Recently, the Washington Post reported what happens to an operator who doesn't appear to have wanted to complete his shift, but what about one that can't seem to wake up to start his?In all fairness, the guy wasn't technically on the job at the time the photo was taken--we guess--so we won't use his name, but still, you have to admire his ability to sleep through the paging, those static blaring radios AND passengers trying to wake him up!
Well played, good sir!
Here's the story from reader Hayley:
The other morning, I encountered a sleeping Metro employee, upon boarding a Red Line train at Friendship Heights. Normally, I'd ignore this, however, the train operator started paging a "train operator S." to report to her.
In addition, his radio was loudly paging him, from what I assume was central control.
You can see him sleeping, face against the radio, in the picture.
Assuming that this sleeping man might have been Mr. S., I tried to wake him up, practically screaming "Sir, excuse me, sir!" repeatedly.
He didn't wake up.
Other passengers were laughing at his sleeping and my trying to wake him.
He finally woke up at Dupont Circle Station, refreshed from his nap.
I had to ask if he was S.-- a fact which he confirmed. I told him he'd been paged for about the last 10 minutes, and he better call in.
I got off the train after that, so I don't know what happened next.
And from reader Chad:
At 10 p.m. on Oct. 17, I snapped this photo of the Archives station manager asleep. He did not stir until two women woke him up to ask questions about the station closings that weekend.
I wish I got to sleep on the job.
Remember this guy? And this guy?
Maybe a 3 percent raise each year over the next three years would help keep them stimulated. The union asked for more.
Other items:
Two Senators call for hearings on Metro safety (WaPo)
Those employees sure do suck. What a bunch of sucks. They're the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.
ReplyDeleteyet another peek into wmata's culture. are they all bad? no, but that anyone could think sleeping on the job was ok ever, to me at least, points to major issues within the organization. if the guys you can see are this slack, what about their superiors?
ReplyDeletei am in the military, and you can tell more about an officer by interacting with the e-1s under him than almost anything else. if they're motivated and squared away, chances are you've got a good leader. if not, you get this sort of behavior.
If the union does get more money, any chance they might use some to buy No-Doz?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've heard, they're into harder stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe weird thing is, if that first guy had not been on duty, I don't think it would have been a problem. Many people sleep on the train. But he was on duty, and to fall asleep on the train in full view of paying customers while your radio is blaring is just shameless and stupid.
ReplyDeleteI want the assurance that Metro is "looking in to this matter." ::snicker::
ReplyDeleteI am sure, Anon, they will "take it into account". hah!
ReplyDeleteA few days ago I was told to work the midnight shift as an overtime assingment, continuing on to my regular shift, for a total of 16 hours of work. That mean that, before the start of a long day, I had to go home after a regular shift and try to take a cat nap during the afternoon in order to be able to last the night. This is to comply with the 8 hour rest period required by law, though after you drive home and do what you have to do with the kids, the eight hours of rest get squeezed. Because we do not get assigned to our "regular" areas (you go where the work is, not where you would like to) you often have to leave over an hour ahead of time to make it in time to your assignment.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the extra work in the middle of the night, and in route to my regular shift, it happened; I dozed off.
Any regular patron would have seen me, taken a picture of me, and without any knowledge of how much sleep I had in me over the last 24 hours, would have declared me some lazy bum.
To those who walk the tracks, people in the middle of a day like mine need two eyes on them. They are, in our untrained opinion, not as alert. You can't help it, you are tired.
Is it an excuse? Yes, it is. But don't automatically chalk the person as just being lazy.
@6:03 anonymous
ReplyDeleteCare to get in touch?
unsuckdcmetro (at) yahoo
When you snapped the pic at Archives, did you contact the WMATA complaint department?
ReplyDeleteWhen there's proof of the problem, Metro will take action on the employee. THe Union can't fight pictures!
@anonymous: I am concerned for your health as well as for my safety. This lack of sleep directly affects your job performance as it relates to the safety of WMATA employees and customers -- from rail operators to engineers to transit cops.
ReplyDeleteThe best jobs program taxpayer money can buy! And just think in a few years the people running Metro will be running your health care too...
ReplyDelete