"Efficient German Sex", Governor Romney?

[bobquasit]

Okay, honesty check - this post has nothing to do with sex. Or, if it does, and you can convince me of that, my hat's off to you. But it IS about efficiency. Do you know where the subject quote came from, by the way?

Anyway, yesterday I received a reply to a letter that I wrote to Governor Romney about the overcrowding on the evening Franklin train. Here's the funny thing: I received the email yesterday. I sent the email on August 1st, 2005.

That means it took five months and eight days for the Romney administration to respond. The efficient, Republican Romney administration. The administration of the man that desperately wants to be President, and touts as his qualification...his incredible competence and ability as a businessman.

And we're talking EMAIL! Modern, click-and-send EMAIL! The technology of the future! Efficiency! Convenience! ARGH!

The response itself was just what you'd expect, although perhaps a bit longer than I anticipated. But it boils down to this: they insist that there are plenty of seats on the train. Who am I going to believe, them or my own eyes?

Here's my response:

Dear Mr. Betts,

Thank you for your response. I have spoken with Ms. Dillon several times, and she has been quite helpful. However, I must make clear that the 4:10 PM Franklin train (#715) IS overcrowded, and that this is the general consensus among the passengers on that line. I have never once failed to see less than five passengers per car who have been unable to find a seat at Ruggles, and who have remained standing for twenty minutes or more.

I count the number of standees frequently (I'm always one of them), and on many evenings there are twelve or more per car. Some are inevitably forced to stand in the center of the aisle, which blocks passage for everyone and is a safety hazard. At the same time, I and others couldn't help but notice that at least one-third of the seats on the 4:05 PM Needham Heights Train (#619) are completely empty when it stops at Ruggles, every evening.

If the ridership survey says that there are sufficient seats on the Franklin, I can assure you that the survey is wrong.

I hope that this matter will be investigated further.

Thank you,

Peter Maranci

Comments

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

Well, if you have a digital camera, maybe if you take a picture of the overcrowding and email it to them on a daily basis, then they'll take notice. They'd certainly respond before five months, just because of the sheer number of emails they'd be receiving if nothing else.

[ckd]

Also, kick copies of the photos to Mac Daniel at the Globe; he has a good-sized space to fill each week, so he may get on Pesaturo's case about it.

[bobquasit.livejournal.com]

Isn't it illegal to photograph people without their permission? I don't think I could ask every single person on the train to sign a release.

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

Nah, that's just for commercial uses. If you use someone's picture to make money, then they could maybe sue you for a portion (or all) of it, so to avoid that people selling pictures or video of other people get their permission before using the images. The only specific commercial use that doesn't require this that I know of is for journalism.

In general, though, there's no laws against taking any picture you want to anytime (except child porn and top-secret government stuff).