Holiday

  There was a woman on a bus one day complaining about not being able to get to work on Memorial Day.  There were six holidays that the buses didn't run:  New Year's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I don't know if the woman recognized me from the numerous local TV interviews I had done, or maybe she just wanted to vent, but I asked her where she worked.  She said she worked for Richland School District One, and she couldn't get to work, because she rode the bus.  I had no clue that schools were open on Memorial Day.

 I went to the next Comet Board of Directors meeting and brought up the woman's complaint.  There were two Richland County Council members on the Board, and they said they didn't know schools were open on that holiday either.  News doesn't travel fast in Columbia.  I suggested to the Board that she couldn't be the only one to have that problem of not being able to get to work.  The proposal was sent to a committee for discussion.

 In the committee meeting, there was debate about which holidays that the buses should run.  The State workers might be off those days, but service and retail workers probably had to work.  So, I made a deal with the Comet on behalf of the riders.  If the bus would run on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day, I would let the drivers off on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I tried to sell it to the Comet by saying that those two holidays were the ones that drivers needed to be with their families.  I don't think the union representing the drivers were too keen working on Labor Day, but it meant more money in the pockets of the drivers, so they said yes.  I then went to the MTRA Board to tell them of the deal.  They agreed that it was a good idea.  Then, we presented it to our membership, and they seemed very happy.  It was a good deal.

 The only downside to the deal was something I discovered later.  Two churches in Columbia did a Thanksgiving Day meal at the Coliseum every year.  Those folks who needed that meal were those who had nowhere else to go.  Many people couldn't get downtown without the bus.  It was a need that couldn't be fulfilled, but I had made the deal with the Comet.  They weren't willing to go back on the deal just because of one event on that day, so I just hoped that folks could find their way to the site.