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Last Updated: Nov 14, 2008 - 12:49:26 PM |
My granddaughter was at our house over the weekend; she’s four, although quick to point out that she’s almost five. While playing with the neighbor kids, chasing fireflies in the early evening, and begging popsicles are favorite pastimes, asking questions comes in first as her favorite conversational style.
“Why” is her favorite conjunction, and she uses it at the most appropriate of times. “Why are you doing that, Poppie?” she says.
“Because I have to fix the faucet for Oma,” I answer.
“Why?”
“It’s broken.”
“Why?”
“I guess they made it cheaply,” I say, quickly running out of answers and patience.
“Why?”
“Because in today’s economy due to forces brought on by the free trade agreement, the market has put pressure on manufacturers, mostly in China and other parts of the world, to make products that are inexpensive rather than that of better quality so that they can sell more,” I say, thinking, That should fix her.
“Why?”
Then I have to go to plan B, and use the answer my parents always used on me: “Because I say so.”
“Oh,” she says.
Maybe the “I say so” answer that we got when we were kids has left us timid, afraid to ask why anymore. Or maybe we don’t really want to know the answer because the answers lead to more questions; the type of questions some don’t want to answer. Even at the highest levels, we get answers that have become a pat on the head that comes with a disguised “Because I say so.”
Why do we wait until we are well into a crisis like current oil inflation to work on a solution? Hasn’t this happened to us before? Now the increased price of gas has spread like a plague, forcing higher food prices and most everything else that has to be shipped. And what has to be shipped is almost everything we consume, because over the years, our shameless consumerism has put us in search of ever-cheaper products. It’s common knowledge that most of what we consume comes from places where labor is cheap, working conditions are not what they are in the U.S., and a disrespect of the environment allows the casual use of toxic chemicals in fabricating the products.
According to an article in Newsweek last week, the rising cost of fuel turns some of this around. As fuel costs rise, so do shipping costs. This will drive up the cost of imports and encourage sustainability – that is, manufacturing, growing, and maintaining products much closer to home.
Why are we still waiting, at least here in Chesterfield, for a transit system that will allow us to be less dependent on our personal vehicles and allow us to save money, fuel, and the environment by using buses or light rail? Strangely, this is the first time in recent years that Virginia’s transportation budget contained an increase for development of mass transit. GRTC could get at least 60 new buses, while road projects are being delayed or cut. But how many of those new buses will be used in Chesterfield?
We have lots of people who need a ride, a lot of businesses and industry that need access to a workforce that can get to work inexpensively. Yet Chesterfield has three express bus routes, one that doesn’t an official stop (JTCC) in Chester.
Why?
That’s a good question, and one we should be asking over and over again. Would the answer be that we don’t have the money? It would probably be one of them. Another, I would guess, would be bringing the wrong element into Chesterfield. This one was the strongest argument against the LINK bus program from a few years ago.
Why wouldn’t a transit system also help our traffic problems? Why wouldn’t buses or light rail help reduce the need to build more roads? Why wouldn’t that save tax dollars as well? A bus is cheaper than a road, and safer, too.
As pedestrians have to do battle with vehicles that are 15 – 20 times their own weight to cross at a traffic light; and bicyclists, motorcyclists, and those on scooters fear that drivers talking on cell phones while eating will not see them, we wonder why.
Why didn’t we do something about this traffic thing earlier? We blame growth, come-heres, and out-of-control developers. If we had a way to get from A to B without getting in our SUVs, maybe the impact of growth wouldn’t be so intense. With good pedestrian ways, kids could walk to school, helping alleviate school transportation costs and freeing up money for more classrooms.
Why the apathy? Why not provide for our grandchildren’s quality of life? If we don’t deal with our transportation issues now, they will have to, and it will be much worse.
Our grandchildren will be asking, “Why didn’t you do something about this sooner?”
“We didn’t want to pay for it.”
“Why?”
“We thought taxes were already too high.”
“Why?”
“Because some politicians thought mass transit would not get them more votes.”
“Why?”
“Because I say so.”
mfausz@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421
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