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Guess where I was today?
I took the a ride on the NYC subway.
Some of my favorite childhood memories involve the subway. That's the way my parents transported us to any fun outing or trip. In fact, the train ride was one of the best parts of the trip!
Where else could you see be serenaded by a hippie on his guitar, watch a dance group performing stunts on the handbars to ear-busting boombox music, be subjected to some... dubious fundraising pitches, encounter every sort of human, with hair in every color of the rainbow and piercings in very creative spots, and listen to tales of triumphs and tragedy shared with one and all by people who seem to regard their fellow passengers as either therapists or deaf-and-dumb bystanders.
For the first 25 years of my life, this transit system was a regular part of my existence. As a teen, I took a city bus and train to high school every day. And in the early years of my adult life, it's how I got to work and took my kids on outings, until we finally got a car.
But after that, my use of public transportation trickled down to almost nothing.
It's been a couple of years since I last took the subway. But today I had to go somewhere in Manhattan and my husband had the car, so off I went.
And...nothing's changed.
Same subway cars. Same eccentric collection of humanity.
Just with another decade's worth of dust and grime and... other stuff.
The crazy thing is, though - the subway is ETERNALLY under construction. I have yet to remember a time when multiple service lines weren't rerouted or skipping stops due to repairs.
According to public records, over the last decade, the MTA has spent somewhere in the range of $90–$100+ billion on "construction, repairs, and upgrades."
Umm... what upgrades?
Upgrades in the number of rats running along the tracks? Upgrades in the amount of broken light fixtures? Upgrades in the height of the layers of gook on every surface in the station? Upgrades in the amount of times your train just sits in the tunnel for 20 minutes due to "delays"?
The system doesn’t feel $100 billion better.
It's not cleaner.
It's not more reliable.
It's not more functional day-to-day.
Where is that money going? That's for some executive in his mansion to know and for no one else to find out. But it's definitely not going towards improving the value of a ride on the subway.
But you know what does improve in value every day?
The work I do for you.
Each successive client of mine gets an upgrade in value. That's because every month, I spend significant time and money on:
It's a symptom of perfectionism. I hate the idea of someone paying me good money to help them and delivering anything less than the ultimate. So I keep finding things to improve and help my clients make more sales.
But, unlike the MTA, which keeps raising fares despite the worsening customer experience - my rates have stayed quite stable, despite the improved customer experience and immensely increasing value the deliverables add to my client's businesses.
That's why, sometime soon, I'll be raising the price on one of my offers.
Which one, and how much, and when?
You'll find out soon.
In the meantime, if you want to book me now, when I'm still underpriced: chavyhelfgott.com/bookaproject
Gonna to go lodge a complaint with MTA which they'll ignore,
Chavy