only the value of cars donated during December and January.
I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but I think we made more than $300,000 last year from car turn-ins. It's pure gold.
________________________________________________
McLean, Va.:
Hi Bob:
Your Hogate's column earlier in the week mentioned that Milt Grant was on the radio some 40 years ago. I know that he had an afternoon TV teen dance party on Channel 5 (like Dick Clark's American Bandstand) but did not know that he was on radio. Do you or anyone out there know what radio station(s)he worked for?
Also, I went to Hogate's once for an office luncheon and I could never understand why the servers brought around those sickenly sweet rum buns as an appetizer before the seafood lunch was served -- afterwords as a dessert OK, but not before.
Was this always the way they were served?
Bob Levey: I share your puzzlement over when the buns were served. Yes, they were always served first. Strange. Didn't they want to sell lots and lots of seafood? Of course, Hogate's did--for 63 years--so maybe they knew something you and I don't.
Milt Grant was better known for that TV show than he was for his radio show. Not sure which station. Anyone know?
By the way, I did NOT make a mistake and mean to say Felix Grant. He, too, was on the radio in Washington during those bygone days. But so was Milt.
________________________________________________
Road warrior?: I'm one of these so-called "road warriors" who try to -- gasp -- ease traffic congestion and environmental pollution by biking instead of driving.
I can tell you, flat-out, Levey and all the rest of you drivers, that cyclists take their lives in their hands at the mercy of ignorant and half-blind motorists who feel they own the road. The recent, tragic case in the Cal. fruit market is just one example.
I'll act like a car when I'm given the respect I deserve on the road. Cyclists pay local taxes too, you know. In the meantime, I'll do what I need to do to get where I'm going, alive and in one piece.
Thank you for this chance to respond.
Bob Levey: I can understand your frustration, but you are endangering everyone--cyclists and motorist alike--if you ride wherever you like. This is a metropolitan area of four million. We'll never survive if we aren't careful of one another.
Of course, your point about the disdain that motorists feel (and express) toward cyclists is right on the button.
________________________________________________
AU Park : I think those timers are a good idea. As a frequent downtown driver, I can look at the countdown and determine from a half-block away whether I can make a green light traveling at normal speed. In other words, knowing when in the cycle when the light will turn encourages me to stay slow (and SAFE), rather than attempting a burst of speed to make it through before the light turns. I don't think they're silly at all.
Bob Levey: Thanks for this common-sense view.
________________________________________________
Downtown, Washington, D.C.: Uh, Bob, neither NYC nor Chicago currently have commuter taxes.
Bob Levey: I know this. But
________________________________________________
Bob Levey: As I was saying...
Before I hit the wrong button......
I know that neither city now has a commuter tax. But at the time the taxes were imposed, no one squawked
________________________________________________
Oatmeal or Chocolate Chip?: Levey, your audience yearns to know more about you. What's your favorite kind of cookie, and why?
Bob Levey: I don't eat them any more.
They'd violate my diet in a violent way.
In the sainted past, my answer would have been (and all-too-frequently was):
Ginger snaps.
________________________________________________
Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C.:
Bob:
How do you feel about being up against Penis contortionists during this 1 p.m. chat? I don't think I could imagine anything so strange being such a hit!
Bob Levey: You'll forgive me, but is that really on opposite me?
Someone at washingtonpost.com is trying to send me a message!
________________________________________________
Bethesda, Md.: I'm fascinated by this Kobe Bryant story. Bob, you're a columnist. If you found out that girl's name, would you print it? I mean, she's sending her friends out to trash Kobe on national TV, but she's hiding behind a wall of anonymity... seems just a little too convenient to me.
I wouldn't want a situation where women are afraid to report rapes because of the possible publicity. But what this chick's doing is wrong, and that's that.
Bob Levey: I would never print it.
She isn't hiding out at all. She's reserving her story for a courtroom, which is where the story deserves to be (and will be) heard. We in the media can report the truth of this story (as much of it as we can learn, anyway) without publishing her name. You the public loses nothing by not knowing the name.
Besides, to compare her situation (and her privacy concerns) to Bryant's is absurd. He's a world-famous star. She's a 19-year-old desk clerk.
________________________________________________
Proud Washingtonian: Bob, If history's your passion, here's a history question for you:
How did Washington become a punching bag for the rest of the country? Why is "Inside the Beltway" a pejorative term out there in the rest of America? I feel we've got a fine city here but outsiders don't understand its considerable charms, in the way that San Francisco, Chicago, New York, etc. enjoys ...
Why?
Bob Levey: Because it has always been viewed as a theme park--a kind of "toy city"--and not as anyone's home. Very few tourists--and very few suburbanites--ever explored its neighborhoods, looking for local character.
That's rapidly changing, but SF, Chi, NYC have a huge head start.
________________________________________________
California Recall Vote: So any clue if Maryland also has this provision? What is your general sense of how well Ehrlich is liked by the state?
Bob Levey: No clue.
As I said in this forum about a month ago, Messrs. Duncan and O'Malley are so eager to run against Ehrlich that they aren't even bothering to conceal it (much).
________________________________________________
Cyclists: The next time I see a cyclist obeying the rules of the road will be the first. They all have an attitude of "I'm saving the world and keeping fit too" that lets them think they can do whatever they want. Cyclists are the second most self-centered, selfish people in the world. (Next to smokers).
Bob Levey: You left out TV personalities who go to Iraq and report on troop positions on national TV.
I'm hoping for a new verb by the end of the year.
"Geraldo-ize."
Definition: To take a news event that's about others and make it unutterably, ineffably about yourself.
________________________________________________
Michigan:
Bob, thanks for standing up for the girl's side in the Kobe Bryant case. We have no idea what happened in this situation, but I feel really bad for the poor girl and all she is going through. Apparently the columnist who broadcast her name said that, since rape is a crime of violence and not sex, she shouldn't feel ashamed and it's okay to announce her identity.
Can you believe that?
Bob Levey: It isn't about her degree of shame. It's about her safety. The minute her name is out there, every kook in the world is going to besiege her (and her home). What did she ever do to deserve that?
________________________________________________
Re: She's Sending Her Friends Out To Trash Kobe on National TV: Most of the "friends" I have read about have only attacked her credibility by floating around talk that she overdosed, bragged, etc.
What gets me is how many mainstream media outlets report these friends' statements as truth. I.E. MSNBC front page article titled "Victim bragged about encounter at party" or something. This was based on a "friend"'s account.
This is a ROTTEN world to be in if you are a rape victim. I hope that DJ gets what he has coming to him.
Bob Levey: I don't see how her earlier emotional problems (if any) have anything to do with a) whether she was raped or b) whether she'd be an honest witness in a court of law.
________________________________________________
Washington, D.C.:
Hi Bob! -- Love the column!
This might be a stupid question, but anyway ... How are all these kids already going to camp, when all the money hasn't been raised yet? The Campaign ends today, but you have posted stories about kids' camp experiences this year? Where does that money come from?
Bob Levey: Kids are scheduled to go to camp through mid-August. The money we raise now sends the kids to camp then. We've raised a lot of money so far, as you say, and it has all gone to send kids to camp during late June and early July. The real issue now is whether the kids on the list for the back half of the summer will all get to go.
________________________________________________
Arlington, Va.: Bob, thank you for apoligizing about what you said about the D & M audience in general last week, I have been a loyal listener since they came to DC in 1985 and that certainly was a bad choice of words on your part.
Bob Levey: Yes, it was. No one feels worse about it than I do. Thanks for your thanks
________________________________________________
Arlington, Va.: Bob, I wasn't offended by the "retarded three-year-olds" comment. I know you were just typing off the cuff and that's the first thing that came out. I often use similar terms myself when I speak before thinking (which is all the time), and I have a brother with a disability. Heck, I say stuff like that in front of him and he laughs. Anyway, point is, if people don't understand that (the complainers are probably guilty of doing it themselves sometimes), then forget them.
Bob Levey: Thanks for giving me the break, but I don't deserve it. I've spent more than 22 years typing a daily column under excruciating deadlines. I've done these chats for more than five years. I've been on radio and TV, live, thousands of times. So I can hardly argue that the pace was so fast that I forgot to think. I'm USED to typing 1,000 miles an hour--and thinking just as fast. There is no excuse--none--for what I said last week.
________________________________________________
Washington, D.C.: Hi Bob- As one of those anti-union twenty somethings you so dislike, I have to ask you "Why don't you ask us why we dislike unions?" Here's why: It's because we see how the unions fight for lazy baby boomers who sit around just collecting a paycheck. I see so many baby boomers just waiting around avoiding work until they are eligible for retirement or they can get an early out. Unions are useless. People receive fair raises everyday and they don't have to be members of a union. They just have to put in a fair days work.
Bob Levey: On the contrary, unions protect the best workers, not the worst.
Just yesterday, I interviewed a bunch of union chambermaids for a column I'm doing about the long-term aftermath of 9/11. One woman had worked for 24 years for the same hotel. She had a perfect record. One day, out of earshot of customers, she mouthed of to a supervisor. She was canned. The union got her job back, with full back pay.
Does that sound like an unfair, unfit, lazy outcome to you? The truth, my over-confident friend, is that people do NOT receive fair raises every day. They get canned with zero justification just like the woman I interviewed yesterday. I hope that you remain as lucky as you've been so far. But if your luck turns, who will help you? The tooth fairy?
________________________________________________
Ballston, Va.:
Bob, I think you were absolutely right in your comment about Don & Mike's listeners. They wouldn't be on the air spouting off their ridiculous, juvenile comments if people didn't listen to them! You have to wonder about the types of people who would enjoy what D&M have to say ...
I understand why you apologized, but I completely agree with your comment.
Bob Levey: Just so we're clear on this, D and M have listeners who are The Boy and The Girl Next Door. Professionals in their 40s. People with PhDs. How do I know? Because they wrote to me to justify their choice of radio programs.
I can hardly argue that these people ought to switch to WGMS or NPR. They can listen to whoever they like. Free country, and all that. But what I don't understand is why A DAILY DIET of juvenile nonsense attracts people such as these.
________________________________________________
Gambrills, Md.: Have you ever run a contest asking readers to suggest different names for the Redskins? I'm trying to come up with different names but have grown up following the team for so long, it's hard to imagine something different.
The only thing I can come up with are the Washington Americans, the Washington Braves (has the same problem though), the Washington Bandits (as in Beltway Bandits), and the Washington Justice (but I think that would have been a better name for the Wizards/Bullets because you could have headlines about Justice running up and down the Court).
The Redskins is a problem, but what is the solution? Maybe Mr. Levey's column could help with suggestions from the readers?
Bob Levey: Great, great idea.
It goes right into the file.
Thanks
________________________________________________
As long as you're opening up ... : Bob, I understand Hax likes to talk about shoes on her chat, that's her "fluff" topic.
You like to go on and on about the Metro, boneheaded policitians, dieting, etc., but what's your "fluff" topic?
Info for future chats, you know?
Bob Levey: Do I get just one?
I'll try for three.
1) Koko Taylor, the queen of the blues. What a talent!
2) The New York Yankees of the 1950s. When Yogi was Yogi and Mick was Mick.
3) Folk music. Early Joan Baez, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, like that
________________________________________________
Orange Line:
Bob,
Like you, I'm a big fan of Metro and have commuted on the blue and yellow lines for all of the three years I've lived in the DC Area. A few months ago I moved and I now have the extreme displeasure of becoming an Orange Line commuter along Wilson Blvd. In three commuting years I have never experienced the ridiculous overcrowding, delays, broken switches, broken train cars, etc. that exist on the Orange Line. What's the deal? Do the Metro execs ever get out that way during rush hour? Have they not noticed the incredible number of people, including high-density housing, that exists on this line? Don't get me wrong, I am still a Metro fan, but come on, the Orange Line in VA needs some serious attention and improvement. Ideas?
Bob Levey: What the Orange Line needs--and what the Orange Line will gradually get--is eight-car trains.
What you're suffering through is the bill-come-due for a mess that Metro landed in, face first, about two years ago. It expected delivery of hundreds of new cars. That would have allowed eight-car trains across much of the system (and at all times, on all lines, during rush hours). But the cars didn't have the right specs. Big screwup in Italy. So they had to start over. The sardine-ing you experience is the result.
________________________________________________
Washington, D.C.: Obviously Bob, you've never worked for the Federal government and seen the Unions protect someone who has sat at their desk doing nothing for 10 years while they collect a check and wait for retirement. It's next to impossible for a supervisor to fire them or get them to produce quality work.
My father was a union member for 20 years and was cheated out of his full retirement by them claiming he lacked paying dues for one year. He never worked in a non-union shop and paid dues everyday of his life. But by the time he retired, he was too tired and ill to fight for his full retirement.
Bob Levey: What protects that lazy fed is not a union (How could it? Federal unions don't have the right to bargain wages or working conditions, and don't have the right to strike--Some powerhouse!).
What protects that lazy worker is the federal system, as suprvised by OPM. And the Hill, which blesses OPM's policies. It's a damn good thing that federal unions are as powerful as they are, or things would be even worse.
I'm sorry about your father. But is it possible that the union was right and he wasn't?
________________________________________________
Washington, D.C.: I'm a cyclist that rides to work. It's a little dangerous, but there are some wackos everywhere. I started to get smarter and choose better routes (going through the Mall).
But I have almost been hit numerous times by those drivers who are clueless or who talk on the cell phone. I was going through a circle legally and a lady didn't even look before entering it. I yelled and got her attention (actually scared her.
Bob Levey: Years ago, for a column, I commuted to work by bicycle with a reader who lives in Virginia. We had a glorious time along the bikes-only path that parallels the GW Parkway. But as soon as we hit the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge--and especially when we hit Washington Circle--it was madness. Cabs zipped right past my thigh. A woman cut me off without even THINKING about signalling. Bicyclists (like you, Washington) have my total sympathy.
________________________________________________
Columbia, Md.: Bob any comments on the apparent push to get rid of the Merriwether Post Pavillion? What a loss that would be.
Bob Levey: A huge loss, I agree. But from the short item on page three of today's Metro section, it looks like a done deal.
________________________________________________
Virginia: Read the Constitution, Congress can do anything it wants to the District. Plus with the gun issue, ever heard of the supremacy clause? Well it has something to do with federal laws trumping any state laws or laws the district comes up with.
Bob Levey: The point, Virginia, is not whether Congress can swamp DC with its power, but whether that's fair or advisable.
________________________________________________
Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.: Bob (keeper of all things Metro) -- I will never take Metro to Wolf Trap again. Last night, after the Tracy Chapman concert, our bus from Wolf Trap back to the West Falls Church Metro Station somehow got stuck in traffic getting out of the parking lot, and so we missed the last Orange line train into the city (through no fault of our own). The last train pulled away from the station as the Station Manager was telling those of us coming into the station that the train was waiting. The Station Manager had to be aware of the 30 pluspeople getting off the bus and headed toward the platform.
That was only the beginning of the nightmare. After waiting ten minutes on the platform without any announcement about how they were going to get us home, a train arrived to pick us up and take us into the city. With good faith we got onto the train, expecting it to make the regular Orange Line stops while on its way to the city. But, alas, it was not to be. I was headed only one stop - to East Falls Church. As we blew by the station, I realized the train conductor wasn't stopping. After he flew through several stations, several people on the train (including myself) approached his door to ask what the plan was. He mumbled something through the door about taking us to a line that would take us where we were all headed. It seemed too good to be true! A magic Metro train that would get us to our homes!
The train finally pulled into Metro Center and unloaded us. There was another Orange Line train in the direction of Vienna waiting for us at the platform. To get back to our Metro stations, we had to board another train headed back to where we had just been.
Bob, it took me an hour to go from West Falls Church to East Falls Church. If they had made any kind of announcement at the WFC station about how they were going to get us into the city, I would have elected to take a cab rather than spend an hour (1/2 of it trapped on a train that wouldn't stop) to get home.
Surely this happens often when buses get stuck in traffic getting out of Wolf Trap, right? You'd think Metro would have a plan to fulfill their obligation to get us home. But as I learned last night, it's just not so. Shame on Metro for such poor foresight and planning. Shame on them too for not communicating with their customers on how they were going to get us home so we could make our own decisions.
Bob Levey: Another piece of evidence (and a very strong one) that Metro doesn't have the slightest idea how to communicate accurately and promptly with its riders. I'm so sorry this happened to you. Metro (as I wrote justa few days ago) needs to get much more serious about announcements that say something.
________________________________________________
Silver Spring, Md.: Hey Bob,
Are there any Gay White Men with Aids or HIV anymore?
My reason for asking, every poster i see be it on the metro, or at a bus stop hut ... has people of color on them. For real Bob, go around the city and see how many white men/women you see on HIV or AID posters.
I question this ... only because it sends the wrong message.
Yes, I understand the rate is higher in the black communities but I also know its not getting lower in the white men (exclusively).
My question about the posters come from my son, who is nine years old thinks that the only people with HIV and AIDS are black people due to the posters.
Thanks.
Bob Levey: Aren't people people?
Aren't AIDS victims AIDS victims?
I can't agree with you at all, Silver Spring,. I look at an AIDS ad in the subway and I think, "What a human disaster." I suspect that all people with the disease feel the same way.
________________________________________________
Springfield, Va.: Bob, what do you think of the practice of running stills from TV news that capture the "live" aspect of an event, like yesterday's story about the NY shooting? It's nice to have a "picture" from when the event was going on, but they are grainy and I think the point would come across better in a real photo, even if it was taken 30 minutes later.
Bob Levey: Every photo editor would like a pure, crisp shot of every news event. But sometimes a freeze-dried piece of TV is the best we can do. So we do it.
By the way, we routinely refuse to run freeze-dried TV shots that are too unclear to decipher.
And even when a shot is grainy, it's sometimes of such historic magnitude that it's the right choice, anyway.
The example that leaps to mind is of Neil Armstrong, planting the American flag on the moon. That was a freeze-dried TV shot, and it wasn't super-clear. But weren't you glad that day to see that shot, as opposed to seeing no shot?
________________________________________________
Rockville, Md.: Hey Bob, here's something that really burns me - graffiti on Metro cars! We are blessed with the nation's best transit system, BAR NONE, and yet these self-righteous twerps like "K-Dawg" and "B-Mama" feel they have the right to ruin it for the rest of us with these so-called "tags." I'd like to tag them square in the jaw! (Sorry for the rant, love your work, Bob!)
Bob Levey: Good rant. You should know that Metro spends millions every year to de-graffiti-ize its trains every night. Obviously, it will need to keep doing so.
Thanks for the kind words about my work.
________________________________________________
Bethesda, Md.: Bob, I can actually one-up the guy who saw the seat spitter. The other night after some long hours in the library, I actually saw a SMOKER smoking on a metro car. Like it was no big deal! I wanted to pitch a fit, Bob, but smokers are violent and I didn't want to risk injury. I switched cars at the next stop though. (I think the new late-night hours are to blame.) Thank God we're banning smoking up here!
Bob Levey: Didn't you notify the operator, so he could notify a cop?
I hate to point fingers, but in a situation like that, walking away from the problem isn't going to solve it. Stepping up and being a witness will.
________________________________________________
Chantilly, Va.: Bob: with all the depressing things going on around the world and right here in the DC area, I thought you and everyone could use some good news:
Peach season at Moutoux Orchards in Vienna is now underway!
Bob, I'm not a Moutoux and anyone who has ever tried their peaches knows they don't have to come in here and shill for themselves.
They are simply the best peaches you can buy.
Bob Levey:
I greet this news with a watery mouth.
Thanks!
Have a great weekend, everyone.
________________________________________________
Automatically Update Page
| Get New Responses | Submit Question
 |