‘Cause everybody wants a dream

This entry will be short and sweet since I have midterms on the horizon for the next, oh, month. But it is Thursday and gosh darn it I’m committed! This is the third week straight! Holy wow!

I want to touch on a subject that really came to light shortly after my last entry. It’s died down slightly, but heck, I still want to express my ever-important opinion on it. And so I shall.

So! The sleeping TTC collector dude. If by any chance you live in Toronto yet haven’t seen the picture (somehow), here it is: http://twitpic.com/z2nrp

The picture has gotten 43,000 views since it was posted last week… not a lot by internet standards, but considering this is localized to one major city I suppose that’s a pretty big deal. Plus, all the major news outlets showed the picture in their reports (and that doesn’t get added to the view count), so really, it’s 43,000 Twitter users that looked at the photo. Slightly bigger deal.

Anyway, I’m kinda in the middle on this. Yes, it’s really bad that the man fell asleep on the job. Not cool. Especially since there was just a fare hike, which is indirectly going to pay his salary. That’s the obvious argument, and that’s pretty much the sentiment shared by just about everyone.

Now, there’s the more realistic, less angry argument. First of all, the picture was taken at McCowan SRT station at 10 PM. Have you ever been to McCowan? It’s not exactly Grand Central Station or anything. If he was falling asleep at, say Yonge-Bloor, or if he was falling asleep during rush hour, that would be a much bigger issue, at least with me. The guy had a medical condition, and the medication he was taking makes him drowsy (that fact was revealed later on, in an interview), and really, if you’re in a union, there’s no way you’re going to get fired for having a medical condition. So, I’m thinking the TTC made the best of it by putting him at a station with low traffic so, hey, if he dozes off, so be it. It’s not like the area around McCowan is pedestrian central, so how many people would go by while he was catching a few Zs?

Well, apparently at least one, who had a camera and a Twitter account. He posts it some time later, and it goes viral… on Toronto’s terms at least (it’s not the new Surprised Kitty, that’s for sure). And, as people tend to do, they blame everything and everyone possible. And that’s fine, because at first it really did look like the guy was just a lazy bum. But then the story unfolds a little and there’s more to chew on. Kinda like the Mike Bryant case (except far, far less serious.)

I certainly hope that’s what the TTC had in mind by having him work there, anyway. What I didn’t like was the union’s response to the incident, which was the equivalent of pouring nitroglycerine onto a car fire. Allow me to insert it here for your reading pleasure:

…it is very discouraging that the picture taker and, apparently, other customers, made no attempt to determine if there was anything wrong with this TTC employee. A simple knock on the glass might have determined if the Collector was, in fact, asleep, or whether he was unconscious as a result of some medical problem. The reports that passengers were laughing at him as they passed by the booth makes this even more disturbing.

One look at the picture… the PICTURE, and you can tell this man is not unconscious. No-one faints with their hands clasped on their lap. If he had fainted (or worse, was dead) he’d either be dangling off the chair haphazardly or he’d be in a crumpled heap on the ground. Also, I’m sure the photographer could see him breathing. I’m sorry, my dear union chief Mr. Kinnear, but the worst way to deflect blame from yourselves is to blame passengers, since they’re the ones who give your union members jobs. The tone was slightly condescending and the entire statement was ridiculous.

The TTC and the union are doing investigations. I don’t think anything will happen, although the TTC is (in a totally unrelated endeavor) trying to improve customer service. The man has said he’s sorry and I’m sure collectors will think twice before they start dozing off in their collector booths. Can we move on?

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