Archive for January 2007
Tuesday, January 16th, 2007
Awkward flirting wrecks lives.
Computer Lab, Posvar Hall, Pitt campus. 8 pm.
A Dude with a polo shirt and diamond studs in his ears is leaning back talking loudly on his cell phone to the dismay of the people trying to work. He is talking in a total dude voice:
Dude on Cell Phone: Why does this chick have my fuckin’ sweatpants?
— What, like she has a thing for sweatpants or something?
— Man, this girl has my fuckin’ Pitt ID and shit; I, like, can’t do shit on
campus.
— So, why in the hell does she have my sweatpants?
— So she wanted a pair of your sweatpants?
— I dunno man: this chick sounds weird.
— Then why did you give her MY fuckin’ sweat pants man? They’re, like, MY sweatpants.
— I know, but I dont want some random chick walking around in my sweatpants,
thinking they’re yours or something.
— Well, she’s gonna find out when she finds my Pitt ID.
— Alright, man. Just get me my fuckin’ sweatpants back; this chick sounds
weird.
— Overheard by: just trying to do her fuckin work
No Comments » - Tags: Pitt, Fashion, Style & Beauty, Attraction, Love & Sex, Dumb Guys, Crazies, @ Computer Lab
Tuesday, January 16th, 2007
Living in Pittsburgh may become a lot harder soon.
If you haven’t heard or read about it yet, you need to know this: The Port Authority has announced plans to cut more than half of their routes. And they want to raise the rates and lay off a ton of employees.
So, you know that bus with the long route that you have to wait for every morning to get to work or school? Soon, you very probably will have to walk farther and wait and ride longer so that you can work longer to pay the higher transit fees. And your driver will probably be in a pissy mood and not say clever things.
Progress Pittsburgh has more information on this here. The pamphlet describing the service changes is here. The pamphlet lists the times and locations for the public hearings, which begin on Monday, January 22 and continue through Wednesday, February 7.
The Port Authority has been disorganized and ineffectual for years. A rider shouldn’t have to check several unofficial Web sites just to try to make sense of the public transportation system. When I moved back to Pittsburgh from New York, I went through more culture shock than when I moved there, and largely due to the confusing and unreliable bus system.
I love public transportation; it’s nice to be able to sit and read on the way to work in the morning, to see all the different people who live in the city. It’s nice to be able to live in the city with the highest parking taxes in the country and not have to own a car.
The people and government of Allegheny County say regularly that they want to hold on to the young people of the city, that they want us to build our lives and homes here. But not all of us are in the “cupcake class”; many of us have to work the service jobs that support the more affluent’s living and spending habits. Many of us rely on the buses to get to work or school, to improve our lives to the point that we might be able to afford a fancy cupcake now and then.
If these changes go through, I think it’s time for us to take a look at how important living in Allegheny County is to us and at how much it costs us in time, money, effort, and stress. The changes may not even affect me directly, but I’m not sure I want to live in a city that treats its citizens this way. I am seriously considering moving to another, more livable city, should this organization continue to waste taxpayer’s money without taking care of the people it is supposedly committed to serving.
It’s time to get serious about our public transportation. Pittsburgh is a great place, and it’s easy to feel proud to live here; however, the transit situation as it is difficult, and we can’t let it get worse.
I encourage readers to attend these public hearings, as well as any rallies that might be planned. Go and speak. Tell the men in suits how this will affect your life. And tell them that you can take away the thing this city says it needs: you.
Chris Griswold,
Overheard In Pittsburgh
6 Comments » - Tags: Admin, @ Bus, Travel and Transportation
Tuesday, January 16th, 2007
So is Fifth and Forbes Pittsburgh’s Vietnam?
28X Inbound, 6:30 a.m.
Most of the passengers have just arrived on the San Francisco Red-eye:
Passenger #1: Yeah, PAT is totally threatening to cut the 28X.
Passenger #2: What the fuck? That’s the only bus I ever use. That’s the most important line they have!
Passenger #1: It’s totally not going to happen, though. The transit authority keeps spending all its money, then threatening to shut down half its routes, then it gets another emergency band-aid bond passed, and finally it lays low for about six months until it runs out of money again.
PAT is kind of like Pennsylvania’s Iraq War.
Passenger #2: …Does that make us insurgents?
— Overheard by Connor
Friday, January 12th, 2007
That’s exactly how Emily Dickinson felt
Barry’s Pub, South Side. Saturday Night.
Two drunk 20-something Italian Stallions with big gold chains sit at the bar:
Italian Stallion: Wow, man. These texts that I send? They should be published in the New Yorker, or some shit like that!
[…]
Italian Stallion:[sadly] …Yeah…except I never finish them.
[Italian Stallion proceeds to show a woman he doesn’t know an incoherent text to a girl he is trying to “let down easy.”]
— Overheard by Rachel
No Comments » - Tags: Drinking, Drunks & Bars, Fashion, Style & Beauty, Attraction, Love & Sex, Social Divisions, Southside, TMI, @ Bar
Friday, January 12th, 2007
“Squirrel Hill” by Norman Rockwell
In front of Mineos, Squirrel Hill
A crowd of people, mostly children, check out a guy’s awesome Harley. His dog sits in the matching sidecar:
Older Woman: Does your dog like riding in the sidecar?
Biker: Yeah….he loves it…it’s his favorite activity [nods toward the dog, who is licking pizza sauce off of a child’s face] besides eating, of course.
— Overheard by L.P.
1 Comment » - Tags: Squirrel Hill, Fashion, Style & Beauty, Food & Drink, Animals, Travel and Transportation
Friday, January 12th, 2007
A Garage and Marijuana
Outside Retro Burger King, Southside:
Cool Dude: He’s everything you could ever want in a bass player, except his bass playing skills.
— Overheard by shadow
Thursday, January 11th, 2007
After PAT discontinues her bus route, what will this woman have to complain about? You tell me that. Huh?
Ross Park Mall, Ross Township.
Two Elderly Women wait for the ACCESS bus:
Elderly Woman #1: I do not like Macy*s. Their prices are too high. Then they are putting a Nordstroms in over there. That is not for me. That is for “Angena Jolie” and “Britney Spears”. Not me.
Elderly Woman #2: Ah huh.
Elderly Woman #1: The most I ever spent for a purse was $60. I would never spend $500 for a purse. But, if I did, I would put a big tag on it saying, “I paid $500 for this purse,” so everyone could see how much I spent on it.
Elderly Woman #2: Oh.
Elderly Woman #1: Why did they put shrubs out there? Who the hell wants to come to a mall to see shrubs?
Elderly Woman #2: Ah huh.
3 Comments » - Tags: Fashion, Style & Beauty, Celebrity, Age, Money, Social Divisions, Beliefs, Credos & Theories, Nature, @ Mall, Marketing, Shopping, Ross Township
Thursday, January 11th, 2007
Pittsburgh Parking Rates May Be a Little Too High
500 Inbound, Shadyside.
An attractive couple dressed in a tuxedo and an evening gown gets on the bus:
Bus Driver: I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to pick you up or
not. You look like you were standing on Rodeo Drive in Hollywood, but I’ll
tell you what: This ain’t no Rodeo Drive; this is Fifth Avenue in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!
* Overheard in Pittsburgh TrueFact™: Pittsburgh’s parking tax is the highest in the country. Have fun working downtown!
2 Comments » - Tags: Shadyside, Fashion, Style & Beauty, @ Bus, Money, Government & Law, Pittsburgh, Parking in Oakland, Travel and Transportation
Thursday, January 11th, 2007
Pop Quiz, Hotshot
54C Inbound, Oakland:
Drunk Blonde #1: What street are we at, 22nd?
Drunk Blonde #2: Yeah, but what street is next?
— Overheard by Sarah E
No Comments » - Tags: Oakland, Drinking, Drunks & Bars, @ Bus, Education, Intelligence, Travel and Transportation
Wednesday, January 10th, 2007
This drinking session began in a forest. Two days before.
Section 104, Heinz Field. 3rd Quarter of a Steelers Game:
Drunk Guy: How many periods are in football?
Yinzer: Well, first off, this is football, not hockey. That’s why these are the Steelers and not the Pens.
Drunk Hunter: That’s why I like baseball games: With three periods, they’re not as long as football.