As a resident of Philadelphia, I have become used to Comcast and SEPTA. When I say “used to” either, I am actually saying that I am resigned to how much both have a stranglehold on how this city operates and do everything in their reach to keep it this way. SEPTA now has had 3 subway attacks in 10 days at the same 13th and Market station. SEPTA is synonymous with how Philadelphia has been run as a city: bordering on corrupt, unfair to most of its poorer residents, managed terribly, dirty, dangerous, and inept. I traveled in Germany recently and on the Berlin subway you can plan a trip at a subway kiosk because there is actually a schedule. My German friend complained when a certain train was 1 minute late. What crossed my mind was a midnight spent wondering if a trolley was going to come to bring me home from Philly’s City Hall; people stood waiting even though the schedule said no more were running. The malaise is apparent all over Philly; “SEPTA” is a legitimate excuse for everything.
So if we judge a city on its public services, Comcast must be equally guilty of dragging this city further into disarray. At the moment there are 3 internet providers in Philadelphia; Comcast, a Philadelphia Cable Provider, and the new Wireless Philadelphia which has all but tanked. The debate now is whether Internet is a utility or a luxury, that is, akin to HBO or water. Of course, the cable providers swear that it is a luxury and thus they raise their prices and provide shoddy unregulated service. But let me tell you, it sure felt like a utility when I needed to apply for a job online Saturday (they don’t except paper applications) and Comcast’s internet service was down for a 7 hour gap of time. Comcast officials apologized and then bawked at how many of the 2.5 million users were affected.
In 1.5 years at my apartment, we have lost our internet for a total of 6 times due to the modem breaking. At one point we didn’t have service for 15 days because Comcast said they were being “audited.” We were charged falsely for a month of HBO because they said that while we did cancel it, someone called back to reinstate it. Comcast advertises $100 for phone, internet and cable, but they do not offer this to people who already have Comcast, instead they just jack up the price for us by almost 30%. Meanwhile, the Comcast Tower slowly creeps into the Philly skyline.
The new Comcast Tower is the tallest building in Philadelphia. It has a box-like roof with no apparent aesthetic value. It is made of glass windows that are known to blow out and fall to the street at random. Inside its lobby, mannequins walk across beams above your head. It is a fitting metaphor for the Comcast customer; walking a thin line in the midst of corporate wealth, and one slip and you fall… and in the Comcast Tower, you’d tumble right into SEPTA’s suburban station.
What a team.
