Catpaw – diary of an angry cat

I’m still on a bender regarding the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) and it’s rude staff. Today I had my fill of it. I also need to apologise to all the 17 TTC workers I spotted in front of my building. You see I live over a subway line and there has been work going on over and on the line now for over 2 years. 2 FRIGGIN years of noise. Only part has been the TTC, the rest is some contractor who’s workers love whipping around in bobcats tearing up trees and landscaping. I’ve written about the endless disruptions to our lives in previous posts.

WELL…. what we’ve been waiting for has finally happened. Wait for it … the idiot contractor managed to cut through to the subway line and compromise the structure of the tunnel. Which meant a major part of the subway was closed down. From Bloor Street to Eglington – off you go to the mythical shuttles.

It takes a great deal of skill to manage damaging a subway tunnel. I guess the contractor wasn’t supplied blueprints with big letters that read “DON’T CUT HERE”.  I’d love to know how this was managed. It’s kind of hard to make this kind of mistake, after all you know you are working over a major subway tunnel, and you have been for over 2 years… 2 f@cking years of jackhammers, trucks, bobcats, hammering, tar, building and tearing down sections, more jackhammers, cement trucks … it should not come as a surprise there is a big honking tunnel under you! And if it was, then you have no business doing any work over a subway line. Look I’m angry because my building is feet away from your blunder. I keep flashing onto how catastrophic this could have been.

So… I apologise to the 17 workers I saw this morning and unjustly maligned. Now I know why… they were waiting for the structural engineers etc to show up. That also explains why everything got sooooo quiet across the road. Someone knew they had committed a very, very big boo boo and halted the work.

The workers are down there trying to make the tunnel safe again. And on behalf of all of us that rely upon the subway to get around Toronto – THANK YOU. They will be at it for hours. I just found all this out now at around 6:30pm when I was returning home.

***** Warning ***** Rant is resuming. Catpaw is on a roll, better go get that tea before continuing, it’s gonna be a long rant.

TTC service was halted at this station around 1pm, just after I got off the subway. When we went back out at 2pm we asked the ticket taker if the subway service had resumed (there had been a power outage at a different station earlier, and we wanted to go down into the area). We didn’t realise there was a new problem at our very own station. The TTC worker looked at us and said “I dunno. There’s some kind of problem somewhere”.

DUDE!!! THE NEW PROBLEM WAS AT YOUR STATION! GOD ALMIGHTY ARE YOU THAT LAZY THAT YOU CAN’T EVEN FIND OUT WHAT IS GOING ON??????

I have a question for the TTC commission. Do any of you have phones? Do any of you know how to use them? Can any of you communicate? Couldn’t you have told your ticket takers where the outages were? Oh… or did you tell them and as usual they were too friggin lazy and surly to give a straight answer …and let’s talk about the “shuttles” the distorted announcements kept talking about during rush hour. Yea… no service from Bloor St to Eglinton – that is Bloor, Rosedale, Summerhill, St. Clair and Davisville out of action and not a single useless lazy assed TTC booth attendant could take the time to tell anyone where the shuttles were (no shuttles just go out to Yonge St and catch a bus oh yea that’s fun), or in the case of 2 booth attendants at the Pleasant St entrance at 6:25pm tonight, couldn’t even bother looking up to answer someone’s question. They ignored the woman until she knocked on the glass to ask about the shuttles. Even then she was stared at as if she had fungus on her face. She had to ask twice before one of them would answer. 2 times before she was told to go out to Yonge st and catch a bus.  And how much are you people paid?

When we were returning home, we hoped the subway disruption would be over. We didn’t know the problem was so severe. Of course the TTC has a strict “keep the customers in the dark and let their anger fester” policy, so there were no announcements as to the nature of the problem. Look, again this is addressed to the TTC commission – a little information would have calmed people down and defused a lot of anger. But of course you can’t manage that. On the way back the announcements about the disruption were blared out on the subway cars only. We heard no announcements at track level that service would not go further than Bloor. The announcements that did come through on the subway cars were so distorted, everyone was shaking their heads trying to understand the words. Honey, here’s a hint, move the mic away from your mouth and do not shout. So much for the new announcement system upgrade. Waste of money if no one knows how to use a mic.

So.. is the fare increase worth it? Not on your life. When, and only when the TTC  has a major shift in it’s attitude towards the paying customer will I be happy. I do not begrudge fare increases – they are a fact of life. But when I am treated like an idiot with no right’s to ask civil questions, then I become very uncooperative.

Here is my new manifesto - feel free to use it:

I will treat you politely and with respect. I, in return, expect it back. When you treat me like dirt I will not politely stand by and allow it to happen. I am going to stay put, IN THE LINE, until you acknowledge my existence and answer my question. Uttering monosyllabic responses or anything with the word “dunno” in it does not count. Your response must be in full sentences.

If you rap on the window and point to a sign 3 feet above my head and act as though I have no right asking a question I will, in return, bang on the window and point out the sign is too high, please lower it.

If you argue with me because you misheard me (because your nose was stuck in some stupid book, rather than paying attention) I will refuse to respond, I will simply reiterate my request until you either do as I politely asked, or you call transit cops to remove me. Your choice.

I will not respond to your surliness. If you throw the TTC pass just out of reach in the slot so it doesn’t slide down I will politely tell you I will not reach in for it please pass it out. I will continue to say this until you get a clue and behave in a civilised manner.

I reached my limit of patience today.  I will no longer cooperate with this culture of  laziness and entitlement.  I treat people with respect and I WILL RECEIVE IT BACK.

Stumble it!