Holding commuters hostage
I NEVER liked going to school despite what some people might think.
I like to learn stuff, but the whole structured, regimented, sitting in a class thing could get boring. And that was regardless of the day. Mondays for sure were the worst, but any regular school day had its challenges. This was especially true on Fridays. It’s not about the workload. For all we cared, there could have been only one class on Friday; it was still Friday. Once that clock hit anywhere past noon, as far as my brain was concerned, that was ‘go homing’ time. Mind you, I didn’t have some of the alleged awesome weekends that my classmates had, but that’s ok. As long as I was away from school for even two days, I was fine.
Despite not having an affinity for school though, I knew that I still had to go. I mean, I am cognisant of the fact that you need some level of formal education. It doesn’t matter if the classroom is under a tree, you do need teachers and teaching. Makes no sense you’re in a position to make millions and you can’t read your contract. And if your thinking is that your lawyer can handle the paperwork, please remember that the lawyer can always trick you too. So school is important.
I say all this to say that when I hear taxi operators, especially those in the rural areas, going on strike, it irks me. Some of these men and women have been staying off the job in protest over bad roads and what they perceive as either the slow pace of roadwork or harassment from police because of tints and excessive tickets. Let’s get some things straight. Yes, I am a private motor vehicle operator, not a taxi man. I also don’t drive daily like these operators do. And no I don’t feel like I am a target for the police.
But I know what it’s like driving on bad roads. I live in a rural part of St Andrew and trust me, the roads have not been kind to my car. You can ask my mechanic. Some of these public passenger bus drivers have no moral authority to be talking about slackness with roadworks. As angry as I am about the pace of infrastructure work, stopping people who have no influence with it is nonsensical. Plus if you’re having issues with work getting done, how is hindering the persons doing it going to help?
And as for the argument about window tints, are you serious? What’s the big deal about having lighter tints? What the heck are you doing in these buses? On second thought, don’t answer. Traffic tickets? Well, that’s another matter. If you drive long enough, you will pick up a few during your lifetime. But if you’re constantly getting ticketed for various offences, isn’t it possible that you’re the problem and not the police? I’m just saying.