Temple Tweets

When I open my wallet and dust bunnies hop out at me, it is a little obvious that taking a cab to class isn’t happening. I’m sure if I would have pouted to Temple about my transportation expense woes, they would have told me to be a big girl and wait endlessly for the shuttle they provided to get us through the SEPTA strike. For those of us without the lung capacity to bike around or for those who actually operate on a time schedule, the SEPTA strike spat in our faces.

I know I could have resorted to the Regional Rail from Center City to get to Main Campus, but would giving more money to SEPTA when they were screwing so many people over have made sense? Especially when my rent, electric and cell phone bill payments were all late in August just so I could buy a Transpass, which, until yesterday, was a waste of paper. I would rather have failed by attendance than lost my pride to SEPTA, and the tweeters of Temple seem to agree with me.

@ThatQuietChick: I love how Temple sends an email saying to save money by using public transportation the day SEPTA is going on strike…

What I really love is that when the strike first happened, Temple didn’t send out an e-mail alerting anyone about their options to get to school. Yes, there was a link to information posted on Temple’s homepage, but who wakes up and goes to that Web site? Clearly, everyone checks Twitter first, and that is how I found out about the Broad Street shuttle.

@Phanatical: Freezing waiting for the Temple Shuttle – unlike @SEPTA Temple actually does MORE than its job and is RESPONSIBLE. Greedy assholes.

I guess whoever tweets for SEPTA didn’t go on strike. Temple didn’t have to give us the shuttle, but it is a bit lackluster. I didn’t braved the school bus, although I heard horror stories of students waiting hours in the cold, only to be denied a ride because the bus was already packed. Why couldn’t the Owl Loop have stretched its wings and taken a break from cruising around Main Campus, helping to transport students and faculty to North and South Philadelphia? I think everyone could have handled walking from Paley to J&H for a couple weeks.

@Cynderblock: @PhillyWeekly im riding my bike to temple u from s philly. septa is bloated & corrupt & should not be allowed to cripple the city this way.

I can see corrupt, but bloated? Thinking about SEPTA being bloated makes me feel more uncomfortable than riding the 23 Bus with a man to my left with his hand down his pants and a woman to my right licking her Dorito fingers.

@AshesToSea: Response to the Septa strike stuff is out of control. Temple created an online forum for rides…creepy much?

It was, indeed, very creepy. You had to log into the forum with your TU ID number and password, and anyone who made a post was identified by the name on his or her Owl Card, thus creating a new purpose for Cherry and White Pages. On the forum, people posted whether they needed a ride or could have offered one. Someone was feeling extra friendly and said whoever gives him or her a ride can fire his or her gun off in the woods during Thanksgiving Break if they live close. The point is, just because someone goes to Temple doesn’t mean she’s not a freak or safe to travel with.

We survived the SEPTA strike in six days of anger. Thankfully, it ended – I’m afraid another week would have only brought depression. Twitter would never have done this to us.

Samantha Krotzer can be reached at samantha.krotzer@temple.edu.