More about placating the boss when the T is late

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I have been late - and yelled at - more times than I care to relate because of the T. Yesterday, it was "traffic." Today, a "medical emergency." These "reasons" sound ludicrous coming from the T, and believe me, it's even more suspicious sounding when I say it.

I called MBTA complaints at 617-222-5216 and spoke to Micheal. He was quite understanding and confirmed that it was not my fault that I got to work late and it was completely beyond my control. He also told me three interesting things:

1. Porter to Downtown Crossing should only take 15-20 minutes.
   
   
2. If you have your boss call the complaint number, they will vouch for your being late.
   
   
3. If you have a fax machine and call them up, they will fax you a letter explaining the delay, which your boss can frame or put into your permanent file or staple to a TPS report, or whatever.

So...they can't get you to work on time, but at least they'll try to keep you from being fired. Yay, MBTA

Comments

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

Often, they don't give a straight story. And medical emergency can also mean a lot of other things (the jumper I know about last week was coded "fire department activity" actually, so that doesn't mean much). I have a certain amount of sympathy because I work for the state, too, but it's a drain to have significantly delayed commutes three or more times a week, most of which are due to maintenance issues. And things have gotten much worse, at least on the davis to park st leg, in the last three to six months.