Photo by cbcastro
Muni rider Ellen sends the following dispatch:
I was riding the the L-Taraval train to work one morning and as I approached the front exit the eloquent conductor pointed at me and said, “You… go get me a brown bag” and tried to hand me some crumpled bills. It was obvious I had no clue what he was talking about so he gestured at the nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken that advertised “Brown Bag Tuesday.” He wanted me to get him some fried chicken so he could eat it on the train! I was late for work though so I politely declined and he honked angrily at me as I exited and hurriedly crossed the street. I don’t think passengers should be expected to go on food runs for Muni conductors — especially when he/she commands it while on the job!
What do you think? Are Muni operators public employees, or are we at their service? I mean, a man’s gotta eat, you know? :P
Related posts:
That’s ridiculous. Buy food on your break just like every other person who has a job…it’s really not that hard.
[Reply]
That’s obnoxious. Not to mention how stinky fast food on Muni is. Blech.
[Reply]
When I used to commute to middle school on the 24-Divisadero (oh the early 90s and those frequent lines!) I thought it was normal for the drivers to make coffee/cigarette runs into stores. I can see how it could possibly be okay, if the bus was at a red light anyway, if the store owner ran out to meet them, etc, etc. But bullying riders into doing your bidding, WOW.
[Reply]
Should have just taken his money and left.
[Reply]
So after she left did the driver take the train out of service and go sit in the restaurant like any normal SFMuni driver would?
[Reply]
Cee Reply:
February 19th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
LOL!
[Reply]
You need to report this to 311. If you know the time of day and direction of the train, that might be enough for 311 to do something with the complaint. The driver number and train number also help, for when this happens again.
One complaint usually does not end in the driver being punished (i.e. crazy people submit complaints too), but multiple complaints will lead to action.
*Drivers get breaks*. Why do they pull this stuff? There’s no such thing as a KFC emergency!
[Reply]
Uh huh. Got any details? Time, date, location, line, direction, run, driver number? If it was recent enough we could ask for the surveillance footage and maybe determine what exactly actually happened.
There’s a KFC along the L line at 1150 Taraval St. Can someone stop by and see if they actually have a banner like that in the window?
[Reply]
Part of it is the KFC. If he was driving the 49 and while stopped by Mission Pie, he asked for a slice of banana cream and a cup of joe, I for one, would have been happy to oblige. So long as he sprang for a slice for me too. That’s understood as part of the deal, right?
[Reply]
eugenia Reply:
February 19th, 2010 at 8:09 am
Ok, if he had asked for some Popeye’s I would have done it – provided he gives me a wing. Any real fried chicken connoisseur knows it’s Popeye’s, not the Colonel.
[Reply]
I’ve been on a bus when the driver got out and went into the taco bell on Lombard. We waiting so long I ended up getting off and walking!
[Reply]
It is not ok…we are paying taxes for them to do a job that they apparently are incapable of doing. Plus I feel like most muni drivers I’ve scene don’t need any more food….
It’s the union…they can’t get fired. Muni employees are the lazies most overpaid ppl in the world….
[Reply]
That’s ridiculous. They should do their ridiculously overpaid job. 60K to drive a bus?? And when they’re not running in to KFC they’re running over pedestrians.
[Reply]
I wouldn’t waste time calling 311. The drivers along the L patronize Gene’s Liquor and 7-11 on 32nd and KFC with surprising regularity. The KFC is right by a turnback, so why not? The drivers on the 28 love the Starbucks on Irving.
At one point I took a picture of a driver who made us wait while she patronized Gene’s Liquor. She flipped out, kicked me off the train at West Portal. I had an enlightening conversation with the supervisor type there. As it turns out all that a driver needs to do in order to legitimize taking an unscheduled break is to call it in. She freely admitted that lots of drivers do abuse the system, and felt resigned to just accept it.
The MTA cares not about service interruptions like this, and they certainly don’t care about notifying its riders about unscheduled interruptions. Hell, I could throw a stack of printouts from the MTA showing just how little they care to investigate these types of “incidents”.
The MTA doesn’t care about keeping statistics on punctual service either. Otherwise they’d track “rolling delays” in the daily service reports, and they’d track delays in the metro (and on other busy fixed guideway corridors) of less than 20 minutes… you bet your sweet ass that a 15 minute blockage in the subway will throw the system into chaos for a while.
Hell, I’ll go one further. If they cared about reliable service they wouldn’t have the pop cops hold up *the entire subway*. MUNI blew hundreds of millions of dollars on a train control system in order to run lots of trains very close together. How do they take advantage of it? They stop trains in both directions underground for 1-2 minutes to check for proof of payment. When they do this at Castro the result is that every single metro line gets delayed (as every metro line passes through Castro station).
If you call in a complaint like this and don’t hear back from the MTA within a month, your complaint has been discarded. Don’t believe me? Call 311 (or Patricia Henry at the MTA) and ask for the reports.
[Reply]
Cee Reply:
February 19th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Ugh! Brutal and depressing!
[Reply]
Being asked to procure food for a driver is insane. I don’t mind the drivers who hop off the bus to grab something, but am frustrated when they don’t communicate at all. If a driver says “I’m grabbing a coffee, be right back” people might be frustrated, but if they’re in a hurry they can make another plan. I’ve been on the bus when the driver’s run in to eat, make a phone call, or just sit there for a while and they not only don’t communicate but are actually angry when people start asking for an explanation.
I know it’s a thankless job in many respects and know they get a lot of flak, but most of us just want to know what’s up. Today, I was waiting for a bus at the beginning of the line and the driver was obviously on a break. About 20 minutes went by, and she emerged from a gas station and walked over slowly, then got on the bus and immediately slammed the doors behind her without a word and spent another 10 minutes adjusting her makeup. Some people were wondering what was up (“Is she still on break? Is she leaving? The sign [nextbus] has said 1 minute for 15 minutes…”), but when anyone asked, she’d not only not answer but roll her eyes.
If she had poked out to say “hey, guys, I have 10 minutes left on my break” most of us would have relaxed. Instead, because she not only didn’t communicate but also seemed annoyed at us for wanting to get on the bus, she bought herself ire from riders boarding. Are drivers instructed to avoid that kind of conversation with patrons or what?
[Reply]
Call it in! A single complaint will not result in discipline. But a pattern will! Call it in! If you ride at the same time and see the same operator do the same thing repeatedly, call it in _everytime_. Keep a log! Give your contact info to 311! If they call you asking your presence at a hearing, _go to it_! Muni operators can and do get disciplined, but because the union insists on due process (which is reasonable!), you have to do the paperwork. Griping to a blog does nothing. Call it in!
[Reply]
The driver grabbing a dozen roses for someone at the Quintara and 19th Ave flower stand was sweet, but the coffee, sandwich, cigarette, or whatever grabbing drivers gets really annoying after a while, especially with no notice and the prospect of being late yet again. Asking someone to grab you some KFC is pretty unbelievable and unacceptable.
[Reply]
I agree! Totally unbelievable!
[Reply]
im assuming he was playing a joke on you rofl….. and you fell for it. XD fail…..
[Reply]
@Charles Go through the MOU. If an individual calls in enough complaints in a period of time, those complaints can’t be used against a driver.
And to all those who think it’s unbelievable, ask the next supervisor you see about “702″ breaks. All a driver has to do to legitimize an unscheduled break is call central control. That’s it. Something to think about before you call 311.
[Reply]
Kristen L Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 1:33 am
What is the MOU?
[Reply]
Alex Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 3:00 am
Memorandum of Understanding (a.k.a. *the* contract). Available here:
http://www.sfmta.com/cms/aemp/agreements.htm
[Reply]
I don’t condone this driver “ordering” a passenger to get them food. However, in defense of most Muni Operators’ the management has made it nearly impossible for them to get a break between runs. My husband is an operator and he is suppose to get 5-7 minutes between his runs at the terminals, however with traffic, weather, unruly passengers and other unforeseen delays it typically eats up his 5-7 minutes. But the time he gets to the terminal he has to turn around and head back out. Sitting on a bus for 7-9 hours without a break is unhealthy and unsafe! My husband also packs his own lunch:o)
[Reply]