Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Juggle-a-space
In a publication, there are few things more annoying than a confusion over what's supposed to go where. Today, there is an AP story in what I thought was supposed to be the "Reader Powerpoint" space on page 4. On page 7, there's a Jimmy Greenfield column labeled "Powerpoint" accompanying a story about smokers. Buh? I guess the label fits, because the column is just as trite and annoying as the "Reader Powerpoint" usually is. It's the typical "non smoker resenting smokers" column, which, whether you sympathize with it or not, merely repeats a particular side of a rather stagnant debate. Some people think cigarette smoking is a nuisance, some people don't mind it--and some people, like Greenfield, have to go off on gung-ho badass gloating sessions, which is really the only point of this piece of crap column. Go get 'em, Bald Avenger! Next time on Bald Avenger: Jimmy browbeats the Littering Leprechaun and gives the Town Drunk a stern talking-to!
Yep, it appears that Greenfield is becoming RedEye's Eric Zorn, only without a usually pretty good blog to show for it.
MY ONGOING OBSESSION WITH THE "GOING PUBLIC" COLUMN: Good CTA stories abounded this past week, with Brown Line renovations beginning and a new plan for the Blue Line, not to mention Ben Joravsky's Reader story about the long-awaited extension of the Red Line. Red's Kyra Kyles again goes, er, around the news to deliver yet another treatise on rider manners. She recounts the stories of pregnant women who emailed her about being unable to get a seat. Kyles asks: "Is this the way you would have wanted [your mother] to be treated on public transit?" Answer: I wouldn't have wanted her to be on a fucking CTA train, what with the car jerking back and forth and the steep stairs at most of the stations. And even if she did get a seat, it would probably be next to some inconsiderate fat guy who'd crowd her in, leaving me with hardly enough room to kick. My God. Of course some pregnant women have no choice but to use public transit, but I seriously would not be surprised if the CTA's lurching vehicles haven't induced a miscarriage or two. Luckily, my mother carried all three of her children in Florida, where public transit hardly figures in.
Yep, it appears that Greenfield is becoming RedEye's Eric Zorn, only without a usually pretty good blog to show for it.
MY ONGOING OBSESSION WITH THE "GOING PUBLIC" COLUMN: Good CTA stories abounded this past week, with Brown Line renovations beginning and a new plan for the Blue Line, not to mention Ben Joravsky's Reader story about the long-awaited extension of the Red Line. Red's Kyra Kyles again goes, er, around the news to deliver yet another treatise on rider manners. She recounts the stories of pregnant women who emailed her about being unable to get a seat. Kyles asks: "Is this the way you would have wanted [your mother] to be treated on public transit?" Answer: I wouldn't have wanted her to be on a fucking CTA train, what with the car jerking back and forth and the steep stairs at most of the stations. And even if she did get a seat, it would probably be next to some inconsiderate fat guy who'd crowd her in, leaving me with hardly enough room to kick. My God. Of course some pregnant women have no choice but to use public transit, but I seriously would not be surprised if the CTA's lurching vehicles haven't induced a miscarriage or two. Luckily, my mother carried all three of her children in Florida, where public transit hardly figures in.
