Inappropriate Overreaction
Ottawa's public transit system is on the defensive. It has suffered a week of quite awful publicity. These things do happen; people become frustrated and rude and impassioned about their irritated state and then they vent, saying and doing things they would not normally succumb to. Anyone's patience has a limit. Without background and details leading up to an event, witnesses coming in at the very moment when someone has a psychological meltdown readily reach a judgement.
In the case of the OC Transpo driver whose self restraint melted away when he was confronted with yet another blow in self-esteem and control at the hands of yet another unruly passenger, judgement was swift and without mercy. One passenger was witness to a second passenger, on an otherwise-empty, late-night bus being verbally excoriated and horribly insulted by an out-of-control bus driver. And that passenger used his cellphone to record those few, damning seconds.
And posted the resulting video on Youtube, for all to see, to comment upon, and to condemn. And condemn they did; a seasoned bus driver verbally abusing a young man, a self-professed "autistic" young man, threatening him and ultimately forcing his exit from the bus. This was a 25-year professional bus driver with a previously clean employment slate. And this was an Algonquin College theatre arts student.
A young man, Matthew Taronno, who as a frequent bus passenger to and from the college, was well known for his rather pushy, obnoxious, loud and unattractive behaviour. Other passengers on buses, indeed other Algonquin college students, were aware of Matthew Taronno's annoying behaviour, and all sought to avoid him. Bus drivers cannot avoid ill-behaved passengers, but they can order them off the bus.
The driver in question did just that, but not before he had vented his anger and frustration in rude and profane terms at the young man. The bus driver, a 25-year veteran with OC Transpo, 52 years of age, had been distracted from doing his job, operating a bus, by the infuriatingly, maddeningly, persistently, annoying antics of Matthew Taronno, who was theatrically, loudly, emoting, insisting on attention.
In the previous week this same driver had been spat upon by one of his passengers. These things happen; drivers are scorned, ridiculed, berated, threatened and victimized on occasion by people who are obviously unfit to be in the company of other, civil individuals. That was one minuscule incident in this driver's life, fraught with serious events impacting dreadfully on his emotions. This was a year in the life of the driver he would happily have done without.
This year of 2011 is not just the year he was fired from his job of 25 years. It is also the year that both his wife and his mother died. And he is the caregiver for his ill father. Weigh that against having to put up with an unappreciative public some members of whom speak or act out their grievance against not-quite-perfect public transit experiences.
As a public servant this bus driver succumbed to the snapped thread of his consciousness, and he swore at a passenger, was exceedingly rude to that passenger, and hostile to the point of threatening him with violence if he did not immediately stop annoying him. And this sad and sorry incident which has embarrassed the city and the management of the transit authority sees the man fired.
One of the very few times that most sane and common-sense individuals would vote for the Amalgamated Transit Union local that represents this driver, to go head-to-head with management.
In the case of the OC Transpo driver whose self restraint melted away when he was confronted with yet another blow in self-esteem and control at the hands of yet another unruly passenger, judgement was swift and without mercy. One passenger was witness to a second passenger, on an otherwise-empty, late-night bus being verbally excoriated and horribly insulted by an out-of-control bus driver. And that passenger used his cellphone to record those few, damning seconds.
And posted the resulting video on Youtube, for all to see, to comment upon, and to condemn. And condemn they did; a seasoned bus driver verbally abusing a young man, a self-professed "autistic" young man, threatening him and ultimately forcing his exit from the bus. This was a 25-year professional bus driver with a previously clean employment slate. And this was an Algonquin College theatre arts student.
A young man, Matthew Taronno, who as a frequent bus passenger to and from the college, was well known for his rather pushy, obnoxious, loud and unattractive behaviour. Other passengers on buses, indeed other Algonquin college students, were aware of Matthew Taronno's annoying behaviour, and all sought to avoid him. Bus drivers cannot avoid ill-behaved passengers, but they can order them off the bus.
The driver in question did just that, but not before he had vented his anger and frustration in rude and profane terms at the young man. The bus driver, a 25-year veteran with OC Transpo, 52 years of age, had been distracted from doing his job, operating a bus, by the infuriatingly, maddeningly, persistently, annoying antics of Matthew Taronno, who was theatrically, loudly, emoting, insisting on attention.
In the previous week this same driver had been spat upon by one of his passengers. These things happen; drivers are scorned, ridiculed, berated, threatened and victimized on occasion by people who are obviously unfit to be in the company of other, civil individuals. That was one minuscule incident in this driver's life, fraught with serious events impacting dreadfully on his emotions. This was a year in the life of the driver he would happily have done without.
This year of 2011 is not just the year he was fired from his job of 25 years. It is also the year that both his wife and his mother died. And he is the caregiver for his ill father. Weigh that against having to put up with an unappreciative public some members of whom speak or act out their grievance against not-quite-perfect public transit experiences.
As a public servant this bus driver succumbed to the snapped thread of his consciousness, and he swore at a passenger, was exceedingly rude to that passenger, and hostile to the point of threatening him with violence if he did not immediately stop annoying him. And this sad and sorry incident which has embarrassed the city and the management of the transit authority sees the man fired.
One of the very few times that most sane and common-sense individuals would vote for the Amalgamated Transit Union local that represents this driver, to go head-to-head with management.
Labels: Human Relations, Ottawa, Social-Cultural Deviations
posted by Pieface @ 6:54 PM
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