Falafel Breaks and Brake Lights

retarded post. no one cares that your bus driver went to get something to eat.

My wife has had a driver leave her bus on several occasions lately, but each was after it pulled into a subway station (and I believe terminus of the bus route). Frustrating to wait an extra 5-10 minutes after the bus arrives, but at least it doesn't block traffic and can be understood as perhaps the scheduled break.

Next time the operator should call ahead and his falafel should be walked out to him when he pulls up. :)

How about when the next shift is late, and the entire car waits for one guy to show up for work?

"This is Toronto after all, we are all too polite."

Is that an oxymoron?

This happens to me most often on very long routes like the Queen streetcar, and I find it pretty hard to begrudge the driver a break in those cases. Usually it's not a whole meal, but just a coffee (in winter) or slushie (in summer) or something along those lines.

I'm more inclined to blame the taxi for blocking traffic than the streetcar. Which was there first?

"Despite having one of the strongest unions in the country, are drivers not given ample breaks for eating meals, forcing them to scramble for food when their bosses are not watching? Is that's what's going on?"

I'm sure they have plenty of time for breaks, but those breaks probably occurr in locations without easy access to interesting food. All day, these guys drag up and down the street passing by untold tantalizing varities of delicious eats. Sometimes it's too much to resist, I guess?

Dude, 4 minutes is nothing. TTC drivers are people too and I don't care what they're union says they should be entitled to a four minute break to grab their dinner. Who's really the selfish one here?

Hey tardo, ever been told how apt your name is? Interesting non-re"tardo" comments only or GTFO.

this is an example of how inefficient our ttc is. it shouldn't be hard to schedule meal breaks for drivers.

tardo = retarded troll. go find another blog. we don't want you here. bye.

TTC drivers have been taking their (contractually allowed) breaks, popping in to a local shop for coffee and whatever, since I was a kid, and that was quite a few decades ago. The taxi driver was the jerk here, blocking traffic - but then again, this one's not alone in being inconsiderate.

As for your ride being delayed - get over yourself and grow up, Joseph. Think of all the times in your life when people have waited for your personal indulgences.

I have had this happen on the 505 but not with the driver pictured. I thought he was changing a manual track switch but eventually saw him come out with a coffee.

MG - they are entitled to a break, no argument with you there. However, the TTC management should ensure sufficient break time so that they can do that while not in charge of a vehicle. There seems to be differing opinions as to whether this is currently the case.

Four minutes may not be long, but I don't know of many drivers that would just stop their car in the middle of the road to get out and grab something to eat. Plus, the driver was so three minutes from the station... take four minutes then when you are not blocking traffic.

MG, was that what that was: a 4 minute break? I didn't see that anywhere in the posting. 4 minutes seems pretty short for a break for anyone; regardless, why take the break right in the middle of the line?

wow, loosen up dude. you're acting too uptight dont you think?
and why did you take a picture of him and put it on a blog? lol what are you a detective?
Maybe, and I'm just saying maybe, if you have sex with your girlfriend more often, you won't be obssessed with trivial things like this.

BOOO FUCKING HOOOOO..
The the train/bus is running ahead of schedule...the guy take 4 mins to get a bite.

If i was that driver and you pulled an asshole stunt like that (picture/article) about me getting some food i would have toseed you "under the bus"

:)

As a rider, it's not about waiting the extra 3-4 minutes. It's the fact that the driver leaves his vehicle unattended - without announcing what he's doing - To grab a sandwich.

Ali Baba's is good stuff, but there has to be a better time to grab a bite. Some would also say that he shouldn't be eating while driving in the first place.

Ah yes, 4 minutes - sorry, my bad.

Regardless, the driver leaving the vehicle unattended creates safety concerns both inside and outside the streetcar.

Usually they do this if they are ahead of schedule.

Some of the above comments communicate a general consensus of apathy and unconcern, that is a problem.

This all too common, isolated story of a driver taking a break during his route is indicative of a larger problem: the TTC's lackadaisical service which permeates the commission all the way down to the drivers who feel like they can take a break whenever they please.

A doctor doesn't pause mid-surgery to eat some junior mints would he or she?

those who say it's OK for a driver to take a break while driving a streetcar or a bus need to go f themselves. when he is driving the streetcar, that's what he's paid to do. Have a break at the end of the route, that's it. No point in discussing in further since his actions are indefensible.

harlla, get off your high horses. you mean if you are working in an office you dont ever take a break to check your personal emails while you are NOT on break? I can think of so many other examples but you get the idea.

everyone in every profession does a little slacking off. get over it.

You guys are missing the point. It's not about 4 minutes, it's about abandoning the vehicle (so close to the station too) for an indeterminate length of time. What if there was a line at Ali Baba's? What if it was 7 minutes, or 10? Why couldn't he go to the station, drop everyone off, and head over to the restaurant on his own time?

They're given breaks, but I doubt anything in their contract entitles them to "interesting food". Where I work has very little choice when it comes to affordable food, but do you think that entitles me to take a 2 hour lunch break so I can get to and from somewhere with better food choices?

And he's a fucking driver, with 50-80+ people standing there waiting on him to do his job. This isn't at all comparable to taking 5 minutes to check your email at work. Imagine if you stood up in the middle of an office meeting (where you're giving a presentation) to take a personal phone call. THAT's a better comparison.

So, the driver is ahead of schedule, he takes a break.

You take his picture, post it for everyone to see and claim that he blocked traffic and had fun while on the job and other nonsense.

I hope that the driver finds out and sues the hell out of your reactionary and stupid ars for defamation and slander pertaining to the driver not doing his job. Also posting of his picture on a website which makes money by ad revenue without his consent and a model release.

If only my coffee breaks managed to stop a few dozen (or more) people in their tracks for as long as it took for me to finish.

Absolutely inconsiderate. No one is saying driver's don't need breaks, but this is definitely not the way to go about it. Just another example of how poorly managed the TTC is.

Not sure where you get your information from, Zack, but this is a media piece, and a model release isn't required. Furthermore, this can't be slander (look it up) and there is no grounds for libel here. Calling someone selfish and inconsiderate isn't libel.

"everyone in every profession does a little slacking off. get over it."

Um, no. Some people don't even have the time to take the breaks which they are legally required to take, and then their friends get all mad at them because they weren't spending their work time responding to their dumb text messages. (I do like having an excuse for not responding to them though). Sometimes you just have to work. Without stopping.

Zack - if something is true, it cannot be defamatory. Fair comment, which this is, is also a defence against defamation.

Also -- I think that because this man is in a public place, a photographer would not require a model release.

https://wx.toronto.ca/inter/ttc/feedback.nsf/icomplaint?OpenForm ??

Everyone who takes a strong moral stance against anything is doomed to be a hypocrite. You guys all act like you do everything right at work, you always abide the rules day in and day out and you never even slightly slack off.

Its like the religious people bashing gays and then getting caught in a men's bathroom trying to have sex with another guy lol.

Get off your high horses people. Dont be a hypocrite!

How ironic. You proclaim yourself to be "too polite" to say anything, but are not above juvenile passive-aggressive behaviour, i.e. taking his picture and whining about an incident that took up only 4 minutes of your life. If it really bothered you that much, why didn't you confront the driver?

The writer of this blog entry is just about the most obnoxious person I have ever encounter in my life. He took pictures of the driver that took 4 min of his precious life, and put them on a popular blog and didn't have the balls to confront the driver himself. Its cowardly and stupid.

Arpeggi,

Isn't the point that the road was completely blocked? An ambulance, or other emergency vehicle, might have needed to get through. I understand the cab driver was also at fault...but this driver saw that the other lane was blocked, but still went ahead and abandoned his vehicle. I'd be interested, are TTC drivers allowed to do this?

Jane,

Emergency vehicles always pass the traffic by going around them. Have you never seen ambulances pass busy intersections?

It appears that he has taken the photo from inside the street car, that is not public property. And if the driver goes after him for "undermining his position at work with slander", he has no grounds to stand on.

Secondly his claiming that the driver was slacking off and stopped the traffic for a "long time" while his photo only shows the driver relaxed and smiling - there is no photo-journalistic value to the shot, it does not show the stopped traffic or any other information to suggest the driver has causes considerable consternation to the riders and traffic.

These Micky Mouse blogs with its wannabe journalists are fine as along as they don't infringe on other people's rights.

I surly hope this driver finds out and takes action but even if he don't, let this be a lesson to not post any silly event that happened to annoy you on the street and incriminate people with photos.

Go back to law school, Zack.

The comments appear to be stacked by TTC jackass employees. You want a sandwich? Bring one on the car with you, it's not your personal road to shutdown.

Jane, according to the article, the author was too busy talking to his girlfriend to really notice what was going on. He didn't even know that the taxi was blocking the other lane, till after he made the decision to go ahead and take the picture of the driver.

Most people have cell phones and restaurants have telephones. Maybe a driver could call ahead and ask for something to be ready at a projected time. Then everything would be ready and the transaction more quickly done.

Isn't there a privacy law for TTC employees and government employees in general, especially while they're at work?

If there is none, then perhaps I should start photographing cops while they're in a coffee shop and claim that they were slacking off whilst the public needed security...

If i was the owner of this site, I'd remove the pictures of the driver - at least out of sensitivity and his privacy. Because I'm pretty sure there is a privacy law for TTC workers like any other government workers especially while they're at work.

hey, Apreggi - rek already replied with a better example than yours but I thought I'd chime in - I do take breaks at work, when it is appropriate. I don't get up in the middle of a meeting to go get a falafel. If the guy HAD to run to use a washroom - fine, let him tell that to the passangers, apologize and go find the restroom. I just expect the guy to do his job: drive the tram from point A to B, safely and efficiently. Stopping for a lunch break should happen at the end of the route, that's all.

From reading the article, I think the author realized the taxi was blocking the lane when the driver was still in the shop...so he took the photo as he was coming out. But I may be wrong...In any case, surely it's the driver's responsiblity to look out for hazards like a taxi blocking the other lane?

this is the very definition of a making a mountain out of a molehill. a potential inconvenience, to be sure- but so far, the only thing this post has achieved is pseudo-law speculation and a juvenile pissing contest. fact remains, this has been done for years, and i have yet to hear of an ambulance that failed to reach a hospital in time due to a shwarma order.

truth be told, you can take a deep sigh and let these things slide, or you can raise your heart rate and take 5 years of your life. i'm of the mind to just let it go.

I see many of you are referring to Ryan L.'s 'rules for internet arguing' -http://blogto.com/city/2008/06/morning_brew_june_24th_2008/; #3 especially when comparing to unrelated issues or examples. This driver taking 4 mins to grab a falafel is not the same as me taking 4 mins to write this comment at the office, or a cop grabbing a donut; here's why:

- 4 mins x (40 bus passengers x 12 car passengers behind) = ~3.5 hours of wasted time4 mins is just 4 mins in my case
- He's in a service position ? it's his job to drive the streetcar when he has customers; whenever I'm in a meeting, or dealing with clients I certainly do not take a break for food or anything else
- If I'm ahead of schedule on a project, I get it done early and rest when the work is finished; no-brainer.

I agree with coastie, it all boils down to a lackadaisical organizational attitude throughout the ttc ? don't get me wrong, I take it every day and don't discount the value it provides to the city; but anyone who's ridden transit in France, Germany, or many European benchmarks will tell you the TTC can do a LOT better in providing the service it does....

*sorry, correction to equation: 4 mins x (40 bus passengers + 12 car passengers behind)

Look how gleeful the driver is as he notices the cab parked and the jammed up traffic behind his streecar, what a prick.

"you can take a deep sigh and let these things slide"

and the compounded effect of all of us sighing everytime they do something like this is to let the TTC slide further into mediocrity

we shouldn't accept this behaviour from anyone, much less the transit authority...would you be so accepting of this if the ttc were a private company? why lower your expectations for a public service?

Ideally, the TTC would be able to give its drivers timely breaks and lunches. Fact is, streetcar schedules are too volatile, at the mercy of traffic, and yes, as a result, drivers sometimes miss breaks and lunches. This isn't *new.* We've had streetcars in mixed traffic for decades. The TTC knows this; hopefully they compensate drivers with longer breaks when they are able to take them, or an early leave home.

As importantly, the DRIVERS know this. Bring snacks, or a bagged lunch. I see lots of drivers toting knapsacks, probably with food, and water bottles. Why is this so unacceptable?

Nobody cares for it when a car stops so the driver can grab a sandwich, or when a van parks in a bike lane so the driver can make a delivery. Not sure why this streetcar driver gets a pass.

we're talking about a 4 minute delay here, not a flag of institutional decay and demise. we all know the ttc is far from perfect. but if this is to be your poster child of that, what a terrible example! i can think of half a dozen better markers.

all i'm saying is, if you're going to be this hypercritical of the ttc and the public sector in general, make sure you're equitable in your treatment.

I respect the point that was raised, but posting those pictures just does not make sense. why not just go about this the normal way and file a complaint. It proves what a big asshole the writer really is.
I wish I could take a picture of him slacking off on his work. its easy to hide behind your computer, why didnt he complain to his face? what a coward.

Wow, can't believe all of the people who think the driver was in the right

Arpeggi, regardless of what I think about the author or his actions, I can say that to me, "asshole" definitely covers the kind of person who thinks an argument is calling someone names, making assumptions about their professional conduct, and making weird, unsolicited comments about their sex life.

It IS pretty easy to hide behind your computer, isn't it?

I don't think leaving the streetcar for 4 minutes to get a sandwich is the issue. The issue is the driver leaving his streetcar for 4 minutes at a time and place that is completely inappropriate to do so.

I have no problem with a driver getting a break, or grabbing a coffee during their shift, as long as they use common sense about it.

Stopping at a busy intersection to get take out is devoid of common sense. Additionally, comparing a streetcar opperator to an office worker is also devoid of common sense. I could compare the entire situation to a baked potato and it'd be just as relevant.

yes, I would definitely would not mind to face this guy in real life. so he wants to, I'll meet him and have a discussion, so im not really hiding.
also you also called me an asshole lol so you are doing what you are criticizing me for. so your argument is flawed.

I called you an asshole because you actually said things that might warrant that name -- throwing around colourful, baseless accusations that are completely unrelated to the topic.

Nowhere did I say your being an asshole meant that your points were invalid (even if they may be anyway). But it remains that the way you tried to advance them was childish and excessive.

Maybe you should get laid?

(Oh ... now *I'm* an asshole too! We should have a party.)

Happens all the time. Yesterday I was pretty shocked when I was on an express bus and the driver stopped 2 mins from the station to go into Tim Hortons for 5 mins.

I don't usually mind when they stop for a few minutes. Except when they are running late. I've had drivers show up about 5-10 minutes late, only to stop 5 mins in, to stop at Timmies.

Gloria

Thanks for proving once again that your argument is flawed and you are a hypocrite for accusing people of the same things that you yourself do. lets get back to the real issue here.

As Ryan L. reiterated; keep the arguments relevant...PLEASE!! I'm getting tired of reading about all of these 'baked potatoes' - again, comment found here on Internet Arguing, for reference...

http://blogto.com/city/2008/06/morning_brew_june_24th_2008/

In Weston, I'm used to drivers taking stops longer than this to go into the Tim Horton's / Wendy's building... it happens to be one of the least efficient Tim Horton's I've ever been in, even just to grab a drink.

I can relate to this driver - I've put funerals on hold in the middle for a falafel craving.

One more quick comment.

"ahead of schedule"

yeah...

personal attacks aside, though they are always fun and somehow strengthen any argument being made, this ttc driver is entitled to scheduled breaks; however, this doesn't mean that he can just stop his route wherever and run some errands for a couple of minutes. my doctor just doesn't get up and go for a break in the middle of surgery. Teachers don't just walk out of class for five minues for a smoke (well, except for my grade 5 teacher). Office workers just don't get up in the middle of a meeting to run out of the office for 5 minutes. Cooks just can't decide to take a break in the middle of the dinner rush. Etc. etc. etc.

The TTC is a service organizations (yes, i am cringing when using service and ttc in the same sentence). Provide the service then take a break; don't provide the service only when you feel like it.

For the personal attacks that will probably come of this, yes I realize I am retarded (mentally, physically, emotionally, athletically), or whatever other politically incorrect word people use to make their case on these things.

each time you see a TTC employee engage in misconduct (such as stopping in the middle of the route to get a damn sandwich), file a complaint. Give all the details you can (hey, maybe pictures, too) and let's hope that at some point TTC will start to pay attention to those things. This behaviour is unacceptable.

Link: https://wx.toronto.ca/inter/ttc/feedback.nsf/icomplaint?OpenForm

I think there's been more than 4 minutes worth of breaks taken by some people to comment on this story tsk tsk tsk....

I like bacon bits on my mashed potatoes.

It's true -- I'm making this comment while not driving a streetcar myself.

TTC drivers are actually not allowed to be "ahead of schedule". a bus can be on-time or late.....not ahead.

It's absolutely unreal that there are people supporting this driver's actions. The guy drives a public transit vehicle that's fixed to the middle of the friggin road. It's one thing for a bus driver to pull over and run in for a coffee. It's another thing altogether for this bozo to stop his streetcar smack in the middle of Dundas West in the early evening. Even without the cab in the way, this creates a bottleneck of traffic as people switch lanes to get around this prick.

And count me among the chorus of people who say that comparing a four minute break at a desk job to this brain fart isn't anything close to comparable. If I'm not on deadline or in a meeting, taking four minutes to check my email, make a phone call, etc., is well within the scope of reality. But if I'm stuck in a meeting or scrambling to meet a deadline, I'm not getting up to take a piss, much less get a falafel. In that case, either I plan ahead and bring a bagged lunch, or wait until I'm done my work, or I'm screwed. When this guy is driving around a load of paying customers and sitting in the middle of Toronto traffic, he's 'on deadline.' If he doesn't like it, he should find another line of work.

That driver took four minutes from each passenger and countless others who he'd jammed up in traffic because he wanted a hot sandwich. His sense of entitlement is galling. Surely the union contracted meal breaks, so who does this jerk think he is? Sadly, this selfish behaviour, sanctioned by a bussload and others in this thread, is becoming more acceptable in our society.

Retail store manager here.

Think of it this way; what if you were twenty-fourth in line at Tim Hortons, there was only one person on cash, and they just suddenly walked outside and lit up a smoke? I seriously doubt you'd be making excuses for the employee, you'd be outside demanding to know why the @#$! they are having a smoke when there are two dozen people waiting for service inside.

The appropriate action for the fictitious Tim Hortons employee is to wait for a dead period with nobody in the store, and the appropriate action for the TTC operator is to take the break at a terminal/station.

The TTC is shite. I ride transit in cities all over the planet, only Toronto has this kind of obscene behavior. I hope more people abandon it for walking/biking/skateboards etc.

Inane post, fire author (and on that note, why am I still reading this hipster doofus blog?). This belongs on Twitter.

I don't know much but I do know that TTC drivers are on a schedule and need to slow down if they're running fast, I've had streetcars wait out full traffic light cycles at night. So why not grab a bite.

Just one question: was the streetcar door open while the driver was in the restaurant? If so, it's against the law for the taxi to pass the open door. Just curious.

norm, you're an idiot; you're fired!

slow news day?