Mass transit. I'm drunk off my ass all the time in Europe. No drunk driving issues there:) In my city, the buses and trains stop running just before last call, so transit isn't an option for those who stay out the latest and drink the most. Combined with the sprawling distances, cold winter climate and inadequate supply of taxis, a lot of folks wind up taking the stupid path and driving to and from bars. Twice per year, on New Year's Eve and Canada Day, they extend transit service until 4 am, and strangely piles of people use it.
While I think it should be up to elected officials to mandate this sort of constructive change, it would be nice if MADD spent a little bit more of their time and money lobbying for change that accommodates responsible drinking rather than lobbying for punitive deterrents on drinking in general.
I almost donated money to them based on what I'd presumed their mission to be, but fortunately I did my reading before sending in a check. They harassed me for months with follow up phone calls and letters, even after I explained that I thought their organization's actions and goals were morally defunct and that liquor companies were doing a far better job of promoting social responsibility than they were.
I started out doing help desk work at my current organization then managed to maneuver myself into web app development. There's more responsibility, the work is more challenging, and the pay is substantially better, but damn it can get awfully isolating. When I worked help desk, I had constant human interaction, received heaps of gratitude and acknowledgment continually.
Now I'd bet that half the people in my department are barely aware of my existence, and for some reason I get roughly the same level of appreciation from users for fixing a printer driver glitch as spending months of my time toiling away behind the scenes to working on that registration system that becomes critical to their daily operations.
Yeah, I definitely miss the ol' tech support days. Stepping up the IT ladder can definitely be a trade-off.
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While I think it should be up to elected officials to mandate this sort of constructive change, it would be nice if MADD spent a little bit more of their time and money lobbying for change that accommodates responsible drinking rather than lobbying for punitive deterrents on drinking in general.
I almost donated money to them based on what I'd presumed their mission to be, but fortunately I did my reading before sending in a check. They harassed me for months with follow up phone calls and letters, even after I explained that I thought their organization's actions and goals were morally defunct and that liquor companies were doing a far better job of promoting social responsibility than they were.
Now I'd bet that half the people in my department are barely aware of my existence, and for some reason I get roughly the same level of appreciation from users for fixing a printer driver glitch as spending months of my time toiling away behind the scenes to working on that registration system that becomes critical to their daily operations.
Yeah, I definitely miss the ol' tech support days. Stepping up the IT ladder can definitely be a trade-off.