N.Y. Today: Bad News and Good News About the News

"should be permitted to accept a lost article that a passenger wants to turn in" I was sitting by the desk of a friend at a magazine and mentioned my problem finding my way back to where I was reading without the numbering when in my handheld but it's fine on the regular computer. She smiled and pointed to a sign on her bulletin board which she kiddingly uses to remind people to lose a hand-edited manuscript : "Not responsible for lost articles." (She added: Actually, I keep a copy of everything just in case, but it gets a laugh.)

@Leon Freilich, funny, and sad but true! I tend to use UPS if that's an option because it's reasonable and the tracking is so good. But now, the only way to assure that UPS won't turn it over to the Post Office is to pay for one-day or two-day. (FedEx just doesn't seem to care lately. Their reps seem to think all is made good by refunding your purchase price after it gets there late, or the too-busy driver fakes a delivery attempt while you're sitting at home waiting.)

@Freddie Good luck in the new year with your mail, Freddie. And may all your mss. be accepted and produced.

@Alan Chaprack, I don't quite follow from those reports how a number of (meaning how many) articles are counted. Is a quick City Room Blog item in the years past or an ArtBeat blog item where it was "get the news out fast, update as mire comes in" (weren't these almost all also New York City stories?) counted as the same "one story" as a full interview of maybe an influential New Yorker. or the new style of theater piece that they've had Michael Paulson doing since he started, where Broadway is "news" affecting NYC overall, that it's not just entertainment for the City. An example of one that I followed: Other outlets were running stories every other day (or more often) about the death at the show "Chicago," but the Times opted to cover this (clearly both a New York employment and law story and also) only once the gossip had been separated from the hard news. Was it counted as 20 or 25 stories for other outlets that reported every detail as a new story, and one story for the Times, which sifted through the gossip and reported the news as a deliberate choice? Putting money where it's going to keep the paper going is likely the work if an entire research office. My boss' office computer got a detailed survey about the Diary (I filled it out since I was the one in the office that mostly accessed the Diary). I figured there might be surveys like this all over the paper. The Diary is clearly finding more reader comments all over the US as a weekly; maybe that was a goal?

Thanks for your good wishes Shawnthedog’s Mom. You enjoy the holiday week as well, and a healthy and happy new year. Allen

@MS, that's so great to find what's good about a rough situation, the fact that the bad is standing out at all tells you that the good is the norm, the bad an aberration. The problem does come up: When we get used to help being there, we can get caught unaware when we get no help, or people even take advantage, maybe take advantage of someone having fallen to steal their wallet. Then, Jackie Mason's old line comes to mind: I don't trust anyone except me and you, and come to think of it, I'm not some sure about you. :)

@B. - Yes! And the numbers seem to assume that almost every fare beater would have paid the fare if they couldn’t steal the ride. This feels like imagining people would have gladly gone back out to the box office and paid to see the second movie in the multiplex if it weren’t so easy to just mosey on into the next theater since nobody is watching. Meaning - well, come on! A theater in Brooklyn in Sheepshead Bay which did great nights and weekends but nit weekdays had seemed to quietly “understand” that people came there especially because at light times of the day, they could somehow spend the whole afternoon. They were customers who would not have come otherwise at all! Somehow, no one ever asked to see your stub once inside unless a movie were at capacity, and cheerfully sold you popcorn and drinks (almost all profit to the venue itself) to bring in to your next movie. No one ever wondered why people who came in at noon were still buying concessions at 5 pm, or why people would leave one door with their coat and walker, buy Raisinettes, and walk back into a different door. Likewise, someone who steals a ride can’t be assumed to have been a paying rider otherwise! Tune of “The MTA Song” Oh, oh, they never have learned What the whole city’s discerned: It’s their own fault they get burned. They make it hard to pay, And then they meet and wonder Why they don’t earn more than they’ve earned. Yeah, they’re the folks who never have learned!

@B. A colleague, new to the city, got inspected on a Bronx bus as she was doing her Visiting Nurse job. No ticket(she was unaware of the system); she paid a $65 fine (out of her own pocket; our employer will not reimburse fines incurred by employees). Inspectors are on the busses.

@Freddie Happy holidays to you. My mornings are always cheerier when you and Billy appear on my screen. If you're not buddies, you should be.

@Billy - are you the commenter whose name had been "Billy from Brooklyn" from Hudson Valley?

@Billy And to you, too, Billy. See my response to Freddie, please. You both make my mornings so much brighter when you contribute.

@Billy Merry Christmas, Billy, to you, your wife and your family, and thank you for your holiday wishes to all of us! I second Martha's comment about you and Freddie making our mornings brighter!