Unsuck DC Metro: Pee on the Tracks

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Pee on the Tracks

A couple of years ago, it was revealed that Metro employees had been using pocket tracks as lavatories.

Now, a source has revealed the mystery about why there are so many water bottles scattered around Metro that are filled with a yellowish fluid that resembles urine.

Turns out they are what the source called "operator droppings" and are indeed bottles filled with pee.

The source said operators usually wait until they're in the tunnels before they dump their "gifts."

"You'd think they would just take it with them to dispose, but they just litter the tunnels," said the source, who found three bottles near one platform the other day.

The source added that there are preferred places, like the pocket track in Grosvenor, where "they just open the doors and piss."

"There are quite a few piss bottles there," said the source, adding that the older operators are generally more considerate, while the "new ones think they are piloting the space shuttle and have a weird sense of entitlement."

Not only is dumping bottles filled with urine disrespectful to the many Metro employees who work daily along the tracks, but another source said it shows the tension between operators and management regarding the tight schedules that, according to operators, often leave no time for bathroom breaks.

"Dumping the piss like that is sort of a middle finger to management," said the source.

Other items:
Metro given cell phone extension (Examiner)
Concrete not tested at Silver Spring transit center (WaPo)

Comments (57)

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+4 Vote up Vote down

Fixed Tiles · 626 weeks ago

Now that's getting the job done right!

1 reply · active 626 weeks ago

+5 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 626 weeks ago

Anyone with 1/2 a brain would understand that there is a root cause for this and there needs to be sufficient time for bathroom breaks. This scandalous story shows me that there must not be sufficient time or a location dedicated to bathroom breaks. It shows me that management has not solved this problem given the story is resurfacing.

How about give the human body it's just due and allow sufficient time for these employees without punishing them.

+6 Vote up Vote down

dcn8v · 626 weeks ago

These parents seem to be on to something... If it works for a toddler, why not WMATA?

+7 Vote up Vote down

Heather · 626 weeks ago

Sooprise, sooprise, a train operator being rude and disrespectful. Shocker.....

+17 Vote up Vote down

@chrisunwired · 626 weeks ago

I think this is a serious concern and I tend to feel for the employees here. Sure, they can do better by disposing of their peebombs appropriately BUT - like us riders they too deserve better/more restroom facilities. There has to be a solution to this problem that puts an end to peebombs on the tracks. Track-level port-a-pottys?

11 replies · active 592 weeks ago

+15 Vote up Vote down

Tim · 626 weeks ago

Where oh where do you propose to put these port a pottys? Is there room in the tunnels? The real solution is to give operators time between shifts....

+32 Vote up Vote down

@chrisunwired · 626 weeks ago

If there's room for a cherry-picker to sit on the platform for 8 months there's room for a port-a-potty.

+3 Vote up Vote down

Tim · 626 weeks ago

You would trust Metro to handle cleaning these daily? Because you know if it's on the platform everyone...especially drunks...will come knocking. Not to mention if somebody sees it at one station they'll probably want them at more...

Seems more trouble than it's worth.

+10 Vote up Vote down

Dr Turdlock · 626 weeks ago

Give me a break. Porto potties on the platforms is disgusting.

+13 Vote up Vote down

@chrisunwired · 626 weeks ago

I gave you a thumbs-up for the name.

+1 Vote up Vote down

Stan Desselscum · 626 weeks ago

To HELL with that! Maybe YOU would enjoy that stinking, festering pile of Metro feces and piss. That is not a fix (although I would not put it past them!)

The fix is to FIRE all the worthless idiots not doing their job, BAN the union involvement and pay people the MARKET wages that everyone else earns in other industries. That will leave more money to hire more workers, and loosen up schedules. As usual, it all comes down to money and the union - they are simply paid far, FAR too much for the level of work they do.

+1 Vote up Vote down

NameFail · 626 weeks ago

0 Vote up Vote down

U Suck, Unsuck!! · 592 weeks ago

Hahahahahaha... My 115k is well earned sir! Perhaps you should have picked a better vocation than you did...lol

+3 Vote up Vote down

Cyclone · 626 weeks ago

Not to mention, how do you get the 'pump' truck hoses to them to pump them out?

+3 Vote up Vote down

guest · 626 weeks ago

Please - plenty of people obviously pee under the steps already - and its obvious that the cleaning mop doesn't reach under there either! Actually adding a place to go on purpose - ick!

+6 Vote up Vote down

Totally Eeewed Out · 626 weeks ago

Respectfully disagreeing here. Can we say disease? Talk about a health concern to the max. Did they not learn in school to plan ahead for potty breaks? This is nothing more than laziness and complete disregard for health concerns of their own coworkers as well as the public and the environment.

+8 Vote up Vote down

@chrisunwired · 626 weeks ago

Also, no matter how much number 1 you toss onto track 2, it won't make it track 1.

+12 Vote up Vote down

guest · 626 weeks ago

I am not at all surprised by this. Which really says sad things about WMATA.

+12 Vote up Vote down

BMK · 626 weeks ago

At least they do something consistently at WMATA

+20 Vote up Vote down

Ryan · 626 weeks ago

I don't object to this at all, so long as management actually comes into contact with the urine bottles. I don't mean to sound sadistic, but the thought of Richard Sarles in his Burberry raincoat, drenched with piss gives me a case of the chuckles.

+15 Vote up Vote down

Caligula · 626 weeks ago

What do the train operators do with a deuce? A Big Mac box?

4 replies · active 626 weeks ago

+36 Vote up Vote down

@chrisunwired · 626 weeks ago

If you ever see an Express rolled up in a corner don't be a hero and pick it up. Just saying.

-7 Vote up Vote down

bet · 626 weeks ago

What a joke Heeee!

I bet most of you writing about this can step right into your hallway and go pee in a civilized bathroom.

Well Chris.. not all jobs have the luxury of stepping outside their office into a bathroom and sometimes it is not a question of a few feet.
Try and think outside the realm of your own jobs.

+3 Vote up Vote down

Stan Desselscum · 626 weeks ago

Is that you, Richard Sarles?

+5 Vote up Vote down

Sir Richard · 626 weeks ago

No, I have a private bathroom in my office. What do you take me for? I never mingle with the unwashed masses, whether it be in our HQ or out in the cesspool of DC public transport. It's in my contract. Egads!

+4 Vote up Vote down

VeteranRider · 626 weeks ago

"...is sort of a middle finger to management..."

Well, as long as everyone is being adult about it....

+5 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 626 weeks ago

"Pee on the Tracks" is my favorite Bob Dylan album!

+10 Vote up Vote down

Concerned · 626 weeks ago

Silver lining: at least they are not throwing them at customers as they enter the station!

1 reply · active 626 weeks ago

+6 Vote up Vote down

dcn8v · 626 weeks ago

You're welcome!

+2 Vote up Vote down

Laughingman · 626 weeks ago

Someone's pissed

+6 Vote up Vote down

@VeggieTart · 626 weeks ago

I gotta wonder if the pee bombs don't contribute somehow to the track problems that plague Metro.

1 reply · active 626 weeks ago

+8 Vote up Vote down

Heather · 626 weeks ago

So that smell I often smell at Rosslyn, is not the brakes, but burnt pee? Hmmmm.....

+8 Vote up Vote down

Carl · 626 weeks ago

Is that what is happening when the train stops in a tunnel and the lights go out?

1 reply · active 626 weeks ago

+2 Vote up Vote down

Stan Desselscum · 626 weeks ago

Hahahaha! It makes sense now!

+12 Vote up Vote down

@megster67 · 626 weeks ago

I'm curious as to what whether the breaks the operators take are sufficient to address their biological needs. Because we all know, when you gotta go, you gotta go. And I'm sure the female operators aren't peeing in bottles or squatting in the pocket tracks... what about them?

1 reply · active 626 weeks ago

0 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 626 weeks ago

Meg it took a woman to explain or question these results. H-E-L-L-OOOOO-W!
If you ask these drivers I bet they don't have the time to do their business in a location convenient for them to keep their schedules and continue on time.

Why not have someone ask!

+11 Vote up Vote down

Stan Dessel · 626 weeks ago

The bottles are indeed gifts and are excellent alternative sources of hydration when you're trapped in a tunnel for hours.

You're welcome!

+7 Vote up Vote down

dafsadf · 626 weeks ago

This is the number one problem at Metro!

7 replies · active 625 weeks ago

+5 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 626 weeks ago

Urine trouble!

+4 Vote up Vote down

sadfsadf · 626 weeks ago

The stream of hijinks at Metro is never ending.

+4 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 625 weeks ago

These puns are just golden! Keep showering this thread with them!

+3 Vote up Vote down

Daily Rider · 625 weeks ago

Finalyy a thread where bathroom humor is not OT.

Sounds like a bunch of pissed off operators.

Operator: "Please sir, may we have a bathroom break?"
Management: "Piss off!!"
Operator: "Very well, sir."

+2 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 625 weeks ago

People are complaining about this issue, but I think it's just water under the bridge.

+1 Vote up Vote down

joe · 625 weeks ago

It would be hard to see the bottles being tossed as the trains whiz by.

0 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 625 weeks ago

Now that Easter is just around the corner, I'm sure we'll see lots of people eating PEEps on the trains.

+15 Vote up Vote down

@JimLCunningham · 626 weeks ago

I can't say that I blame the operators. I wouldn't want to spend my day with a bottle of pee either.

It's pretty badly managed operation if operators have to resort to improvised "solutions" like this for their own comfort.

Say what you want about Metro Drivers, nobody should have to pee in a bottle and huck it out a window as part of their regular work routine.

2 replies · active 626 weeks ago

-4 Vote up Vote down

taylor · 626 weeks ago

eh. I can see that side of it, but also the planning ahead side as mentioned above. If you ever get a window seat on a long flight, do you chug big gulps? I don't.

+4 Vote up Vote down

dddddda · 626 weeks ago

No matter what seat I'm in on the plane (and I'm sure I could run circles around you on the "long flights" front...my longest continuous flight was 16.5 hours and including connections I've topped 27 hours), I can always get up and go if I need to, except for a few minutes at take-off and landing (have you heard? There's even a LAW requiring that passengers in the US be allowed access to bathrooms if they're delayed onboard!). Even the pilots can get out of the cockpit and piss, with a few minutes' notice, if they need to and don't have en-suite facilities (long-haulers have bathrooms in the cockpit).

Sure, if I'm going to be sitting in a LOOONG meeting (2-3 hours), I use the facilities beforehand and do what I can to avoid needing to sneak out, but, if I excuse myself to use the restroom, no one will mind terribly. But NO ONE should be expected to just "hold it" for 8+ hours, either for lack of adequate breaks or adequate facilities on those breaks. I don't even expect my DOG to go that long without an opportunity to appropriately relieve himself!

+4 Vote up Vote down

Stan Dessel · 626 weeks ago

Of our thousands of employees, on a small percentage urinate on other employees and occasionally on customers. So as you can see, we are doing a great job.

1 reply · active 626 weeks ago

+7 Vote up Vote down

Not a Phony · 626 weeks ago

The real Stan is better...

+6 Vote up Vote down

DC Resident · 626 weeks ago

Seeing a bottle filled with pee, of which I see many on DC streets, isn't as bad as seeing someone take a shit in the middle of a crowded sidewalk not 5 feet from you. You literally can't make that shit up!!

1 reply · active 625 weeks ago

+2 Vote up Vote down

guest · 625 weeks ago

yep, i've seen that too. :P

+6 Vote up Vote down

Andrew · 626 weeks ago

Straight from the office of Stan Dessel: Metro's new initiative to tackle the problem of "self evacuating" riders - Pee Bombs on the tracks.

+15 Vote up Vote down

Red · 626 weeks ago

Flush Plus?

+6 Vote up Vote down

DCDC · 626 weeks ago

Those aren't bottles of urine - they are bottles of organic brake pads.

1 reply · active 626 weeks ago

-4 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 626 weeks ago

How about installing bathrooms in the back of the trains and buses with your tax dollars and raise the fares! I bet you shut up then in urine in bottles! Ha!