28 July 2007 – Morristown, NJ
A Late Start…
If you want to get a taste of collapse, take the train. If civilizations collapse when energy and resource inputs can no longer keep up with the forces of environmental destruction, entropy and chaos, then the state of the US passenger rail system is exactly what we would expect to see in the early stages. Hobbled by a lack of money, a lack of time, a lack of intention, a lack of mission, a lack of caring from the top on down, the trains clunk desperately along, tossing services out at every stop, and leaking quality with every mile.
We got up at 4 AM, made our way to Raleigh for the 5:40, only to find that it was four hours late. And that set the tone for the day: angry, exhausted passengers, defensive and frazzled employees, filthy bathrooms and delays piled on top of delays. Frequent apologies and free food did little to soothe exposed nerves, and as the train rattled on, a sense of helplessness began to permeate the air, overpowering the squawking of handheld video games and the constant buzzing feedback spilling from the overhead speakers. By the time we came to a full stop in Newark, the train was over five hours late.
They say there were almost a hundred people at our Morristown, New Jersey screening at the UU church. But we never got to see them all. By the time we filed in, dropped at the front door by our able guides and friends Phil and Tom, there were about forty-five people l