Tube worker becomes ranting maniac

Number of posts: 358 Registration date: 2008-05-19

You said that already.

Remember Eddie, no grudges. I admit I might have said some ugly things outloud, so to speak. But you thought them. I hope you don't get banned. I for one forgive you. And I do apologise for being a bore, as you have called me. Call it warped thinking on my part, but this place on occasion could use a bit of a lively debate. I've given it an effort. Perhaps if I was a bit older and more physically feeble you would have offered a bit more resistance. But look on the bright side, you didn't snap afterall...you're stronger than you realized.

Cheers

Subject: Re: Tube worker becomes ranting maniac Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:50 am

I try not to hold grudges either, MacD.

So, Cheers to you, too.

_________________
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas

Subject: Re: Tube worker becomes ranting maniac Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:35 am

Eddie wrote:

pinhedz wrote:

They need to fix those defective subway cars; the train shouldn't move until the doors are completely closed.

Trains on the London Underground cannot move until the doors are fully closed; it's a standard safety feature.

Unscrupulous old gits know this very well.

The train can't move? I thought I read--right here on this thread--that it could pull away dragging the guy along until he splatters against the wall as the train enters the tunnel.

If the train can't move, the tube workers don't have to fret about death or injury due to an arm stuck in the door (I thought that was the cause of the stress).

In DC, usually the door closes part way, and then opens again, and the driver says over the intercom: "Please stand clear of the door."

Then the door closes part way again, opens again, and again you hear the driver saying: "Please stand clear of the door!"

On the third or 4th try, the door finally closes, and it's off to work you go. What's the problem?

_________________
I don't do it for the money, babe. I do it to entertain people.-- Susan Boyle

Head Wankee Gender: Number of posts: 1569 Registration date: 2008-06-09

The driver won't move the train - holding up an entire trainload of pasengers - until whoever gets hia damned arm out of the door if there's no room for him on the car. At rush-hour, there's another train coming up behind.

Subject: Re: Tube worker becomes ranting maniac Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:12 pm

pinhedz wrote:

The train can't move? I thought I read--right here on this thread--that it could pull away dragging the guy along until he splatters against the wall as the train enters the tunnel.

If the train can't move, the tube workers don't have to fret about death or injury due to an arm stuck in the door (I thought that was the cause of the stress)....What's the problem?

The only instance I've ever heard of somebody being dragged along the platform and splattered on the headwall was a tragic incident about 12 years ago at Acton Town tube station: a schoolboy caught the "toggle"-style wooden buttons of his duffle coat in the train doors and died the horrible death you describe. Whatever you've read to the contrary, it wasn't on this thread.

But that's not to say that a tube worker doesn't have to "fret" about a limb being caught in the train doors: passengers can and do sue for damages/injury. Some unscrupulous old gits even do it on purpose.

But, more to the point, the "Dwell Time" each train spends on the platform of a particular station has an effect on the service as a whole: add up the dwell time at each stop and it adds minutes to the timetable- and- believe it or not- there IS a timetable.

The job of the tube worker positioned on the platform is to get the train moving as closely as possible to that timetable. Sticking your arm in the doors not only risks injury to yourself- by accident or design- but it holds up the journey home of the hundreds of other passengers on that train.

It's a very anti-social action. Mr Morbin was quite right to be angry about it- although, of course, I don't believe he should have expressed his anger in the way he did. Anyone who has ever done that job, though, has THOUGHT that way, even if they haven't come right out and said it.

_________________
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas

Subject: Re: Tube worker becomes ranting maniac Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:59 pm

Eddie wrote:

... Whatever you've read to the contrary, it wasn't on this thread.

That seems to be the case. I saw a discussion elsewhere on the net where people were saying the trains could move (evidently misinformation) and that people had been killed that way.

Quote:

The job of the tube worker positioned on the platform is to get the train moving as closely as possible to that timetable. Sticking your arm in the doors not only risks injury to yourself- by accident or design- but it holds up the journey home of the hundreds of other passengers on that train.

It's a very anti-social action. Mr Morbin was quite right to be angry about it- although, of course, I don't believe he should have expressed his anger in the way he did. Anyone who has ever done that job, though, has THOUGHT that way, even if they haven't come right out and said it.

That all seems very reasonable--particularly the part where you say Morbin should not have expressed his anger the way he did.

I like trains to run on time, too. If screaming abuse could make trains run on time, it might even be worth it to some of the commuters (though not to me).

But, since I'm pretty sure screaming abuse does not make trains run on time, Mr. Morbin might do better--and be more content--in a job where he doesn't have to come into direct contact with the public. Dealing with a stressful work environment does not seem to be his forte.

_________________
I don't do it for the money, babe. I do it to entertain people.-- Susan Boyle

Number of posts: 358 Registration date: 2008-05-19

Dang, Mr Pinz has done it again....the double-back and back around devil's advocate thing. He provided an opportunity for Eddie to better rationalize and clarify his position while at the same time illustrated how I could have expressed some of my points better...more cordially. I could learn alot from that guy.

But all jokes aside. I said some ugly things yesterday that I didn't mean. I like Eddie, he has been one of my favorite posters, both here and in that other place. I unconditionally offer an apology, no acceptance or acknowledgment warranted. I wish Eddie nothing but the best.

Subject: Re: Tube worker becomes ranting maniac Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:15 pm

pinhedz wrote:

I like trains to run on time, too. If screaming abuse could make trains run on time, it might even be worth it to some of the commuters (though not to me).

But, since I'm pretty sure screaming abuse does not make trains run on time, Mr. Morbin might do better--and be more content--in a job where he doesn't have to come into direct contact with the public. Dealing with a stressful work environment does not seem to be his forte.

I quite agree.

And the converse also applies: any frustrated commuter who screams abuse at a railway worker should realise that the abuse is entirely counter-productive; by pressurising the said worker in such a manner, the enraged commuter is preventing the man/woman from doing his/her job efficiently and therefore DELAYING the journey home or to work.

I had something mildly comparable happen to me today in the morning peak when the outer rail of the Circle Line was suspended because a passenger had been taken ill on a train at Sloane Square. Nobody- staff or customer- gets any advance notice of such events, and there's always a difficult period of several minutes when the staff member is no wiser than the customer as to what exactly is going on. It was during this uneasy interval- while I was trying to establish what exactly was happening- that I had two young ladies in my face, demanding explanations I simply didn't have at that stage. C'est la vie.

My philosophy at work is very simple: a happy commuter = a happy staff member. This is not altruism, it's self-interest; I'd rather spend a happy day at work than a miserable one.

It's very curious that Mr Morbin should have described himself on his Facebook page as "an easy-going Jedi". Either the man lacks self-awareness to a remarkable degree or he's been put in situations for extended periods of time with which he's temperamentally unable to cope. But we all have our mauvais quartres d'heure.

_________________
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas