I think about this all the time, especially when traveling. The most relaxing vacation, for me, is to go to a place where it feels like things work in all the ways you mention — transit, clean streets, parks, public amenities. I spent time in Montréal this summer and very much felt that. It always breaks my heart to come home to the US and, even in my very nice and relatively wealthy city and state, feel that general shittiness.
Things *working* is part of what makes it feel like a vacation, right? I don't think we clock the low-level stress that we experience from things not working until we go someplace where that stress is removed.
I hate the thought of this Dashka but post Covid I see this happening all around me. A lack of responsiveness from social security, long hold times at the doctor’s office and general poor customer service. I have attributed it to a nation that is understaffed in the service sector. But it is incredibly frustrating.
It's weird to list customer service as a pressing national concern, but it's something I keep noticing, maybe because I'm old enough to remember when it was different. Few things send me into a rage as quickly as a recorded voice telling me "your call is very important to us" when it so clearly isn't!
I think about this all the time, especially when traveling. The most relaxing vacation, for me, is to go to a place where it feels like things work in all the ways you mention — transit, clean streets, parks, public amenities. I spent time in Montréal this summer and very much felt that. It always breaks my heart to come home to the US and, even in my very nice and relatively wealthy city and state, feel that general shittiness.
Things *working* is part of what makes it feel like a vacation, right? I don't think we clock the low-level stress that we experience from things not working until we go someplace where that stress is removed.
I hate the thought of this Dashka but post Covid I see this happening all around me. A lack of responsiveness from social security, long hold times at the doctor’s office and general poor customer service. I have attributed it to a nation that is understaffed in the service sector. But it is incredibly frustrating.
It's weird to list customer service as a pressing national concern, but it's something I keep noticing, maybe because I'm old enough to remember when it was different. Few things send me into a rage as quickly as a recorded voice telling me "your call is very important to us" when it so clearly isn't!
You've definitely hit the nail on the head with this one, Dashka!