A question no doubts had bubbled up in my mind as a clarified the status of my Milwaukee County Transit M-Card the other day. I wanted to check the balance, as I'm going to visit the City by the Inland Sea in a couple of weeks. The M-Card is like an electronic Passport for me. I can get on any MCTS bus, tap the card on the pay pedestal, and I have paid for my ride and received a transfer for another bus in my route. I understand because of a new agreement with Bublr Bikes, I will be able to also use the card to rent a shared bike for the all-important last mile.
Some might just say that it just makes sense for me to keep my M-Card since I will continue to visit Milwaukee, but I know different. .Just looking at the thing brings back memories. I think of the first one I got when the concept was being developed. I was a member and then Chair of Transit Services Advisory Committee (TSAC) We were issued the passes in order to test the system.
I glad to say that even though we were unpaid citizen volunteers to advise and consult with the County Board Committee charged with oversite, the members of my group turned them back in once the system became operational and purchased our passes.
It brings to mind the corners where I often waited for buses. As a TSAC member, I used to talk to people about their experience on the system and it gave me insight into concerns, problems and what might need fixing. It gave me a chance to talk to people I might never have met. Our meetings may have been short but many of them were memorable.
A loyalty of a different kind is being raised in Minnesota and living for many years in Wisconsin. Today I envy the strides Minnesota is making in becoming a first-class region of the world both socially and economically. We in Wisconsin are compared with Minnesota often and we are not looking good in those comparisons. While they invest in their people and infrastructure. We have sacrificed our future by enriching the already wealthy hoping vainly for a"trickle down"effect. This is life in a state whose main claim for prosperity is our governor isn't quite as bad as Bobby Jindal or Sam Brown. But even with that stark and painful reality, I'm not giving up on this state where I have spent almost all of my life. When it gets as bleak as it can these days, I can always look to my Green Bay Packers.
Another part my history I can't escape is my early upbringing in the Catholic Church. I don't have a prayer book or a rosary anymore but I do have some values that I were imprinted on me by my days in school and time in church. I guess you might say you can take the man out of the church since I no longer follow the religion, but you can't take all of the church out of the man. I am, after all, a former altar boy who was so unattractive I was never approached for sex by a priest.
Some might just say that it just makes sense for me to keep my M-Card since I will continue to visit Milwaukee, but I know different. .Just looking at the thing brings back memories. I think of the first one I got when the concept was being developed. I was a member and then Chair of Transit Services Advisory Committee (TSAC) We were issued the passes in order to test the system.
I glad to say that even though we were unpaid citizen volunteers to advise and consult with the County Board Committee charged with oversite, the members of my group turned them back in once the system became operational and purchased our passes.
It brings to mind the corners where I often waited for buses. As a TSAC member, I used to talk to people about their experience on the system and it gave me insight into concerns, problems and what might need fixing. It gave me a chance to talk to people I might never have met. Our meetings may have been short but many of them were memorable.
A loyalty of a different kind is being raised in Minnesota and living for many years in Wisconsin. Today I envy the strides Minnesota is making in becoming a first-class region of the world both socially and economically. We in Wisconsin are compared with Minnesota often and we are not looking good in those comparisons. While they invest in their people and infrastructure. We have sacrificed our future by enriching the already wealthy hoping vainly for a"trickle down"effect. This is life in a state whose main claim for prosperity is our governor isn't quite as bad as Bobby Jindal or Sam Brown. But even with that stark and painful reality, I'm not giving up on this state where I have spent almost all of my life. When it gets as bleak as it can these days, I can always look to my Green Bay Packers.
Another part my history I can't escape is my early upbringing in the Catholic Church. I don't have a prayer book or a rosary anymore but I do have some values that I were imprinted on me by my days in school and time in church. I guess you might say you can take the man out of the church since I no longer follow the religion, but you can't take all of the church out of the man. I am, after all, a former altar boy who was so unattractive I was never approached for sex by a priest.
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