illusionofjoy | Letter to the editor: boo-HOO!

I wish to comment on one of the individuals you quoted for your recent article, "Derailed light-rail car slows T service." Kenneth McGuinn complained that he lost wages because his trolley was delayed well over an hour and that when he called the Port Authority to complain, they were insensitive to his plight. Well, let me be the first to say, "good for the Port Authority!"

People need to stop whining about every little inconvenience that they happen to run into and begin learning to suck it up and solve their own problems. Mr. McGuinn, upon learning that his trolley would be delayed, could have called his worksite ahead of time to apprise them of the situation. If he doesn't own a cell phone, there is a pay phone quite close to the Mt. Lebanon station that would have equally sufficed. Barring that, he could have also taken an alternate route in order to get to his destination. There are several busses that go to Washington Junction, where Mr. McGinn's trolley was going. He could have opted to take one of those. Even if he wasn't sure which one to take, there are always plenty of schedule fliers on hand at every T station and the fare booth attendants are generally happy to help someone find their way around.

Instead, Mr. McGinn decided to sit in his delayed trolley car like a lab rat suffering from learned helplessness. Then, because he didn't have the initiative to seek out a solution to his problem, he whines to the Port Authority about his plight, when they already have their hands full trying to solve the problem that caused it in the first place. Gaining no satisfaction, he then whines to the Post-Gazette, earning himself fifteen minutes of fame and probably thinking he's "gotten even" with PAT. In reality, he's only shown himself to be an example of what is wrong with society today: too many people unwilling to pull themselves up and figure things out, as they are under the delusion that the world owes them an easy existence. Pathetic.

Oh, and before Mr. McGinn (who you mentioned was 20) cries about this being an attack on the young, let me point out that I am 25.