Let them eat cake!

Yes, Marie Antoinette (actually she didn't coin the phrase, but since she wasn't very popular in France, she got the credit) is alive and well in Israel's largest bus company, Egged.

Yesterday when I went down to catch a ride to work before 12:30, I saw a mob of people. Some of them had been waiting since 11, figuring they could always catch the bus that was to leave Ariel at 11. It shouldn't have taken more than 45 minutes for the bus to have gotten to Shiloh, but it hadn't arrived. The driver from the other direction told them that he hadn't seen it.

I made some calls to officially complain to Egged. Then I waited along with them, getting more nervous by the minute, since I had a class to teach, and there were no rides at all going south, towards Jerusalem and Beit El.

Baruch Hashem I eventually did get to work on time, and just a few minutes ago I checked my computer and saw a response to my complaint from Egged.

Simply translated:

Dear Mrs. Medad,
I received your complaint.
On the eves of holidays, like Israel's Soldiers Memorial Day, there are special schedule changes. That bus from Ariel was cancelled.
You should remember to check the internet before traveling.

Well, yes, I, personally, do go online everyday, but many, if not most of the bus travelers don't even have computers. Instructing them to always check the internet before traveling is comparable to telling those without enough money for bread, to eat cake.

And, yes, that's what I replied to Egged:

• We didn't get any prior notice.


• It was a regular work day.


• Not everyone has a computer.

It does pay to complain, regardless of the response.