The Chronicle's list of blessings

Yesterday's Chronicle ran a Thanksgiving editorial that started off in the right direction:

It is a time of the year when many American families will more keenly feel the absence of loved ones serving in combat zones abroad. And it is a time for all Americans to recognize the sacrifice made by those men and women who have given their life trying to secure freedom and democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But it quickly went downhill from there:

Even as Houstonians tuck into their holiday meals surrounded by friends and family, there are the homeless to remember.

[snip]

Here's something else to be thankful for after a heavy turkey meal that portends days more of turkey sandwiches and turkey casserole: The mad cow disease scare that shook cattle markets and frightened some consumers turned out to be a false alarm.

[snip]

[...]some 30.6 million travelers in total — are expected to make a holiday road trip, despite higher gas prices.

[snip]

Houston has many blessings to count this year: successful Super Bowl XXXVIII and baseball All-Star games played here, the opening of the downtown light rail line and the prospect of a major new central city park.

[snip]

The common thinking is that the November election results showed Americans are deeply divided politically.

I am thankful that my Thanksgiving was not spent with the group of people who came up with that list of blessings.

And then today's Chronicle has this letter to the editor that fits the pro-light rail group think at the newspaper:

While the number of accidents involving MetroRail is about to set records, the trains are not the biggest problem — it's the riders. At the Texas Medical Center stations, passengers usually do not obey pedestrian signals as they run for waiting trains or exit to their jobs.

The amount of jaywalking has been increasing. Especially pre-dawn, with the poor street lighting and uniformly dark clothing, a tragic accident is inevitable. Metro police should handle this problem and put in railings to re-direct pedestrian flow to reduce the tendency to ignore signals.

ERIC ORZECK
Houston

Oh brother! It's the riders' fault, not the trains. Just like it's all the fault of drivers for the record-breaking accident rate (it's really 70), not the trains that have invaded the territory formerly inhabited only by cars and pedestrians.

And those pedestrians are so thoughtless, wearing dark clothing. Maybe Metro could issue some nice orange vests with reflective tape, to train riders. And then Metro police could issue tickets to the train riders turned predestrians who don't wear the Metro-approved safety-colored attire.

You know, the editors could be right about being thankful for the opening of the light rail line. It is Houston's gift to Houstonians that keeps giving, in so many ways.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/26/04 09:07 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Sphere | Comments (0)

Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry

Trackback

Unfortunately, abusive spammers have forced us to disable incoming trackback pings. The Technorati link should list related posts. Feel free to drop us an email if you've linked a post and would like to let us know about it.

SITE MENU

+Home
+About
+Archives/Categories
+Bad Sports
+Bloggers
+Chron Headlines
+Contact Us
+Donate
+Forum
+Local Blog Talk
+PDA Friendly
+Sponsor
+Syndication

ADVERTISING