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

[jmspencer.livejournal.com]

And I'm going to point out the same thing I did above: that you can't expect a documented source on an MBTA euphamism for "Suicide Attempt".

[komos.livejournal.com]

So some guy in an orange vest said something off the record? That's not exactly hard evidence.

I've personally been witness to a half-dozen different types of medical emergencies on the train, ranging from nosebleed to seizure. I've seen a jumper exactly once. This isn't to say that jumpers are so isolated as to be negligible. On the other hand, I find it hard to believe that the term medical emergency means in fact that there's been a jumper.

[jmspencer.livejournal.com]

No, some guy in an orange vest did not say something off the record. Some guy who I trust who has been an inspector for the T for the last 30 years did say something off the record.

And I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were playing the semantic game of strict and literal inpretation when the meaning of the sentence should be obvious. Since we're doing that, I'll restate:

According to a reliable source within the MBTA, when the train is delayed for a significant amount of time and the reason is given as "medical emergency" (or, occasionally, "fire department activity") the problem is more often than not a jumper. This is most likely to be the case when trains stop running altogether and passengers are diverted to shuttle busses.

[komos.livejournal.com]

You made a statement of fact. I just asked for a source.

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

i've also heard of heart attacks being fairly common during the winter time.

[komos.livejournal.com]

He's got an inside source.