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Here is an email I received today:
Dear Valued Chicago Card Plus Customer:
Due to insufficient state funding, the Chicago Transit Authority Board recently approved a contingency plan which includes changes to CTA service and fares. Without additional funding, this contingency plan will take effect on September 16, 2007. Customers who pay with cash or Transit Cards and use the CTA weekdays will pay higher fares at rail stations and on buses (depending on the time of day they ride). Fares will also increase for customers who use Chicago Card® and Chicago Card Plus®. Visit www.transitchicago.com to learn more about CTA’s 2007 fare changes.
Under this plan, beginning September 16, the fare for Chicago Card and Chicago Card Plus customers will increase from $1.75 to $2.00 per ride, and 25¢ for a transfer (which allows two additional rides within two hours of issuance), regardless of the time of day. However, the bonus structure currently in place will remain, providing a $2 bonus for every $20 of Pay-Per-Use value added to an account. The cost of a 30-day unlimited Chicago Card Plus card will also increase from $75.00 to $84.00.
If the fare change goes into effect on September 16, the new $2.00 fare will be deducted from your Pay-Per-Use Chicago Card Plus account. Those who use the Chicago Card Plus 30-day unlimited ride pass, and whose reload occurs on or after September 16, will be charged the new rate of $84.00 on their accounts.
Chicago Card and Chicago Card Plus offer the best value for traveling on CTA. Thank you for choosing Chicago Card Plus as your fare payment option.
I bought a suit today. I told myself yesterday to just suck it up and buy a nice suit that fits well. My grandmother bought me a really nice suit as a graduation present as if to say, “Welcome to the real world, you’ll need this if you ever want to get a real job”. She was right. A nice suit makes the right impression. Unfortunately, I have lost a significant amount of weight and the suit given to me by grandmother is much too big and I look shrunken in it. And with a very important job interview on the horizon, I needed a suit. A nice suit. Walking through the store and looking at the price tags and thinking about how the people working there probably don’t even have health insurance, I was oh so very tempted to leave immediately and spend hours looking for a well fitting suit in a thrift store. The problem is that I hate buying new clothes. Buying new clothes is so easy and convenient because you find exactly what you want in any color, length, cut, etc. This convenience comes at the price of others’ hard labor. All of the garments are made in Ecuador, Honduras, etc. After less than a month on the racks, unsold clothes are sold to the overstock stores, clothes usually make it to a thrift store or the landfill, and the thrift stores eventually ship used clothes to third world countries. Then the poor people buy the clothes at an outrageous price. That’s right. They buy back the clothes, in used condition, that they got paid pennies for making. It’s a fucked up world.
The lifecycle of the fashion/clothing industry was racing through my head when I gave a big sigh, grabbed the size 6 regular length pants and blazer, and took them to the dressing room. It looked amazing-perfect cut, fit perfectly in the shoulders, the waist, the butt, the hips, everything. And then I took it to the cash register and bought it. To do so, I had to turn my brain off and I’m still angry with myself about the whole affair. I feel ridiculous. I try so hard to be anti-consumerist. This is one of the reasons I hate buying new clothes. I have a problem buying new clothes from large retail stores in particular. I despise the waste spewing from these places and how unfairly they treat their employees. My little sister has worked at Victoria’s Secret for more than two years and she still doesn’t make a living wage. She doesn’t even get health insurance and she’s a manager. Fuck, that pisses me off so much.
Am I a sell-out for spending so much money on something so cheap, so replaceable, so ephemeral, and so socially unfair? Deep down, I think I am a complete sell-out and the only way that I can justify buying the suit is that I’m hopefully getting a job that will do good things for the world. I’m not just some fashionista who buys a new suit every season (cough, cough, like most of the women in my office). The other thing is that it’s part of playing the game. You want a good job? You have to look the part. You can’t just show up in a dress and flip flops…. like I did that one time. I’ll save that story for another post.
With the summer business casual dress code in my office going full swing, I can’t just walk in there in a new suit. My co-workers will know that something is up- especially because I’ve been complaining a lot about wearing high heels. I’ll have to change into the suit before my interview. Ah, this just gets more ridiculous.
