Self-Inflated Middle Management Complainers

Deke's Note: I wanted to refrain from writing a post tonight, but the antics of middle-management in our transit system are becoming too brash and insulting to let pass.

As my brother had his lunch spread out upon the wheel well, where many of us enjoy a brief repast and hopefully silent refuge from an unforgiving public, he was assaulted by one of our (too) many middle-managers. Supposedly, by what I can ascertain from the information our brother presented.

Here he was, our time-crunched operator, trying to maintain a conversation with a loved one via cradled telephone as he multi-tasked eating his meal. We have limited time on our breaks, during which our agency mandates a ridiculous "open door policy." If we adhere to this, we're often confronted by people who ask us when some other bus line is scheduled to arrive, or when our bus is going to depart, or why some other operator may or may not have been "rude" to them.

I'm sorry, but when a bus operator is trying to use valuable "recovery time" to squeeze in a meal or head into a restroom on an urgent biological need, we're often confronted with an unnecessarily-needy and insistent public. Our supposed indifference is considered "rude," yet our time-vital need is much more important to US than their lazy inquiries are. Their questions can usually be answered by simply accessing apps on their "smart" phones. Until humans are rendered obsolete in transit operations, which is something management has made known as a future goal, we insist on a break at the end of a line from a consistently-impatient ridership.

It is often a constant: these demands we know everything we're not remotely capable of while working diligently to guide an unforgiving vehicle smoothly and safely through miles of dangers unrealized by those we serve. Once we safely reach the end of the line, we're able to relieve straining bladders, shove some nourishment into our bodies and stretch before climbing into a hellishly-unforgiving seat to roll the opposite direction from where we recently arrived. To be interrupted, often rudely, while we revel in a few moments of silence and communication with those who worry we'll even arrive safely home, is horribly upsetting. It's also an insult, one that should be reported as a violation of transit code if nothing else.

If you work in middle-management within any transit system, you should know better than to harass the people who make your worthless job possible. Of all people, we expect you to be respectful, courteous and supportive. When you falsely accuse of us of callousness when we're simply trying to eat or pee, it's YOU who are being horribly invasive and rude. If we snap at you, it's because you have interrupted a rare moment of serenity. Try doing OUR job, walk in OUR shoes, before you judge.

One person who enjoys a cushy, overpaid job they're apparently under-qualified to hold, once reported a young operator for holding a cell phone in his hand as he drove a route he never had before. This complaint resulted in our young brother's being suspended. What he actually held as he drove was a route description. While I would have counseled him to put it in the "cutter," a now-obsolete piece of transit history which held paper tickets we once distributed to fare payers, he held it in his hand as he manipulated the steering wheel with the other. Alternately scanning as he consulted the white, laminated turn-by-turn bus operator's bible, he rolled past some puffed-up newbie management wonk. Ruh roh, Raggy, some ignorant spy just mistakenly reported you for holding a cell phone in your hands, a big no-no you know is so. That's why your phone was stowed as per Standard Operating Procedures.

Unfortunately for you dear brother, Mr. So-and-So had this unfounded perception that we are constantly disobeying the rules which we are strictly governed by. Not so, Mr. Evil So-and-So. Even though our young brother loves his phone as you (and the rest of us) do, he knows through training and experience it is forbidden to hold the damn thing as we drive. What a ridiculously-ludicrous accusation you lobbed at this decent young man who I truly admire! I could say worse, but refrain from doing so, or even mentioning your name which I know, for fear of being fired for daring to expose truth to your ignorant fallacy. You all know my name, but I still maintain a policy of not outing you even when your crimes against us are obviously callous and disrespectful. Shame on you, Mr. Middle Management.

This guy swore he "saw" our young hero holding a cell phone, from across the street with parked autos obscuring his vision through the windshield of a bus. Bullshit, dude. Take your bloated sense of superiority and shove it. Happily, this suspension was overturned due to the fierce determination of a fiercely-protective ATU rep who helped set the record straight. Video evidence failed to prove the shady complainant's case. This pretentious public employee holds a seat of ridiculous power as we once again fight for a decent contract. I shake my head in utter disgust at this piece of persistently-demoralizing reality.

While you're impressed with your need to show superiority, we're probably dealing with a number of insulting incidences dealt us over the course of our last trip. Perhaps we've successfully dealt with a situation that could have resulted in our injury, or even death before you bursted on the scene in your supposed and unwanted boast of superiority. The last thing we need is your whiny complaint over something you know little, possibly nothing, about: the tough job we perform with grace and skill where you simply offer an uneducated opinion.

If you ride transit while also working in its management, it's imperative you show at least a minimum of respect for those of us who do the work which affords you your cushy job. Ours is MUCH more difficult, fraught with dangers you don't even understand, having never done our job. Just ask the family of Thomas Dunn, if you even recognize the name.

Yeah, I thought you wouldn't. You're welcome for the safe ride. It's something we provide thousands of on a daily basis, usually punctuated by the thanks of those who exit. In your case, you chose to further abuse, falsely accuse and humiliate your operator as you exited. Just go away... quietly. We'd truly appreciate that exit.

Hopefully, you look up from your handheld device we do not use while in service, which would have answered the question you so rudely put forth to my brother, in time to save yourself from a close encounter with some cellphone-stoned and not-so-diligent motorist (other than a bus, whose operator is predicting your every move) as you cross that street. You can rest assured we'll be watching out for you, no matter what position in life you hold at that given moment in time. We might even honk our horn to alert you of the danger you are blindly stumbling into. It's OUR transit reality, something you should look into from time to time, as you settle into your comfy office chair tomorrow.

Yeah, you're welcome, even if you failed to acknowledge our brother's diligence. It's just how we roll.