City
The Sleeping TTC Fare Collector Photo Needs a Caption
A very deep sleeping TTC employee's photo spread through the series of tubes that is the Internet like wildfire earlier today. Torontoist has done some digging for the story, and a representative from the TTC has said that they've seen the photo of the worker, and that it's reason for concern. They're looking into the incident further, and what they'll probably learn is that the guy was totally zonked and simply passed out (it's not like I've never been tired enough to inadvertently catch a zed or two at work).
But... maybe he's a new dad and was kept up by a screaming baby all through the previous night? Maybe he has undiagnosed narcolepsy? Maybe he's not sleeping at all? Here's a chance to jokingly look at things from the TTC collector's side. Caption this!
Photo adapted from the original by Jason Wieler.


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(choo)
-The fare is....(long pause)... (Eyes start to close)....One dollar, Two Dollars, Three Dollars....ZZZZZ.... snore!
-- Sleep perchance to get photographed than fired
Caption: itravel2000.com dial 1-866-wow-zzzzzzzzzzzz
No words.
Can you imagine what it's like to have a mind-numbingly boring job, for like 30 years? I say let him have his sleep.
I guess machines can't read the paper transfers.
Just like servers who complain about tips and not getting enough of it. There is no law about tips. So stop complaining. You knew when you signed up to be a server that you will live/die by the sword.
Guy who signed up to be a TTC employee should have known from the start that it might not be the most mind stimulating of jobs out there in the world.
http://is.gd/6LRQH
the difference is i PAY my school to give me the opportunity to sleep, not the other way around.
muahahahaha!
I don't mind qualified professionals being paid what they are worth (engineers, department managers etc.). But a station collector does NOT deserve 100K+ a year.
- it's lite.
LOL!
Save the outrage - who hasn't had a kip on the job occasionally.
Poor chap.
CAPTION: (Family Ties Theme Song)
"I bet we been together for a million years,
And I bet we'll be together for a million more.
Oh, It's like I started breathing on the night we kissed,
And I can't remember what I ever did before.
What would we do baby, Without Us?
What would we do baby, Without Us?
And there ain't no nothing we can't love each other through.
What would we do baby, Without Us?
Sha la la la.
lol.
Clearly this fellow is overworked from counting change and making snide remarks all day long. It's strenuous.
Anyways, It was probably a trap. He was going to lock the turnstile on the next student that didn't show their card
And expecting us to feel sympathy for him because his job is boring? Get the F outta here. Probably most people are bored at work, but the difference is most people don't have the comfort of being massively overpaid to ease the pain.
Brilliant
"Bob Kinnear is so hot - wish I had his hair"
Although what time was this picture taken? Was it like 11pm? I think we have all fallen asleep at our desk once in our working lives no?
Bobby: My buddy said it perfectly: What job in the world would pay you to have your feet up while "earning"? As much as I wouldn't like their job, have some respect for the city of Toronto. Would you expect this type of behaviour in Tokyo or Paris? London? Not even close. Too many Canadians never left that 1970's rock n' roll mullet mentality.
1. AWDHAN, CATERPAUL - $109,611.86 + $3,010.91
2. BARNHOUSE, ELKE - $102,731.27 + $2,793.31
3. BARREIRO, CANDIDO - $104,246.94 + $2,437.21
4. BOVE, ANGELO - $106,071.39 + $2,437.21
5. CHADWICK, GLENN - $105,900.59 + $2,052.45
6. COLLIER, CECILIA - $106,242.37 + $2,507.21
7. DEFINA, FRANK - $104,312.18 - $2,437.21
8. DEZILVA, DERRICK - $103,401.04 + $2,437.21
9. DINYARIAN, MINA - $111,282.86 + $2,437.21
10. DSOUZA, CARLOS - $110,577.84 + $2,462.56
11. GAUCI, NEIL - $108,165.76 + $2,437.21
12. GRECH, JOAN - $103,265.76 + $2,442.96
13. GUZZO, FRANK - $101,932.10 + $2,437.21
14. HIGGINS, JAMES - $101,548.90 + $2,437.21
15. JAVED, MOHAMMED - $107,283.98 + $2,874.86
16. MCGLENNON, ALLAN - $102,406.78 + $2,740.26
17. MORITZ, EVA - $108,404.88 + $2,437.21
18. PALAYATHIL, VINITA - $112,392.53 + $1,055.63
19. SACHDEV, KIRAN - $125,247.19 + $2,089.33
20. SALEEMI, YASIN - $112,371.14 + $2,496.66
21. WAYLEN, RICHARD - $103,109.38 + $2,955.91
For the 2008 list, go to Public Sector Salary Disclosure 2009 (Disclosure for 2008) : Municipalities and Services http://bit.ly/1g7Itg
I'm all for a "living wage", as someone above mentioned, but when you pay someone with no skills and no education MORE THAN TWICE as much as the average Canadian in that education bracket earns, you devalue the education and skillset of everyone else in society.
If a TTC station collector with no education and no skills earns $100k, then by rights a firefighter should earn $200k and a pharmacist should earn $300k and so on. Soon, the average meal at a restaurant would cost $200, a movie ticket for one person would be $40, the average apartment rent in Toronto would be $3000/mo and so on.
Aside from the inflationary effects of ridiculously higher salaries, there is the humiliation that we, as TTC riders and as taxpayers, have to bear whenever we fork over $3 for a token or $120 for a metropass to wait for the seven streetcar convoys or travel through crumbling subway stations on our way to our measly $44k/yr jobs.
[INSERT WIDE, SWEEPING GENERALIZATION AND OVER EXAGGERATION]
-YR AVERAGEBLOGTO MOUTHBREATHER
Collectors by and large (with exception) fall into the following categories: injured, chronic confrontations with customers, too many accidents operating a vehicle, previous suspensions, and basically problem employees that division superintendents would rather not deal with. It truly is a dumping ground for the misfits who can rack up easy overtime. He's got the classic "Louie De Palma" look to him too: sloppy, slovenly hair, undone tie, the whole nine yards. Some days I've seen him unshaven, like he just tied one on too many the previous night. Among other things the union has totally succeeded in watering down even a minimum of uniform adherence, so you get one driver who looks neat and professional, and the next covered in ATU 113 gear who looks like he's out for a jog.
i could do that job!
really, i could!!!
I HAVE ANOTHER JOKE FOR THE CAPTION: "AH RELAXING AT WORK HAEHAEHAEH CAN'T WAIT TO GET PAID FOR THIS! A VICTIMLESS CRIME! ZZZZZZZZZ.." LOL
@MISSISSAUGAWATCH - did you write a caption criticizing people who write captions? I hope it's a joke, then it's funny. If not, it's sad.
These Unionized "workers" are waaayyyy overpaid, what a joke!
http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/publications/salarydisclosure/2009/munic09.html
that's right...at least 548 people at the TTC make OVER $100,000!!
this includes 21 'Station Collectors' like this clown; sign me up baby!
A trip to the Dominican Republic sounds nice this time of year......
Quiet Collector Zone
What time is it? Holy crap I was done an hour ago!
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2010/22/c3221.html
I am not defending him but perhaps maybe this guy just figured that it's easier on his heart to go back to work than deal with the TTC's management. Maybe he's got crap going on in his life that made making money imperative, instead of having to wait weeks for the union to settle his grievance.
...Just sayin'...
Legs up, hands folded comfortably, head tilted back.
Yup....he definitly had something wrong with him.
The unhappy tax payer
Thank you for demonstrating how out of touch with reality you and your union really are.
According to your release, the TTC is finding fault with its riders rather than its employee who is, given his approximate age, making around $35 per hour to sleep.
I would argue about 90% (or more) of the folks who ride the TTC don't make that kind of money. Your riders post photos like this or don't care about your employees because it's obvious you don't care about us or your jobs.
Respect breeds respect and many TTC employees disrespect riders daily. This photo is a great example. What if a rider was being attacked on the platform? Or even in front of the booth? This TTC official was either too lazy or too unhealthy to be in a position to do something about it.
So, Mr. Kinnear, clean up your own house before you start telling us how to treat people who obviously don't don't know how or care how to treat us.
BS
One of the most enticing installations at Come Up To My Room is an exact replica of the McCowan TTC booth, complete with a sleeping collector. The "Sleeping Collector," the artist says, "speaks to our need to find a collective 'time-out' in this occasionally inhuman city." Visitors are invited to try to "wake up" the collector by rapping on the glass.
or
"recession...bills...overtime..."
or, more likely (and truthfully)
"like you wouldn't take advantage of this too, you petty-bourgeois scum"
"Better asleep than awake. Awake, I'm rude and will tell you off."
If the TTC worked well, none of us would really mind the occasional snooze. It doesn't, so the snoozers take the shit. Simple as that.
First off I would like to ask you what Skills and education do you have. Do not judge a book by its cover. There are a lot of people in the TTC that have a great education and they are trained very well in this job. No I am not a TTC employee, but I happen to know a few people within the TTC and they are very pleasant and smart people. Not all of them make the 100K that you are referring to. They make base salary just under 60K a year. So that means in order to make that 100K that you speak of they will have to make about $40k more in overtime. This in turn gives them no life. Out of approx 10,000 unionized workers, there are only about 21 from your list that are making over 100K. For all the crap that the transit drivers put up with (all the verbal harassment, getting spit at by people, threatened and getting called racist on a daily basis, I'm glad that they are getting paid this much. I heard that the TTC is hiring, so if you can handle all these things that I have mentioned and pass numerous testing and driving skills(which would most likely be a problem for you seeing your taking public transit) than by all means go an apply. And if you don't get a call, this probably means that they have called someone with more education then yourself.
:)
Maybe not all of them do, but the ones that take all the extra shifts and overtime do. Funny how the ones who work all those extra hours would likely be the ones that are sleeping on the job.
Lets say a collector makes $106,000 per year. You figure the average wok year consists of 250 work days. $106.000/250= $424
Not only that, you get a spineless twerp that will defend you for sleeping at your job.
Nobody should sleep on the job, I completely agree but these people have families and communities that they have to live in. Imagine if your cubicle had windows and cameras and you couldn't even blow your nose or have any kind of privacy. Nobody is perfect. It is easy to judge others but those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Yes, I know a few people that work there and I have heard their horrible stories of human behaviour. As a transit user I have seen many as well so the next you run over an elderly person or a small child to get to the platform and ultimately end up on the same train, think about that.
Joe
Really? Because I see this happening regularly and I don't even take the TTC that often!
Maybe everyone who witnesses these types of infractions (and I'm guessing most TTC riders have) should take a picture and submit it to TTC management, the Chair and also blogTO or some other publication. I'd be interested to see how many of these types of pictures turn up...
PS - regarding judging others, you do realize you are a hypocrite, right?
Less than TWO years ago, the TTC went on strike.
Less than TWO MONTHS ago, they decide to increase fares.
In that amount of time, the service hasn't gotten any better. In fact, some would argue that it's gotten WORSE.
SleepHead Robitaille just epitomizes what is wrong with the TTC and Bobby Kinnear's sentiment, lashing out at the photographer, is prime example of the contempt that the UNION has for the people that (partially at least) pays their firken wages.
Smarten up, people. It's NOT about bashing George. It's about the PERCEIVED injustice of eking out a living, earning less than even the BASE TTC salary of $60,000/yr, facing fare hike after fare hike only to be presented with such an unabashedly blatant slap to the face as SLEEPING ON THE TAXPAYER'S DIME.
Kapish?
Fark.. some people can so thick sometimes. Utterly blows my mind.
Next station, "it's all about me" now arriving at "it's all about me."
Do I think that what he did is right? NO - not in the least. But, since when did we all become judge and jury of others? Yes, the guy probably makes a lot of money - but he also drove a bus for a long time and was credited a few years back for saving a life. Do you know how much abuse these bus drivers suffer? Have you ever been spit at, punched, yelled at or told off because you requested that someone pay for what they were getting? See - everyone bitches about the customer service that they get from the TTC - but when it comes down to paying their fare - tell me - how many of you haven't ripped the system off? Who has really always paid their way everytime? And, if a driver asks you to pay your fare - well then, the driver is an Ass - isn't he. Poor customer service skills. Makes too much money.
Next time your cable goes out, I would like to see you post a picture of someone at the cable company who f*c*ed up. Post it on the internet and spread it all around. You pay an insane amount of money for cable, and their rates climb constantly - and they are MAKING money. Don't think the cable guys are making a good wage??? Think again.
Did you know that it costs $3.25 in Ottawa to take the bus? And, if you want to take an express bus (something akin to the subway with fewer stops) you have to pay a premium? They have a light rail system in one part of their city, but no subway. Their transit system is no where as near advanced as the TTC, yet the riders there pay more.
Sometimes you just have to realize that people screw up. I hope when it's your turn to make a mistake you don't get publicly burned at the stake.
That is a backwoods outpost?
The two cities transit systems have nothing in common.
Yes, TTC drivers make a lot of money. But this is the average for this type of job. Mississauga, Durham, York - those drivers make about the same. Do they have to deal with the downtown driving of Toronto streets, or the possibility that someone is going to end their life in front of their subway? You might think they make easy money - but I would suggest you ride the Queen car on night, or the Vomit Comet (the Yonge bus) on a Saturday night. Then, in your happiest, most customer serving voice - do it all again.
Reposting under different handles doesn't change the fact.
...or at least, thats what I think Kinnear meant to say...
For years I supported public transit as the number one way to travel, but I have been worn down to a nub by the rude and ineffective service offered by the TTC. Over the years I have been driven past, short turned, marooned, yelled at and ignored by TTC employees. I no longer even bother to look at a posted schedule, I just wait for a bus to arrive, and when it does, two more will probably pull in behind it. Then I can watch as the three drivers share a coffee and a joke before heading off together again. I just love watching city buses leapfrog each other as they pick up riders at alternate stops. I particularly love it when the last bus is ordered to make a short turn and dump its passengers out in the middle of nowhere to wait, once again, for a fleet of buses to show up.
Am I innocent in all of this? No.
As for not paying the fare. I have failed to pay on many occasions. In particular, I love entering the system at Dundas station where you can be sure that there will be a semi-conscious, Toronto Sun reading ticket collector sitting at an open gate, just letting the people pass through. Why would anyone pay?
As for yelling at drivers, yes, I have yelled at drivers. One night, coming home from York University I waited 20 mins for the 41 bus to show up, which I admit is not that long, but as the bus drove away from the main bus stop at York toward the next stop the driver told us we would need to wait there for 10 mins. Why we didn't wait at the main stop, where we would have picked up more passengers is beyond me, but the driver calmed our nerves by stating that another 41 bus was already waiting at the next stop and since it was leaving soon the delay would not be long. We get off the bus and line up at the doors of the 41 bus already waiting at the stop. However, the driver will not open the doors, and when I knock on the door to ask her why, she responds curtly through the glass, 'this is my bus.' "What?" I say. 'You aren't coming on this bus, your bus is back there, this is my bus" she responds. At that point I yelled. "This is a city of Toronto bus, not your bus, so open the fucking door." She promptly drives away from me and a dozen other people. To the credit of the first TTC driver, he immediately came over to me and gave me the city number for complaints. I phone and leave a message, but never hear back from anyone.
Enough is enough. From now on my cell phone camera will be on stand-by each and every time I come in contact with the TTC. Whether it is a sleeping ticket collector, an enraged passenger, a slowly leaking ceiling or a pile of debris on the floor of a vehicle. Whether it is a cheerful driver helping out a customer or an asshole like me not paying the fare. It is time that the citizens of Toronto held themselves and the TTC to account. I will start posting more pictures of the state of our system, both the good and the bad, and you should too.
The only shame deserved by the union in this case is if they protect people like this. Unfortunately they all too often seem to do just that. I really feel that unions should be a thing of the past. They did some excellent things and the majority of us are better off for them, but there are many regulations and laws that protect workers and their rights in place now, and unions seem to do more harm than good currently. I so often find unions have very week arguements, operate with a mob mentality, and simply don't tell their members the whole story. I know of numerous occassions where a strike has been called and members were without work for weeks, even months. Eventually they get what they were striking for, usually a raise, but really they have lost more in wages during the strike than they will recover in their wage increase. Last year in Otatwa we had a public transit strike that lasted 53 days I think. The strike was stratgically scheduled to take place in the holiday rush and infront of a signifigant snow storm. The union head was caught on video telling members to be as disruptive as possible. Things like that really aggravate the public and it doesn't seem at all like the members take their job or responsibilities seriously. It feels like entitlement. I could go on forever with this, so I better stop here.
Toronto hydro employee ,embridge gas companies all take us for ride when we are asleep .
WITH DELIVERY CHARGES which are more than the usage....
Is the father of CEO' of theses companies coming and delivering Electricity and natural Gas ?????
Let us fight for something more productive ,where all canadians will save more than any thing .
WHY WOULD WE HAVE TO PAY ???
Raise your voice Canadians
fucking douchebags
had a stoke
Not that y'all should let that get in the way of your knee-jerk union-bashing and name-calling.
Silly comments aside... RIP.