A little letter to the TTC

Dear TTC, 

Last night there was a delay on the Bloor line because, apparently, someone had gone down on the tracks. Part of the line was understandably shut down.

The collector at Main Station told us that we could catch a westbound train at Broadview, so we decided to walk there and continue home. When we arrived, there were already many people outside trying to figure out what to do. THREE different people warned us about the 'crabby lady in there' who 'doesn't want to answer anyone's questions'. 

We walked into the station to be greeted by the woman in the collection booth yelling at about five people, "Don't come in! It's closed. There's no power." One man asked her about Westbound trains because, like me, he had been told that westbound trains would be running. She very angrily yelled at him that she had 'told him already and there was nothing she could do. Just go'. 

Now I just need to point out a few things. I am a fan of the TTC. I have even written several things defending the union that represents TTC workers. But, let's be honest now, fare collectors have a relatively stress free job. They are locked in a booth, so any aggressive customers can't really bother them. When you see them, boredom and sleep appear to be their biggest enemies. Despite that, some manage to be angry and rude. 

Given this relatively stress-free job, it's particularly disappointing that the woman last night could not handle the stress of answering people's questions about what was happening. Of course she couldn't fix the problem, but the least she could do was calmly respond to people's questions about how to get home late at night. Instead she was belligerent. Let's ignore the fact that she was belligerently telling people to leave while the man outside was telling people that shuttle service would be from INSIDE the station. 

I went outside and asked another TTC representative in a vest about shuttle buses, and he was a beacon of calm in the storm. He apologetically said that he did not know exactly when they would arrive but that they were en route. I asked where they would leave from and he said inside the station. He was doing what he had to do in a difficult situation and recognized that it was most difficult for the people stuck at Broadview (not him). We went back inside the station and immediately heard that there was westbound service. No, it was not the woman in the booth. She was still busy yelling at customers that she didn't know when service was going to be returned. 

In the end, this is one complaint about someone who could not handle the stress of doing anything more than collecting fares and a compliment about someone who could.