I was riding the SEPTA Regional Rail train (PA transit) home from work today when I noticed an altercation brewing. The train conductor (a 30-something black female) walked into our car and told a passenger (a thugged out 20-something black male holding his baby daughter) that he needed to move his baby carriage out of the aisle and in between 2 seats, so that people can get through. She wasn't talking to me, but I still felt slighted by her tone. You know when someone's had a hard day and they're about to snap? Clearly, she must have had one hell of a day. That baby carriage was like the last straw, but she tried to maintain. Still, it wasn't the passenger's fault that she had a bad day.
He asked her where he was supposed to move the carriage to, since space was limited. She had already said that he should move the carriage between the two seats, but I guess he didn't hear her. She threw up her hands and said "I asked you to put the stroller between these seats!" Then she continued walking through the car to collect tickets. The guy got up and tried to push the stroller between the seats. Because there was a bag hanging off one side of it, and he had his daughter in one hand, he didn't have the leverage to get the stroller in the proper position. So he pushed it in halfway and left it alone; then he sat down. The iron maiden came back and started screeching about how she told him three times to put the stroller in between the seats. He came back with "well, where am I supposed to put it? It won't fit". I don't need to tell you that in the next couple minutes, passenger and train conductor started going back and forth. He asked her if she forgot to take her meds for the day. She said he was stupid. He said "stop acting like a !$%^$%!@ bird". She thought he said "#$%#$ you" and took it personal. I felt bad for his daughter, listening to this exchange. I silently prayed that she wouldn't grow up to be scrapping in the streets, neck-popping and trash-talking like these two.
Personally, I think the conductor should be fired/reprimanded/demoted, whatever. She is in the position of "customer service" and rule #1 is: "the customer is always right". Regardless of your personal beliefs, you're not supposed to sit there arguing with the customer and cursing them out is a definite no. Her attitude was messed up from the time she walked into the train car. She was acting more like the guy's mother and less like the civil servant that she was hired to be.
At the end of the day, we had an angry Black woman and an angry Black man. All she had to do was help him put the stroller between the seats or offer to hold the child while he did it, and there wouldn't have been any conflict. Instead, she started barking at him. Sometimes, we make me sick.
Lifestyles of the poor and nameless
Monday, August 01, 2005 at 5:09 PM
The customer is always right....except when they're wrong
The Coach's two cents:
I don't know about that. Dude should have done it right the first time. What did it take for him to move it? And that "customer is always right" stuff is nonsense. She clearly reached her limit and had a right to react as such.
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Queen Bee's two cents:
Lol...how can you say that? As a paying patron of any establishment, don't you feel entitled to a certain level of basic customer service?
In this instance, the man didn't start off being disrespectful and he wasn't refusing to move the carriage. He made an honest attempt to comply with her request. As train conductor, it was her job to make sure it was done. How much would it have cost her to hold one end while he pushed the other end of the carriage? Conductors are there to facilitate and assist train riders. That's what they get paid for.
Unfortunately, the guy didn't do things to her liking. I don't see how that gave her "the right" to start barking at him the way she did.
Having worked as a customer service rep back in the day, I understand that sometimes people take "the customer is always right" to the extreme. However, I also think that there's such a thing as "abuse of authority". This woman came INTO the train with a palpable attitude issue before the carriage incident occurred. Her personal issues and status do not give her the right to abuse customers the way she did.
I'm sorry to say that "reaching your limit" is no excuse for ignorance when you're in a professional capacity. Be ignorant in your house or on the street if you must, but when you come to work to serve the public, then SERVE the public. If that's too much to handle...find another job.
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's two cents:
I'm with the panhandler pro. If you are in a position of customer service or public service you must be handle yourself in a professional manner. Not everyone is equip with what it takes to stay cool calm and collected. Some people get overly emotional and lash out because they have short fuses. There is a place for everyone, but short-fused individuals DO NOT belong in customer service/public service occupations. The train conductor may want to consider a career change - drill sergeant perhaps.
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Ananse's Web's two cents:
Damn well....I think they were both wrong. She was having a bad day and she had no right taking it out on him, but he should havent call her a bird and he could have asked for help with moving the stroller. I am a firm believer in its not WHAT you say but HOW you say it.
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