The 90 min walk home in extreme heat and humidity last night would have been better with water. As it was, when I got home all I could say was "water", "wrong" and "beer". Beloved husband acquiesced to the fluid requests and asked what was wrong. Once hydrated, I was able to respond.
I normally am not against strikes. Totally back the ability of people to fight unfair working conditions, actually spend some time as a Teamster. I was - until yesterday - all kinds of a union girl. But I also spend some time as a home support worker. I had no car and no bike, and if I didn't get to my clients on a given day they would have suffered. They would not have eaten, not have been bathed, may have sat in their own excrement. Nothing life threatening, me not being a doctor or nurse. But still, diminishing in some way, dehumanizing. Feelings of abandonment and isolation would have risen and it's unlikely that any of the agencies I worked for would have ponied up the cab fair. At just under $10/hr, I wouldn't have been able to afford it. And so yesterday, while the TTC was on strike, it's very likely that hundreds upon possibly thousands of good hearted home support workers, health care aides and hospice volunteers couldn't make it to their people. Other volunteers, skilled in the alleviation of all manner of suffering were left helpless while across the city, the sick, weak, poor and elderly died a little more inside. If the TTC in and of itself is not an essential service, it's my belief that the people who use it often are. It's likely no one died physically as a result of the strike and so the rise in suffering that took place yesterday can carefully be filed under "inconvenienced" and never make the news. And for what? Because some "senior staff" don't want to be demoted, work nights? Don't want their working life to change?
I'm taking my bike for a test drive tonight.