It's Not Just the Customers they Ignore

From A.N. Onymous:

The other day at Bethesda, as I came down the escalator from street level and headed toward the turnstiles, I heard someone asking loudly and distinctly "What is your name?" As I got closer, I saw that it was a man with a jacket with the word "Police" on the back.

I think the jacket was blue and black, but I may be wrong about that.

Anyway, he was speaking to someone in the kiosk, and he repeated his question perhaps four or five times. He then went around to the back of the kiosk and again asked, loudly and distinctly, "What is your name?"

I had gone through the turnstile by this point, but I turned around and could see that the woman working in the kiosk was totally ignoring him, not even turning around to acknowledge his presence.

Is this standard operating procedure for Metro employees?

I would like to suggest that when someone who appears to be a police officer is addressing a Metro employee, that the employee respond. Metro employees already have a reputation for being lazy, sullen, and rude, and this incident does nothing to make anyone think otherwise.

At a time when Metro is making a show of concern about security with random bag searches, it certainly undercuts the message to have a Metro employee simply ignoring what seems to be a reasonable question from anyone, let alone someone who seems to be a police officer.

I can’t help but wonder what had happened previously that prompted the police officer to want to know the Metro employee’s name in the first place.

I have reported this incident to Metro as well.

Other items:
Will Metro get the messages on governance reform? (WaPo)
Metro still investigating body found on track over weekend (Examiner)
Can we build transit systems with our phones? (HuffPo)