Rant #1,520: Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

Sayonara, Pope.

I hope whatever you expected to accomplish here was completed.

I know some people are sorry to see you go.

Others, you couldn't leave fast enough.

My father can go back to work now.

He was not going to be driving a cab in Manhattan while the Pope was there.

With all the road closings and detours, it just did not pay for him to work.

He will tell you that passengers will give him their destinations, and when he can't use this street or that street to reach where they want to go, they ask why, as if they have no idea what is going on in New York City.

They blame the cab driver, swear on his life, have nasty things to say about cabbies in general, and bolt out of the cab when they get to their destination as if there was a spring on their seats.

No, at nearly 84 years of age, my father--and for that matter, his fellow cabbies--don't need to hear this.

He worked during other papal visits, and he has sworn he would not work another one, and he kept his word this time.

Good for him.

New York City took the proper security precautions to prevent any nonsense during the Pope's visit, and for once, they did the right thing.

Numerous streets were closed, security was as tight as a drum, and Manhattan became something of an armed camp, as was Philadelphia.

That is good. You don't want to start World War III because some zealot has a bone to pick with the Pope, or just wants to show off his artillery to the world.

But there were casualties as a result of the Pope's visit, and I guess my father was one of them, to a certain extent.

Other businesses could not operate as they normally do, because people simply could not get to them.

And with all the people coming into the city during the normal work week, others stayed away.

I remember years and years ago, when I was looking for a job around 1979 or 1980, and another papal visit happened.

I had to get from one interview to another, and I used the trains.

I just remember that people were packed into the trains like sardines--even more than normal--and I decided to use my legs and feet rather than mass transit, because they were impossible with everyone coming into the city.

I am sure it was even worse this time around, and happily, I had no reason to go into Manhattan during the past week.

Heck, I haven't worked in Manhattan since the 1990s, and boy, am I glad that I don't.

I always hated the commute, as it simply added extra time onto my workday.

And with the Pope in town, it would have been time to take off if I had worked in Manhattan, if I could.

Who wants to deal with that?

Anyway, now it is time to slow down, to unwind, to get back to what we are doing.

TV news can actually cover all the news, not just the Pope. Someone on Facebook said something to the effect that yes, the Pope's visit was important, the wall to wall coverage was important, but couldn't they break every once in a while for the weather report?

I know the person posting this was being facetious, but I understood their point.

Wall to wall coverage of his visit, with reporters beckoning a look from him when they are supposed to be covering this as news, is just not right.

This is news, and should be covered as such, and if a reporter feels she must lose herself in all the folderoll--the reporter in question was Kristine Johnson on WCBS-TV in New York, someone who I happen to really like as a broadcaster--then she should excuse herself and not work as a reporter on this story.

Report the story, not become the story.

But whatever the case, the Pope is gone, and now we can go back to hearing about all the murders, all the fires, all the nonsense in Washington, and other things that usually enthrall us during the workweek.

No, the Pope didn't change anything, at least not permanently.

And no, his leaving didn't change anything either.

World leaders will be congregating at the United Nations, including our own President Obama.

So there will continue to be closed streets and lots of security in Manhattan today.

Boy, do I feel sorry for my father. He went into work today, and will have to contend with all of that.

Goodbye Pope, Hello President.

A mess, a real mess.