Peter Raaymakers over at Public Transit in Ottawa makes a great point this morning:
It seems like everyone is talking about the video that’s surfaced recently of an OC Transpo operator absolutely ripping in to a rider on his bus, not just laying down some ridiculous personal insults but unleashing some pretty ugly profanity (all within earshot of young kids, no less). Some have come to the defence of the operator in question, including transit commission chair Diane Deans and acting ATU 279 president Mike Aldrich, stating that without knowing the full context of the event, there can’t be conclusions drawn. I take issue with that, because no matter the context, the operator acted unprofessionally and disrespectfully. The rider, it would seem, did the same, but the rider isn’t an employee of OC Transpo, so he isn’t expected to uphold the service standards. Anyone who’s worked in the service industry knows that customers can be disrespectful; that doesn’t give you license to go off the handle on them.
But what I really take issue with is the reputation this (very isolated) incident gives OC Transpo operators. It’s a sad reality, but negative press like this gets a lot more pick-up than positive press; already, this relatively minor story has received more mileage than the recent one of Peter Paquette, the OC Transpo driver who heroically stopped his bus to run into a burning house and help evacuate three people who were inside. In fact, in my experience, the friendly (or at least neutral) bus operators outnumber the surly (or downright disrespectful) ones by a decent margin.
The problem with this driver’s actions, though, is not just that it’s disrespectful to that individual rider, but it also gives the impression that disrespectful drivers are the norm, rather than the exception.
We agree with Peter; in our experience of OCTranspo, for every anti-social bus driver (and every profession has its share of people who shouldn’t work with people – or who are just having a bad day) there are five more who are exceptionally helpful and friendly, going well beyond what the job description calls for when it comes to courtesy and helpfulness.
As good as they are though, it make be impossible to top the commitment shown by Ottawa’s singing bus driver, the urban legend whose good cheer has now been captured for all to hear in the YouTube clip shown above.
2 comments
Absolutely agree. I have become an ardent supporter and user of Public Transit now that I work downtown. Great video of Peter Paquette. Unexpected acts of human joy like this make my day!
When service workers are confronted with anti-social customers, they often react the way human beings react. To expect them to always act like pleasant robots is to encourage more alienation and misery among the working classes. If you are rude, you deserve to be treated rudely. The world isn’t a kindergarden or mental hospital, and neither are transit services.