Observations on my first week on Maui.... (Kahului, Kihei: appointed, rental)

[winkosmosis]

I hardly ever encountered traffic driving from Kihei to Wailuku... Maybe twice in the whole 2 years I was there, and only because of accidents. Yes there's traffic in Kahului but it's so small it's nothing like being stuck in traffic in a big city.

Are you getting paid for all these hours you work?

[MitchTempo]

Originally Posted by justmoved2maui

My commute is generally Kihei to Wailuku daily. Leave around 7:30, return home around 5pm. (if lucky) getting me back to Kihei by 5:30, however, several days were as late as 6 or 7 pm. I also have to do visits all over the island for work, but primarily Kahului, Wailuku, and Kihei. Now they are throwing in Lahaina as well. It's not the gas cost, as they will reimburse, or even if it were a nice leisurely drive..... It's getting stuck all day in Kahului traffic or at lights. I guess I never noticed it on vacations.....

What route are you taking if I may ask? That doesn't sound right even around those times it really doesn't take that long to get to Kihei, maybe about 30-40 minutes tops if you get stuck in school traffic. If you want we could probably give you an alternate route to take that might save you time. It almost sounds like you are leaving Wailuku to go through Kahului and then to Kihei.

[justmoved2maui]

I am registered nurse and work hospice and now a little home health.... I actually sent my relatives pics of the backed up traffic I encounter visiting my patients. They couldn't believe it! It's bumper to bumper on the mokulele into my office around 7am. Then, when I drive around to homes traffic is backed up all over town. They are not paying me for the extra time unfortunately.....They tell me I need to fit it into an 8 hour day. Perhaps I was spoiled back on the mainland, but driving in six lanes of fast moving traffic in CA was a breeze compared to sitting forever at lights and one lane backed up traffic all over the island.

If you have not lived here in years, or don't live here you might not have any idea. When I ask people about it, they claim that in the last 3-5 years it has nearly doubled.

[TwoByFour]

You have to choose - do you want the Maui/aloha/tropical-paradise experience, or do you want the LA/rushrushrush experience? They are mutually exclusive; take one or the other but you then cannot complain about what you gave up. It is a slippery slope to add a few lanes here and there to ease traffic. Pretty soon you will have an I-19 freeway going from Kahului to Lahaina, and then you will have endless strip malls and bedroom communities, and then you will have LA on an island.

So how do you prevent the LA-ification of Maui? Limit growth? The trouble is, limiting growth and the infrastructure needed to support growth hits the lower socioeconomic classes the hardest and you create an island that is more suitable for the wealthy. Everyone complains about this, that it is unfair and discriminatory. It is. But the alternative is you re-create an LA-like place that has lots of infrastructure to support jobs and a fast-paced, competitive economy, and you have now lost the old "Maui" ambiance. It is just not possible to have both.

So who will win? The LA-ification of Maui will win because nothing ever remains locked in the past. In 100 years Maui will be unrecognizable from today. People will moan about the "old Maui" that had one-lane roads, was slow-paced, had cane fields, had no industry, and had no freeways. That is disappearing before our eyes and it is due to all of us who demand more and more from a place that only has so much to give.

I urge anyone of us who complains of lost/missing mainland amenities to think about what you wish for. The cost of getting those amenities is a steep price for poor Maui and for all of us. Learn to live with less.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by TwoByFour

In 100 years Maui will be unrecognizable from today.

Maui isn't even recognizable from even 20 years ago. A drive thru Kaanapali reinforces that.

[MitchTempo]

Originally Posted by justmoved2maui

I am registered nurse and work hospice and now a little home health.... I actually sent my relatives pics of the backed up traffic I encounter visiting my patients. They couldn't believe it! It's bumper to bumper on the mokulele into my office around 7am. Then, when I drive around to homes traffic is backed up all over town. They are not paying me for the extra time unfortunately.....They tell me I need to fit it into an 8 hour day. Perhaps I was spoiled back on the mainland, but driving in six lanes of fast moving traffic in CA was a breeze compared to sitting forever at lights and one lane backed up traffic all over the island.

If you have not lived here in years, or don't live here you might not have any idea. When I ask people about it, they claim that in the last 3-5 years it has nearly doubled.

Are you taking the mokulele to get to Wailuku? Or is your office somewhere in between. Like Maui memorial.

[justmoved2maui]

I love the slow life, but my parents home in Michigan is much more relaxed with less congestion than Maui. I love a single land road. It's just over crowded here. It also seems there are way too many people not contributing in any way to the island. I know this, as I go in the homes and see it with my own eyes! These are not any certain 'race'.... they are all races who have moved to Maui. Some local, but a lot aren't and they soak off the system contributing to a lot of issues on the island. I will learn to adjust.

I am by no means wanting large stores like walmart. I just feel there are too many people here to just skate by who don't work and expect people like myself to serve them.

There was no one able or qualified enough to take this job on the island so they hired off island...that says a lot.

[Sherwoody]

I lived on Maui for twenty years. It took me eighteen to feel as you do now. You may have made a BIG mistake.....

[Jungjohann]

Originally Posted by justmoved2maui

It also seems there are way too many people not contributing in any way to the island. I know this, as I go in the homes and see it with my own eyes!

Thank you so much for sharing your hard earned expertise on the Island of Maui. I was considering moving there, but not now.

Aloha

[davephan]

Originally Posted by justmoved2maui

There was no one able or qualified enough to take this job on the island so they hired off island...that says a lot.

You said that you are 'expected' to fit in all your cases in an 8 hour day. If traffic makes that physically impossible, do you have to work extra hours for no pay? Are you paid by the hour? If so, does your company employ more than 35 people? If so, that sounds like a federal violation of the labor laws, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Here is link to more information:

http://www.dol.gov/WHD/overtime_pay.htm

Your job description sounds like the reason that you were hired to work in Hawaii from the mainland, if you are an hourly worker, working hours without any compensation. Does your company have a high turn over rate too? Maybe they have to continuously hire people from the mainland until those people move onto other jobs or move back to the mainland.

My wife tried volunteering for 'Meals on Wheels' in St Paul. She got disgusted with it pretty quickly. She was delivering meals to people who appeared to be able to work, but didn't work, and woke up about noon every day. They seemed to be 'milking the system' and weren't really all that interested and were not thankful for the meals. It was just another free hand out for them. I'm sure there must be deserving people who do need help, but there are others who know how to 'milk the system', plus sometimes work for cash, which they don't report, to live that lifestyle.