Tag: Otomotif

  • Waspada Rem Blong, Ganti Master Rem Jika Sudah Seperti ini

    peloporberita.com/ | Jakarta – Rem merupakan salah satu komponen paling penting untuk keselamatan pengendara. Meski saat ini, rem pada kendaraan roda empat telah dilengkapi dengan berbagai komponen seperti master rem, tetap saja perlu dilakukan pengecekan secara berkala.

    Berikut ciri master rem mobil sudah rusak yang dikutip peloporberita.com/ dari laman resmi Daihatsu.

    1. Rem Mobil Tidak Pakem

    Master rem yang kurang optimal, akan menyebabkan berbagai efek samping antara lain rem tidak pakem. Keadaan rem tidak pakem, hampir sama dengan rem kemasukan angin. Anda perlu mengocok pedal rem berulang kali agar master rem bisa kembali berfungsi.

    Lalu, sebenarnya apa penyebab rem mobil kurang pakem? Biasanya, penyebab rem tidak pakem lantaran kedua seal master rem sudah mulai aus, namun masih bisa digunakan dan tidak sepenuhnya rusak. Kondisi ini biasanya ditandai adanya rembesan minyak rem pada bagian belakang dekat dengan booster rem.

    Rem Master
    Ilustrasi rem master/Foto: peloporberita.com/Blibli)

    Ciri master rem seperti ini jika dibiarkan begitu saja, akan membahayakan Anda ketika berkendara. Oleh sebab itu, rem yang pakem sangat dibutuhkan di jalanan padat guna menghindari terjadinya kecelakaan.

    2. Bentuk Seal Master Rem Berubah

    Minyak rem, juga merupakan elemen penting yang berguna untuk memacu tarikan tuas rem. Jika minyak rem tidak mengalir dengan normal, maka bisa menyebabkan master rem rusak.

    Hal ini, akibat kondisi seal master rem yang tidak lagi mengembang. Adapun seal master rem yang rusak biasanya disebabkan karena telah aus serta adanya bekas gesekan yang membentuk garis.

    Ciri master rem seperti ini akan bertambah parah, bila minyak rem bocor atau menetes. Hal itu, akan membuat tuas rem yang dipacu tidak bisa bekerja dengan optimal untuk menghentikan gaya gerak roda pada kendaraan roda empat.

    3. Dinding Rem Berkarat

    Dinding bagian dalam master rem memiliki fungsi menjaga sistem pengereman agar bisa bekerja dengan aman. Selain itu, dinding rem mencegah adanya kotoran yang masuk ke dalam rem.

    Bila dinding pada rem telah berkarat, akan membahayakan kondisi rem, sebab ada celah di dalamnya. Celah inilah yang mengundang debu masuk ke dalam rem, dan pada akhirnya sistem pengereman pada kendaraan Anda akan menjadi lebih lambat.

    Selain debu, dinding yang telah berkarat akan membuat lumpur bisa masuk ke dalam rem. Untuk menghindarinya, sebaiknya Anda selalu merawat seluruh komponen kendaraan Anda secara berkala, terutama rem.

    Demikianlah beberapa ciri master rem rusak yang perlu Anda ketahui guna menghindari terjadinya rem blong saat mengendarai mobil. []

  • Tips Menyetir Mobil Aman di Malam Hari

    peloporberita.com/ | Jakarta – Menyetir mobil di malam hari, jauh lebih beresiko dibandingkan di pagi atau siang hari. Hal ini, lantaran kondisi jalan yang gelap, minim penerangan, ditambah sorot lampu kendaraan lain dari lawan arah membuat jarak pandang terbatas sehingga meningkatkan risiko kecelakaan.

    Agar Sobat Pelopor lebih aman dan terhindar dari risiko kecelakaan. Berikut ini kami rekomendasikan 5 tips yang dapat membantu Anda menyetir mobil di malam hari dengan aman yang dikutip peloporberita.com/ dari laman resmi Daihatsu.

    1. Menyalakan lampu depan
    Yang paling penting, jangan lupa untuk menyalakan lampu depan ketika Anda menyetir mobil di malam hari agar jalan terlihat lebih jelas. Hal ini mungkin sudah sangat umum dilakukan lantaran sesuai dengan peraturan pemerintah bahwa setiap kendaraan wajib menyalakan lampu walaupun kondisi siang hari.

    Jika memang dibutuhkan, Anda dapat menyalakan lampu jauh. Namun, jangan melakukannya secara terus-menerus karena bisa mengganggu penglihatan pengendara dari arah yang berlawanan.

    2. Berkendara saat kondisi badan fit
    Tak jarang kendaraan mengalami kecelakaan di malam hari akibat kondisi sopir yang mengantuk atau kurang fit. Oleh sebab itu, hal ini menjadi sangat penting. Sebab, Jika memang sudah lelah sebaiknya jangan dipaksakan untuk menyetir mobil malam hari. Anda bisa juga menggunakan waktu untuk beristirahat di rest area, minimarket, atau motel sampai kondisi benar-benar fit.

    berkendara malam hari
    Ilustrasi berkendara malam hari/(Foto:Pelopor/Ist)

    Berkendara di malam hari membutuhkan ekstra stamina, akibat tekanan angin malam serta kebutuhan atensi yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan ketika pagi atau siang hari. Jadi jangan ambil resiko karena akan membahayakan orang lain dan diri Anda sendiri.

    3. Tetap menjaga jarak aman dengan kendaraan di depan
    Menjaga jarak, juga sangat penting dilakukan ketika berkendara, tak terkecuali saat Anda menyetir mobil malam hari. Dengan mengatur jarak aman dari kendaraan di depan Anda maka mendapatkan visibilitas atau penglihatan akan lebih luas. Hal ini, tentunya sangat bermanfaat untuk mencegah hantaman lubang aspal atau kecelakaan akibat rem mendadak.

    4. Jangan mengemudi terlalu kencang/ngebut
    Biasanya kondisi jalan relatif lebih lenggang ketika Anda menyetir mobil di malam hari, dibanding pagi atau siang. Secara psikologis, pengendara biasanya akan terpacu untuk menarik gas di atas rata-rata agar lebih cepat sampai di tujuan.

    Padahal, justru tidak disarankan untuk ngebut ketika berkendara di malam hari. Hal ini bertujuan untuk memberikan kesempatan bereaksi bagi pengendara ketika terjadi terjadi sesuatu yang tidak diinginkan. Seperti hewan liar yang melintas, orang menyeberang jalan, pohon tumbang, atau kendaraan macet yang parkir di sebagian bahu jalan.

    5. Siapkan hiburan seperti musik atau permen
    Anda bisa juga menyiapkan permen dan musik sebagai hiburan ketika berkendara di malam hari. Sebab, kandungan gula yang tinggi mampu memberikan pasokan energi ke tubuh sehingga otot-otot akan cepat pulih.

    Sementara mendengarkan musik bagi sebagian orang bisa menjadi alternatif untuk mengusir kebosanan sehingga membantu lebih berkonsentrasi dengan kondisi jalan.

    Itulah tips menyetir mobil di malam hari, pastikan Anda siap dengan berbagai kemungkinan agar selamat sampai tujuan. []

  • Tak Terima Diklakson, Pengemudi Pajero Pecahkan Kaca Truk Kontainer

    peloporberita.com/ | Jakarta – Sebuah video mendadak viral di media sosial yang memperlihatkan seorang pengemudi Mitsubishi Pajero Sport mengamuk dan memecahkan kaca truk kontainer di Jalan Yos Sudarso, Jakarta, Sabtu (26/6/2021). Peristiwa itu direkam oleh pengguna jalan yang melintas di lokasi kejadian.

    Dalam video yang diunggah akun Instagram @lambe_turah, disebutkan kronologi kejadian adalah mobil Pajero rem mendadak dan mobil kontainer yang ada di belakangnya refleks membunyikan klakson.

    Pengendara Pajero yang terlihat mengenakan seragam TNI itu tidak terima, dan langsung turun dari mobilnya sambil membawa stik atau pentungan. Ia pun seketika mengamuk kepada sang sopir kontainer dan memecahkan kaca depan truk tersebut. Setelah itu, pengendara Pajero tersebut langsung pergi begitu saja.

    Video ini juga diunggah oleh akun Instagram @romansasopirtruck dengan keterangan tambahan: aksi penganiayaan dan pengrusakan dilakukan oleh pengendara Pajero Hitam bernopol B 1861 QH terhadap sopir kontainer bernopol B 9791 UIX. Korban yang bernama Egi mengalami memar dan lecet pada tubuhnya.

    Menanggapi hal itu, Kapolres Metro Jakarta Utara Kombes Pol Guruh Arif Darmawan mengatakan belum menerima laporan rinci terkait peristiwa tersebut. “Saya belum terima laporan,” kata Guruh saat dihubungi, Sabtu malam, melansir Kompas. Meski begitu, Guruh memastikan akan menyelidiki kasus tersebut. []

  • Langgar Aturan Lalu Lintas di Yogyakarta, Bisa Diteriaki!

    peloporberita.com/ | Hati-hati, jangan sampai Anda melanggar aturan lalu lintas ketika berkendara di Kota Yogyakarta, karena sekarang ada kamera dan voice announcer pada simpang yang telah terpasang area traffic control system (ATCS). 

    Pengendara yang melanggar akan terlihat di kamera dan langsung diingatkan melalui voice announcer ATCS. Ini adalah salah satu upaya Pemerintah Kota (Pemkot) Yogyakarta membangun kesadaran masyarakat untuk tertib berlalu lintas di jalan. 

    Baca juga: Pemkot dan Satpol PP Yogyakarta Perketat Pengawasan Protokol Kesehatan

    Kepala Dinas Perhubungan Kota Yogyakarta Agus Arif Nugroho mengatakan, ATCS voice sebenarnya sudah dimanfaatkan sejak awal pandemi Covid-19 untuk imbauan penerapan protokol kesehatan. Termasuk menggunakan teknologi running text yang telah terpasang di beberapa simpang jalan. “Sekarang ATCS voice juga dipakai untuk mengingatkan pengendara yang melanggar marka, rambu lalu lintas dan lainnya,” kata Agus, Selasa (22/6/2021)

    Saat ini, ATCS voice yang difungsikan ada di simpang empat SGM, simpang Sentul, simpang Jalan Cendana, simpang Permata dan simpang Gondomanan. Dinas Perhubungan Kota Yogyakarta memilih empat simpang itu karena merupakan jalur utama, dengan kondisi ramai dan padat lalu lintas.

    Baca juga: Pemkot Yogyakarta Luncurkan Jogja Smart Service (JSS) Versi 3

    Kepala Seksi Manajemen dan Rekayasa Lalu Lintas Dinas Perhubungan Kota Yogyakarta Hari Purwanto menambahkan, dari hasil pemantauan kamera ATCS selama ini, pengendara kebanyakan melanggar garis marka di simpang. Petugas Dinas Perhubungan Kota Yogyakarta akan mengingatkan pengendara yang melanggar itu melalui ATCS voice agar tertib marka, dengan menyebutkan nomor polisi kendaraan pelanggar.

    “Kami sebatas mengingatkan. Respon pengendara ada yang langsung patuh. Tapi ada juga yang ngeyel. Pelanggaran sampai saat ini kebanyakan marka. Pelanggaran lainnya belum ditemukan dari pantauan kamera,” kata Hari. []

  • Dishub DKI Uji Coba Tarif Parkir Mobil Rp 60 Ribu per Jam di Tiga Lokasi Ini

    peloporberita.com/ | Jakarta – Dinas Perhubungan (Dishub) DKI Jakarta akan merevisi aturan tarif parkir mobil dan motor di Jakarta. Wacananya, tarif parkir baru untuk mobil maksimal bisa mencapai Rp 60.000 per jam. Kenaikan tarif parkir itu akan diuji coba di tiga tempat, yaitu Blok M Square, lapangan parkir Samsat, dan lapangan parkir Ikatan Restoran serta Taman Indonesia (IRTI).

    Kasubag Tata Usaha UP Perparkiran Dishub DKI Jakarta Dhani Grahutama, dalam acara FGD Tarif Layanan Parkir dan Biaya Parkir Jakarta, Rabu (16/6/2021) menjelaskan, “Dalam konteks penataan transportasi, tujuan dari parkir sebagai sarana pengendalian lalu lintas.” 

    Tarif parkir mobil maksimal Rp 60.000 per jam khusus di lokasi layanan parkir on street dan off street milik Pemda DKI Jakarta. Sedangkan berbeda untuk biaya parkir milik swasta, yaitu maksimal Rp 25.000 per jam.

    Baca juga: Luar Biasa, 4 Penyandang Disabilitas Rintis Kedai Kitacinta Coffee

    Ada tiga jenis mobil yang bisa kena tarif parkir tertinggi pada revisi aturan baru, yaitu:

    1. Mobil yang parkir di koridor Kawasan Pengendali Parkir (KPP) Golongan A, lokasi yang jalan utamanya sudah terintegrasi dengan angkutan umum massal, misalnya Jalan Gajah Mada yang masuk dalam koridor utama angkutan umum massal Transjakarta.
    2. Mobil yang belum atau tidak lulus uji emisi.
    3. Mobil yang belum daftar ulang pajak (Pajak Kendaraan Bermotor)

    Wacana ini pun menuai pro dan kontra dikalangan netizen, ada yang setuju dan mendukung dengan harapan bisa mengurangi kemacetan karena membuat orang beralih dari kendaraan pribadi ke angkutan umum. Namun banyak juga yang tidak setuju dan menuntut agar layanan transportasi umum diperbaiki terlebih dahulu sebelum menerapkan kenaikan tarif parkir ini. []

  • BMW Indonesia Digugat ke Pengadilan oleh Konsumennya

    peloporberita.com/ | Jakarta – BMW Indonesia digugat oleh pelanggannya ke Pengadilan Tinggi Jakarta Pusat. Gugatan tersebut, dilayangkan Yusman lantaran mobil BMW Seri 5 miliknya disebut mengandung cacat tersembunyi.

    Dalam gugatan yang telah diajukan 2 Juni 2021 itu, Yusman memiliki lima petitum. Antara lain menyatakan bahwa para tergugat telah melawan hukum dan BMW 535i Gran Turismo A/T produksi 2011 dengan nomor polisi B 168 YSM miliknya mengandung catat tersembunyi.

    Saat ini sedang dalam penanganan oleh CRM dan kuasa hukum BMW Indonesia.

    Adapun dua pihak yang digugat yakni PT BMW Indonesia dan PT Bestindo Mobil Prima. Selain itu pihak yang turut tergugat, yaitu PT BCA Finance, PT Asuransi Umum BCA, PT Buanasakti Aneka Motor dan Bengkel Anugrah Motor BMW.

    Lebih lanjut, Penggugat juga meminta BMW Indonesia melakukan penelitian lebih lanjut atas penyebab mesin mati mendadak kemudian memperbaiki penyebab dan semua kerusakan. Adapun sidang pertama kasus ini dijadwalkan pada 22 Juni 2021.

    Terkait gugatan ini, Direktur Komunikasi BMW Group Indoensia, Jodie O’tania mengatakan bahwa berkas dan detail perkara sudah diterima. Menurutnya, BMW Indonesia selalu fokus memberikan solusi terbaik untuk pelanggan.

    “Saat ini sedang dalam penanganan oleh CRM dan kuasa hukum BMW Indonesia,” tutur Jodie seperti dikutip peloporberita.com/ dari CNN Indonesia Selasa, 15 Juni 2021. []

  • The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry review

    Last Wednesday, several hundred people gathered on the third floor of Chicago’s Harold Washington Public Library for the opening of “Working in America,” a multimedia exhibition exploring how Americans find meaning in work and define themselves through their jobs. Twenty-four men and women were profiled for the exhibit, including a waitress, a police officer, a custodian, an escort, and a farmer.

    “This is a tribute to the legacy of Studs”

    A master of oral history, Terkel published a number of as-told-to books, including, in 1974, “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do,” the book that inspired the new exhibit. “Working” featured interviews with more than a hundred workers from all walks of life. The book, Terkel writes in the introduction, is about the search “for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life, rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.”

    Welder binding metal

    It became a best-seller—and, a few years later, a musical—thanks, in large part, to the intimacy and depth Terkel elicited from people who are not usually the subject of books.

    One of those people, Gary Bryner, is in the new exhibit, too. “I picked Studs up at the Youngstown airport,” Bryner told me, recounting the time Terkel spent with him for the book. “He didn’t even have a hotel reservation. He said he just wanted to stay in a mom-and-pop place and all he needed was a phone.” This was 1972, and Bryner was president of U.A.W. Local 1112 at the Lordstown, Ohio, General Motors plant, where a twenty-two-day strike had captured national attention.

    “I’d been interviewed by every major magazine and newspaper. I was on ‘60 Minutes.’ But Studs was different”

    Terkel followed Bryner, who’s now in his seventies, for two days. “He had a glint in his eye. He wanted to know how this worked, how that worked. He couldn’t stop.

    Saks sought a wide variety of subjects—some of them she knew of personally, and others she found through research. Roque Sanchez, a twenty-one-year-old custodian featured in the new exhibit, said he had never heard of Terkel before Saks contacted him. A formerly undocumented immigrant from Mexico, Sanchez works at a downtown Chicago office building.

    Woman building a broomstick

    “It’s definitely not the worst job,” he said. “But I like working. It’s essential to make something with my life.” Ava St. Claire, who is in her late twenties, didn’t know Terkel’s work before, either. St. Claire works as an escort in Orlando. “I love my job. It’s the best I’ve ever had,” she said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

    Saks is a lifelong Chicagoan and the president and artistic director of Project&, a Chicago-based arts organization. “I really wanted to do something on economic inequality,” she explained, as she introduced a panel discussion earlier that night, in the library’s Cindy Pritzker Auditorium. “It’s one of the greatest conflicts of our time.” Once she had decided to focus on the subject, she instinctively turned to Terkel. “My dad and Studs were friends,” she told me.

    “As a kid, I’d sit in the back seat as they drove around the city. My dad smoking his pipe and Studs his cigar. They were like a pair from Jewish central casting”

    Saks’s intention with “Working in America” is not to mimic Terkel’s masterpiece, she said, but to continue the conversations he started. “Everyone has a relationship with work,” she added. “Even those who don’t have a job.”

    The exhibit, which will run until January 31st, is free and open to the public, and it includes two additional components: a weeklong radio series that kicks off on September 25th, on NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and a Web site where people can upload photos and share their own stories.

    Chef preparing a dish
    Chef preparing a dish

    Saks hopes that by the end of January she’ll have raised enough money from private foundations and individual donors to take “Working in America” to libraries throughout the country. Bryner, meanwhile, told me that he was pleased by how things had turned out, and encouraged by the attention. “I thought it was interesting people still cared,” he said.

  • Little Deaths by Emma Flint review

    Last Wednesday, several hundred people gathered on the third floor of Chicago’s Harold Washington Public Library for the opening of “Working in America,” a multimedia exhibition exploring how Americans find meaning in work and define themselves through their jobs. Twenty-four men and women were profiled for the exhibit, including a waitress, a police officer, a custodian, an escort, and a farmer.

    “This is a tribute to the legacy of Studs”

    A master of oral history, Terkel published a number of as-told-to books, including, in 1974, “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do,” the book that inspired the new exhibit. “Working” featured interviews with more than a hundred workers from all walks of life. The book, Terkel writes in the introduction, is about the search “for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life, rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.”

    Welder binding metal

    It became a best-seller—and, a few years later, a musical—thanks, in large part, to the intimacy and depth Terkel elicited from people who are not usually the subject of books.

    One of those people, Gary Bryner, is in the new exhibit, too. “I picked Studs up at the Youngstown airport,” Bryner told me, recounting the time Terkel spent with him for the book. “He didn’t even have a hotel reservation. He said he just wanted to stay in a mom-and-pop place and all he needed was a phone.” This was 1972, and Bryner was president of U.A.W. Local 1112 at the Lordstown, Ohio, General Motors plant, where a twenty-two-day strike had captured national attention.

    “I’d been interviewed by every major magazine and newspaper. I was on ‘60 Minutes.’ But Studs was different”

    Terkel followed Bryner, who’s now in his seventies, for two days. “He had a glint in his eye. He wanted to know how this worked, how that worked. He couldn’t stop.

    Saks sought a wide variety of subjects—some of them she knew of personally, and others she found through research. Roque Sanchez, a twenty-one-year-old custodian featured in the new exhibit, said he had never heard of Terkel before Saks contacted him. A formerly undocumented immigrant from Mexico, Sanchez works at a downtown Chicago office building.

    Woman building a broomstick

    “It’s definitely not the worst job,” he said. “But I like working. It’s essential to make something with my life.” Ava St. Claire, who is in her late twenties, didn’t know Terkel’s work before, either. St. Claire works as an escort in Orlando. “I love my job. It’s the best I’ve ever had,” she said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

    Saks is a lifelong Chicagoan and the president and artistic director of Project&, a Chicago-based arts organization. “I really wanted to do something on economic inequality,” she explained, as she introduced a panel discussion earlier that night, in the library’s Cindy Pritzker Auditorium. “It’s one of the greatest conflicts of our time.” Once she had decided to focus on the subject, she instinctively turned to Terkel. “My dad and Studs were friends,” she told me.

    “As a kid, I’d sit in the back seat as they drove around the city. My dad smoking his pipe and Studs his cigar. They were like a pair from Jewish central casting”

    Saks’s intention with “Working in America” is not to mimic Terkel’s masterpiece, she said, but to continue the conversations he started. “Everyone has a relationship with work,” she added. “Even those who don’t have a job.”

    The exhibit, which will run until January 31st, is free and open to the public, and it includes two additional components: a weeklong radio series that kicks off on September 25th, on NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and a Web site where people can upload photos and share their own stories.

    Chef preparing a dish
    Chef preparing a dish

    Saks hopes that by the end of January she’ll have raised enough money from private foundations and individual donors to take “Working in America” to libraries throughout the country. Bryner, meanwhile, told me that he was pleased by how things had turned out, and encouraged by the attention. “I thought it was interesting people still cared,” he said.

  • The Best Books You May Have Missed

    Last Wednesday, several hundred people gathered on the third floor of Chicago’s Harold Washington Public Library for the opening of “Working in America,” a multimedia exhibition exploring how Americans find meaning in work and define themselves through their jobs. Twenty-four men and women were profiled for the exhibit, including a waitress, a police officer, a custodian, an escort, and a farmer.

    “This is a tribute to the legacy of Studs”

    A master of oral history, Terkel published a number of as-told-to books, including, in 1974, “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do,” the book that inspired the new exhibit. “Working” featured interviews with more than a hundred workers from all walks of life. The book, Terkel writes in the introduction, is about the search “for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life, rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.”

    Welder binding metal

    It became a best-seller—and, a few years later, a musical—thanks, in large part, to the intimacy and depth Terkel elicited from people who are not usually the subject of books.

    One of those people, Gary Bryner, is in the new exhibit, too. “I picked Studs up at the Youngstown airport,” Bryner told me, recounting the time Terkel spent with him for the book. “He didn’t even have a hotel reservation. He said he just wanted to stay in a mom-and-pop place and all he needed was a phone.” This was 1972, and Bryner was president of U.A.W. Local 1112 at the Lordstown, Ohio, General Motors plant, where a twenty-two-day strike had captured national attention.

    “I’d been interviewed by every major magazine and newspaper. I was on ‘60 Minutes.’ But Studs was different”

    Terkel followed Bryner, who’s now in his seventies, for two days. “He had a glint in his eye. He wanted to know how this worked, how that worked. He couldn’t stop.

    Saks sought a wide variety of subjects—some of them she knew of personally, and others she found through research. Roque Sanchez, a twenty-one-year-old custodian featured in the new exhibit, said he had never heard of Terkel before Saks contacted him. A formerly undocumented immigrant from Mexico, Sanchez works at a downtown Chicago office building.

    Woman building a broomstick

    “It’s definitely not the worst job,” he said. “But I like working. It’s essential to make something with my life.” Ava St. Claire, who is in her late twenties, didn’t know Terkel’s work before, either. St. Claire works as an escort in Orlando. “I love my job. It’s the best I’ve ever had,” she said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

    Saks is a lifelong Chicagoan and the president and artistic director of Project&, a Chicago-based arts organization. “I really wanted to do something on economic inequality,” she explained, as she introduced a panel discussion earlier that night, in the library’s Cindy Pritzker Auditorium. “It’s one of the greatest conflicts of our time.” Once she had decided to focus on the subject, she instinctively turned to Terkel. “My dad and Studs were friends,” she told me.

    “As a kid, I’d sit in the back seat as they drove around the city. My dad smoking his pipe and Studs his cigar. They were like a pair from Jewish central casting”

    Saks’s intention with “Working in America” is not to mimic Terkel’s masterpiece, she said, but to continue the conversations he started. “Everyone has a relationship with work,” she added. “Even those who don’t have a job.”

    The exhibit, which will run until January 31st, is free and open to the public, and it includes two additional components: a weeklong radio series that kicks off on September 25th, on NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and a Web site where people can upload photos and share their own stories.

    Chef preparing a dish
    Chef preparing a dish

    Saks hopes that by the end of January she’ll have raised enough money from private foundations and individual donors to take “Working in America” to libraries throughout the country. Bryner, meanwhile, told me that he was pleased by how things had turned out, and encouraged by the attention. “I thought it was interesting people still cared,” he said.

  • Shenzheners

    Last Wednesday, several hundred people gathered on the third floor of Chicago’s Harold Washington Public Library for the opening of “Working in America,” a multimedia exhibition exploring how Americans find meaning in work and define themselves through their jobs. Twenty-four men and women were profiled for the exhibit, including a waitress, a police officer, a custodian, an escort, and a farmer.

    “This is a tribute to the legacy of Studs”

    A master of oral history, Terkel published a number of as-told-to books, including, in 1974, “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do,” the book that inspired the new exhibit. “Working” featured interviews with more than a hundred workers from all walks of life. The book, Terkel writes in the introduction, is about the search “for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life, rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.”

    Welder binding metal

    It became a best-seller—and, a few years later, a musical—thanks, in large part, to the intimacy and depth Terkel elicited from people who are not usually the subject of books.

    One of those people, Gary Bryner, is in the new exhibit, too. “I picked Studs up at the Youngstown airport,” Bryner told me, recounting the time Terkel spent with him for the book. “He didn’t even have a hotel reservation. He said he just wanted to stay in a mom-and-pop place and all he needed was a phone.” This was 1972, and Bryner was president of U.A.W. Local 1112 at the Lordstown, Ohio, General Motors plant, where a twenty-two-day strike had captured national attention.

    “I’d been interviewed by every major magazine and newspaper. I was on ‘60 Minutes.’ But Studs was different”

    Terkel followed Bryner, who’s now in his seventies, for two days. “He had a glint in his eye. He wanted to know how this worked, how that worked. He couldn’t stop.

    Saks sought a wide variety of subjects—some of them she knew of personally, and others she found through research. Roque Sanchez, a twenty-one-year-old custodian featured in the new exhibit, said he had never heard of Terkel before Saks contacted him. A formerly undocumented immigrant from Mexico, Sanchez works at a downtown Chicago office building.

    Woman building a broomstick

    “It’s definitely not the worst job,” he said. “But I like working. It’s essential to make something with my life.” Ava St. Claire, who is in her late twenties, didn’t know Terkel’s work before, either. St. Claire works as an escort in Orlando. “I love my job. It’s the best I’ve ever had,” she said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

    Saks is a lifelong Chicagoan and the president and artistic director of Project&, a Chicago-based arts organization. “I really wanted to do something on economic inequality,” she explained, as she introduced a panel discussion earlier that night, in the library’s Cindy Pritzker Auditorium. “It’s one of the greatest conflicts of our time.” Once she had decided to focus on the subject, she instinctively turned to Terkel. “My dad and Studs were friends,” she told me.

    “As a kid, I’d sit in the back seat as they drove around the city. My dad smoking his pipe and Studs his cigar. They were like a pair from Jewish central casting”

    Saks’s intention with “Working in America” is not to mimic Terkel’s masterpiece, she said, but to continue the conversations he started. “Everyone has a relationship with work,” she added. “Even those who don’t have a job.”

    The exhibit, which will run until January 31st, is free and open to the public, and it includes two additional components: a weeklong radio series that kicks off on September 25th, on NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and a Web site where people can upload photos and share their own stories.

    Chef preparing a dish
    Chef preparing a dish

    Saks hopes that by the end of January she’ll have raised enough money from private foundations and individual donors to take “Working in America” to libraries throughout the country. Bryner, meanwhile, told me that he was pleased by how things had turned out, and encouraged by the attention. “I thought it was interesting people still cared,” he said.