If Amtrak workers follow through on threats to strike nationwide on January 30, Boston commuters of all stripes will find themselves deeply embedded in a giant snowball of crappiness.

If you take the Commuter Rail, you'd better come up with a Plan B -- fast. During an Amtrak strike, South Station and the Providence/Stoughton line would basically shut down until it's all settled.

Not so smug, everyone else, because you're screwed, too. If South Station closes, almost 20,000 Commuter Railers will need to schlep to and from the 'burbs via subways, buses and roads.

Even perpetual eerie optimist MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas is rattled by the Amtrak strike threat.

He told the Boston Globe, "I don't want to set up a false expectation that we can accommodate, seamlessly, 100 percent of the people that would be displaced by an Amtrak strike. We'd do the best we can, but it has the potential for severe disruption."

Bread and Roses Strike Image courtesy Lawrence History Center