Would You Like More Suck With Your Suck?

Last Friday, when the Red Line had one of its epic fails, passengers on one train were treated to the extended, maxi-single club mix version of one driver's dentist drill "banter." Ms. Gibson, an operator who's apparently infamous for her salt-in-the-wound demeanor, was in prime form Friday. Just what you want, right? Read on.
The following is from John, a Red Line rider caught up in Friday's fun.
Ms. Gibson's usual sarcastic scoldings were really on a roll between Union Station, where I got on, and Farragut North, where the crowds thinned out. I've been on the train several times previously when Ms. Gibson's rude announcements have provoked a group chuckle and lots of rolling eyes, but Friday morning she was really wound up. We all were since Metro was single tracking, which meant delays, crowded trains and general suckitude. But on a day like Friday when you're really not in the mood to shrug it off, her bitter repartee felt more like a dentist drill that just keeps boring in.
No leaning on doors! No ignoring the chimes! No treating the platform and train like a playground, whatever that means. Pay attention to her announcements! No overloading the train!
Warning after warning after warning.
God make it stop!
It was all made worse because of the extra air time she had due to the delays. Basically, she kept threatening to offload the train if we pushed her too far.
I got off at Dupont Circle, and since the train had to wait there for a few, I had a chance to walk up to the front and ask her why she was angry and copping that attitude. This, by the way, is how I learned her name.
She did talk to me, but maintained she was not being rude, angry or bossy.
Whatever.
When you're on a train that's not working the way it is supposed to, the last thing you want to do is be threatened by the driver to make your already sucky situation even suckier. Yes, that's a word.
At the very least, she could have been polite and made her chides a little gentler. After all, it was Metro's fault the whole morning was totally sucked.

We wonder here if bethanyshondark was on the same train after these tweets:
"The driver this AM was awful, yelling into the microphone for a 50 min ride that should've taken 10 (switch malfunction)
"Wow, DC metro just impressed me a little bit. I made a complaint online about the operator this AM, & they called & will be "retraining" her"

If anyone out there would be willing to record Ms. Gibson, we'd be eternally grateful.

Photo: Passive Aggressive Notes

What's With the 'Tude?

Another one to file under rude Metro employees.
From contributor Greg:
Coming from Philadelphia about 2 years ago, all I heard was how much better the public transit system was in D.C. People made it sound like it was leaving Detroit for Hawaii. That gap is greatly exaggerated. It's more like moving from Detroit for, er, Cleveland, and the unhelpful and rude employees are a large reason why.
My girlfriend and I spent a lot of time recently at Nationals Park, which means a heaping dose of Metro use.
Everything was routine, except for the group of morons attending the chili cook off who were not letting anyone off before they got on, which is a HUGE pet peeve.
Anyway, we were attending a double header, so between games, we decided to spend the intermission on the SW Waterfront. Easy trip, you'd think, right? WRONG.
The Half St. Metro entrance was packed, but I snaked my around around the crowds to get to the gates, where I tried to use the farecard I purchased three hours earlier at Tenleytown, but it didn’t open the gates. Annoyed, I sought out an attendant for help. The following conversation ensued:

Me: My farecard won’t open the gate.
Attendant: (annoyed that I broke up her conversation with Metro Police) Is it empty?
Me: Uh, no, I bought it 3 hours ago.
Attendant: (annoyed she now has to walk over to me) Where did you come from?
Me: Tenleytown.

The attendant steps away briefly, and I try to call my friends who’ve meandered on, not realizing I got stuck at the gates. As the attendant comes back, I’m putting my phone away.

Attendant: That's it! Your phone demagnetized the card!
Me: That's impossible; I didn't keep the farecard in the same pocket.
Attendant: Well that's what happened.
Me: Um, excuse me? It's not, I know it says on the card NOT to keep the phone near the farecard.
Attendant: Well, you have to take this card to Metro Center downtown and get a refund and buy a new card.

When I give her the "are you serious look," she proceeds to yell at me, saying it wasn't her fault that I'd messed up my own card.
I understand she couldn't give me a refund on the spot, but what about a little politeness and a little understanding instead of taking the attitude that she pretty much wasn't going to help me even if I had been bleeding to death at her feet?
Would it have been too much to ask for her to let me through and explain that in order to come back, I'd have to buy a new ticket? I mean you can see on the ticket there's value there, and I wasn't trying to scam her for a free ride.
Again, I'm not an unreasonable person, but it was very frustrating to watch her latch onto the idea that I'd let my phone demagnetize my card and then not budge. Scolding me on top of that was just incredible.
Besides, when I do have to use a farecard, I make sure not to keep it near my phone BECAUSE IT SAYS ON THE FARECARDS NOT TO.
I ended up getting in the long lines, buying a new farecard only to be stuffed into a non-air conditioned car. When I finally got out, I looked liked I'd just finished a 10K.

More rude employees:
Ms. Gibson
The ogler
Eating cop
Sneaky parker

Other news:
Orange line delays this weekend

Best and the Brightest

We applaud Metro’s announcement yesterday about stricter hiring policies. It was beginning to feel like the new no-nos were previously considered qualifications.
But kidding aside, the alleged kidnappers, stick up men, hit-man-hiring drug dealers and McGruff punchers are few and far between, and we think most passengers grimace or laugh and then rather quickly shrug off extreme cases like those.
Still, we’re glad future hires, if WMATA can find them, will be held to a higher standard.
This move, which Metro tells us was a management decision and required no input from the union, is a step in the right direction, but what’s more prevalent is the number of front line Metro employees who seem to have NO CLUE how to deal with the public. They've appeared on this blog again and again and again.
Their “crimes” are certainly less heinous, but the effect these misanthropes have on the riding public is, we'd argue, more damaging to Metro than the felons.
Yesterday, Metro informed us that the KFC hankerin’ bus driver was investigated, admitted to his error and was given a three-day suspension without pay. We welcome those kinds of updates from Metro.
But what about "Ms. Gibson," the officious attendant, the illegal parkers?
Riders constantly say their complaints go unanswered. What happened in those cases?
If a front line Metro worker is going to “front,” flip off and curse out a passenger for asking a simple question, that employee should be fired, or at LEAST demoted and quarantined to a job that requires no contact with the riding public. And we should know about it!
Same for the employee who can't answer a simple question about where the bus they're driving is going without insulting a passenger.
Like it or not, Metro, this minority of social morons is your public face and they're giving you a big black eye. Now that it seems you're weeding out the lowest of the low, we look forward to hearing what you plan to do about your employees who can't provide a baseline level of service to the people who pay part of their salaries.

Smooth Operator

Is that song in your head already?
We recently heard the story of Metro operator Ms. Gibson who berated her passengers to the point they felt like bursting their own eardrums with chopsticks, but we want to be fair to Metro because there are good conductors out there who do a splendid job, not only performing competently, but actually making Metro just a touch more bearable.
Yesterday, on the Orange Line headed back to East Fall Church, we had the pleasure to be served by a conductor we'll call "Barry Orange" since we were not able to get his name.
His sonorous voice is soothing, and his intonations are just enough to make things a bit funny without him trying too hard to be a clown.
"The next station is Virrrginiaaa Squarrrrrre," "Dooooors...leftside" and "the last station in Washington, Dee Cee" were highlights of his repertoire.
His subtle injection of humor caused two passengers, apparently strangers, to look at each other and chuckle a bit. No eye rolling, and they weren't laughing at Metro! First time we've seen that.
But more importantly, his announcements were informative, consistent and clear. A tourist's dream.
Better yet, the ride was as smooth as his voice--not a jarring stop or start the whole way.
If only all Metro conductors were like this. Whoever you are, Barry Orange, you have a lot of fans out there.
Metro: This driver should be hired immediately to do ALL your announcements. The prim and proper Door Witch was quite jarring in comparison.

Other news:
Metro looking at ways to improve pedestrian and cycler access to stations (GGW)
Metro tries to improve bus stop information (PDF)