On a lighter note

MANTRACKER IS HAWT!


LOL. can ya tell I just watched the show.


Oooooo baby. I like that man....


It's Saturday and I am in a good mood.

Smiles.

Bye......

Well how about that...Harrassment TTC

Just found this when doing a search

One on One

Looks like we can claim harrassment.

Huh, who knew.

I will bold this part as it is my favorite part.

"A detective with the Toronto Police who asked not to be named said that it is not illegal to record a bus driver making mistakes unless it becomes criminal harassment. Criminal harassment is when a person is following a driver day in and day out or obstructing the safe operation of the driver's route. In turn a bus driver can not legally stop a passenger from taking his or her picture as long as the driver's job is not being affected.
"A driver can stop his bus if they believe that the person taking pictures or video is impeding the safe operation of the vehicle. The best course of action is to take complaints to the TTC complaint office."
The detective also said that this month's "blood sport is the TTC."


Wow, never knew this and I kinda like the fact that the TTC will not address these one on one issues.

Just because someone has a problem with one driver does not mean we are all bad and should be punished because of the actions of one driver.

Not saying that the drivers in question are wrong either as I have no idea if they were doing anything wrong.

BUT my sense tells me they (the ones being videoed lately) haven't done a dam thing wrong.

They are entitled to a break and if you don't like it, get off the bus and wait for another.

I also found out my Assistant Super at my Division supports us drivers who do need a break and that is all I NEED to hear.

More later, maybe.....

I also can't believe that certain news media CITYTV find that this is news. They have created the feeding frenzy and if anything happens as a result of this I have told many drivers to hold them responsible.

The media also needs to take responsibility and accountability for anyone that gets hurt as a result of all this.

The media had a responsiblity to ask the TTC if these breaks are common and allowed before splashing this shit all over the place.

If is was and is IS allowed then the media CITYTV to be exact has seriously over stepped the bounderies of what is news and what is just TRASH TALK.

SHAME ON YOU CITYTV. I will no longer watch your pitiful channel. You have become the TabROID of television.

My name is Diana and I do NOT support local television anymore. Screw You.

Oh and even GOOGLE has to blur peoples faces now, so ya better watch out. You ARE invading peoples privacy and someone may get hurt as a result. Then if it can be shown that the media released a picture of a person and that person was assaulted by a ooo lets say STALKER...........see ya in Court dudes and that court date will include the jerk off camera idiot.

The story behind the F'en Bitch comment

So I bet some are wondering why would anyone call sweet ole me an F'en Bitch.

Let me tell you why.

I pull up to a stop and there is about 5 people standing there. I am not late, I am not early I am right on time for that stop.

(Yes we do have what is called Timing Points and it tells us when we are supposed to be at each stop on our Route, but PLEASE we are RARELY able to meet that schedule as it is VERY tight. If there is a problem, we cannot be there at that time. And by problem I mean even ONE accident can kill that stupid schedule. So its an unrealistic expection of YOU and our Boss to hold us to.)


Everyone, except this one male pig, shows me their pass or transfer. As male pig is moving past me, I say.

"Excuse me Sir, do you have a Pass or Transfer?"

How polite of me huh?

He then turns and says...

"Fuck you you Fucken Bitch" and starts to attempt to tell me why he won't pay but I raise my voice cut off his FOUL so called speach by saying.

"OFF THE BUS! BUT THANK YOU FOR ATTEMPTING TO RIDE THE TTC"

Well the whole Bus burst out laughing and a women sitting in the first row behind me was drinking a pop and laughed so hard it came out her nose.

The male pig, lowered its head and stepped off the Bus.

You know what, it is RUDE to not pay. I know that many are pissed at us, but we are still providing a service. There are good drivers, not so good drivers and there are really bad drivers.

I AM A GOOD DRIVER. I AM POLITE AND TO THE POINT. IF YOU ASK ME A QUESTION I WILL ANSWER YOU. IF I DON'T KNOW I WILL DIRECT YOU TO THE PERSON OR PLACE WHERE YOU WILL FIND THE ANSWER.

I DESERVE TO BE PAID FOR MY SERVICE AND MY TIME. I AM NOT THE BAD GUY AND IF YOU DON'T PUT A FARE IN MY FAREBOX YOU ARE INSULTING ME AND BASICALLY SAYING I AM THE BAD GUY.

You want FAIRNESS then give it back people. Be fair to me and the OTHER good drivers by NOT lumping us into the same HEAP as the assholes amoung us.


So, to you male pig, I take back my calling you Sir. You are NOT a Sir and will never deserve the title of such.

You want good service then pay for it. There is over 80 million dollars in Fare Disputes. People don't pay . They buy Fraudulant Passes, try to pass off old transfers or simply walk right by us.

Well you say, is it not your job to enforce people to pay. NO actually it's not. It is NOT my job to get my head kicked in or to be spat upon. It is NOT my job to be insulted or verbally abused by these low lifes.

Would you ask? Knowing that the number ONE reason we are assaulted is because of fare disputes?

Do YOU put up with this kind of treatment from YOUR customers? Or do you have the Luxury of walking away and getting your Boss to handle them?

Yeah that's right you have that Luxury. So maybe the TTC should hire all Bouncer Types that can handle these low lifes.....Yea well then.. ya wanna see bad customer service....just put a bunch of steriod junkies behind the wheel.....that'll teach'em.

Whatever...

Rant done.

Off to do some shopping and walk the pups.

Later peeps.

Diana

So Tonight He...............

walked right by me and said Hello to someone, but not to me.

So I guess my assumptions that he liked me were unfounded. It was just my imagination once again.

Huh.

I wash my hands of this and move on.........I just have too much on my mind and this is really taking up a lot of energy. I think about him too much and it gets all fuzzy after awhile.

Happy Friday Everyone.

Not much to say. Too tired.

Off to watch a movie.

Diana

On a happier note I forgot to mention that tonight, I was called an F'en Bitch by one guy and another told me that being 35 years old and trying to act like I was 25 was not attractive.....

LOL LOL LOL LOL

Jerk, I am almost 50!!!

So thanks for the compliment :)

I could have kissed him, but ya know.....blech

Thinking about all this..

I have been thinking about all this bad publicity with the TTC lately and my state of mind. I have been jumpy lately and not sleeping. Also I can't seem to bring myself to get on the torch, or draw or paint or even clean my house.

I love to drive. I absolutely love it. I once drove from Toronto to Nova Scotia without stopping to sleep. I did stop for coffee and pee breaks, but my love of driving kept me going. I know I know, that is not good and I might have been a danger on the road, but I don't think so. I just love to drive.

But this trash talk about us drivers has made it very difficult for me to love to drive a Bus. I did at first and on good days I still do. I feel at ease behind the wheel. I feel good behind the wheel. It is my place to just zone out life and be the best driver I can be. I am good ya know....

I like to think I am good with the people too. I have had my share of issues, but who hasn't. I am sure passengers have had issues with other passengers. But that passenger will only have to one issue that day and might not have another for weeks or months to come. I have to deal with nasty, ugly people everyday, sometimes many hundreds of times a day, then deal with that same person the next day and the next day.......

Do I love my Job? Yes on the good days. On the bad ones, I want to just stop the bus, get out and walk all the way home and not go back. But I don't. I keep driving and keep tolerating and keep saying thank you and I keep trying to be nice...It is getting really hard though.

I have gotten threats, people holding up their phones as if taking my picture for just going to the bathroom, or when I am at my ends early, going to get a bottle of water or coffee. I have become an innocent target of peoples rage and hate.

Not something I thought about when taking this job. Not something I signed up for.
Did I know or was I made aware of the issues with problem people? Yes, but I had no idea it was this bad. There was some sugar coating, and I am a sugar lover, so I think I absorbed that part and filed the rest. I thought to myself, how can people be nasty or ugly to me, if I am nice to them. God I am so Nieve. Must change that. Something to work on within my personality.

So with that, I think I will be giving up my senority and moving into something else within the TTC. Once my two years of blood and guts has been given I can apply for a job elsewhere and never have to drive a Bus again.

THAT saddens me. Just thinking about it almost makes me cry. People have successfully taken my Joy and made it my Misery........

I guess because I worked with dogs for the past 7 years I have been so out of the loop on this whole, how to treat others, I did not realize it had gotten this bad. I did not realize people had so much hate in the hearts and minds.

People can be so awful to other people.

When there is a ban wagon people seem to jump right on without asking themselves why or even if that band wagon is morally right. They will question it later and maybe feel bad about it later, but by then the damage is done.

You can't take that back.

And now I might face suspension if I take a pee break or go get a coffee.

See here

Wow, things are going to come to a head soon. I see no good coming from this.

Anger goes both ways or did you not realize that?

Also I am so sick of people with University Degrees telling us we make too much money and that we are all a bunch of uneducated morons, who should not make more than them.

What exactly qualifies a salary? The fact that you have a Degree is the ONLY basis that YOU should make more than Me?
That Degree or piece of paper makes YOU a better employee than me?
That Degree makes you more valuable than me?
That Degree makes you less likely to go to the washroom than me?
That Degree means you will NEVER use company time to do something personal?
That Degree means you will never make a personal phone call on company time, or use the computer for personal time?
That Degree means you will never take a break even though you are entitled to it not only because your company gives you breaks but the Employment Act gives you the RIGHT to take a break?
That Degree makes you smarter than me?
That Degree gave you the ability to handle people and stressful situations better than me?

Again I am going to refer you to the post below and this may explain why we make more than you. Do YOU suffer 4 times the stress level of Police Officers? Do you face an angry crowd everyday? Do you FEAR going to work and having your picture posted on the front page with the words SLACKER splashed across it, simply for going to the bathroom?

And by the by, many of the TTC workers of today have University Degrees but could not find a JOB in their chosen field or where laid off, then they became Drivers.

So that arguement is BULLSHIT and I called it.

Have a good one.


Diana

TTC drivers in crisis....Pulled from TorontoStar

Subway driver Bryan Tollefson, at his Angus home, suffered from post-traumatic stress after seeing two suicides and an accidental death. Depression returned when a drunk assaulted him.

Litany of abuse, lives of fear

The Star obtained scores of occupational injury and disease reports filed in the last several months by drivers from two TTC divisions. They provide a grim snapshot of life behind the wheel.

One driver, who got a gob of spit in the face Nov. 23, 2007, worried about a communicable disease. A few days before that, a driver reported that an "unidentified male showed me a gun as he was leaving the bus." This driver said she later had trouble sleeping. Eighteen-year veteran Chris, of the TTC's Queensway division, said he'd rather take a punch than suffer again what happened last August. Chris says he was verbally sparring with a rider who had insulted a blind passenger.

"Just as I turned away, he grabs me, pulls toward me, horks a loogie on me like you wouldn't believe," Chris said. "I didn't tell my kids. It's degrading. I would have rather taken a punch."

Chris said he missed six weeks of work due to anxiety and fear he had contracted an "infectious disease."

"I just put the blinders on. I just look forward. I don't look at what goes in the fare box any more," he said. "If I didn't lose my seniority, I would go somewhere else in the commission."The documents also show drivers reported: Suffering a broken thumb and inhalation of pepper spray during a fight on a bus; broken eyeglasses after a punch to the head; and seeing a red laser-light flash, stoking fears of a sniper. Several drivers said riders gestured as if pulling guns out of coat pockets and waistbands, or pulling a blade across a throat.

David Bruser and Tess Kalinowski




David Bruser

Tess Kalinowski
Staff Reporters
Nearly 200 TTC bus, streetcar and subway operators are suffering from severe stress usually associated with survivors of combat, natural disasters and rape.

Their rate of post-traumatic stress disorder is about four times that of police officers who patrol Toronto streets, and the city's transit drivers report these problems more than any other workers in Ontario, according to provincial data.

Drivers have suffered a wide range of abuse – shot at with an air rifle, punched in the eye, head-butted in the mouth, gashed with a broken beer bottle, to list just a few examples the Star uncovered.

Shawn Gilchrist, psychologically crippled by the disorder, missed nearly two years of work after four riders swarmed and dragged him to the bus floor, then kicked, punched and dislodged a molar.

A driver got a gob of spit in the face and mouth, and spent weeks off work and ran through many tubes of toothpaste trying to erase the memory.

Another driver, Michael, said he was driving along Kipling Ave. in 2005 when the headlights of an oncoming Jetta went out. The sedan crept closer, its passenger window going down. Seconds later, the window next to Michael's head had a hole in it and a spider web of cracks.

"I saw this thing coming out of the sedan's window, and I'm still looking at it. All of sudden ... Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. I screamed at everyone: `Get down. We're taking fire.' I didn't know what to say," said Michael, his voice quickening and pitched with anger. "I thought: I'm not going to see my family again. This is it."He later learned he was shot at with an air rifle and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"I couldn't sleep. I kept being paranoid. I didn't want to drive."

The Star obtained the records from the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board after a freedom of information battle lasting nearly two years. Names of drivers were withheld. Through interviews the Star found some claimants and agreed not to identify those with strong concern for their safety.

In a five-year period ending in 2005, at least 181 drivers claimed post-traumatic stress disorder, missing an average of 49 days of work, with some absent only days and others more than a year. The traumatized drivers missed a total of nearly 9,000 workdays. An additional 102 operators reported missing weeks or months of work because they were suffering anxiety, neurotic disorders and depression.

The men and women on the front lines of the TTC, for the most part, take the job because they like sitting behind the wheel, chatting with the public and earning a steady paycheque.

But some drivers say they have become easy targets for surly riders. They are demoralized, tentative around strangers and fearful.

Subway operator Bryan Tollefson, who suffered from the disorder 10 years ago after seeing two suicides and an accidental death in the subway, says he has sunk back into depression after a drunk head-butted him in the mouth in 2006.

With overcrowding on buses and streetcars, fare hikes and traffic snarling transit schedules, the operators say they are facing an increasingly frustrated, unpredictable public. The number of reported crimes on TTC property spiked dramatically in 2006, from 2,744 the year before to 3,415, a 24 per cent increase. Meanwhile, the drivers struggle for sympathy from their own employer, an outfit of nearly 11,000 employees heavily focused on timely service and, drivers say, not enough on their safety.

TTC management, though, is making a big push to make life on the road and rails less stressful."I think we have an obligation to do something," said TTC chair Adam Giambrone. "This is unacceptable. We have to take this seriously. This is about respect and safety of our operators. They didn't sign up to be soldiers."

Post-traumatic stress disorder, often caused by witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event involving the threat of injury or death, is the second-leading cause of loss-time at the TTC. Transit commission workers suffering sprains, strains and tears missed a total of 27,000 days of work between 2000 and 2005, the most recent years available to the Star.

Symptoms of the disorder include frequent, involuntary reliving of the event and irritability, and could include increased blood pressure and feelings of helplessness. Sufferers could also develop unhealthy coping devices, such as feelings of detachment and numbness.

"You live an increasingly narrow life and, on top of that, (you) are in a kind of a hyper-arousal state, ready to fight or flight," said Dr. Alain Brunet, psychiatry professor at McGill University. "(Sufferers) don't sleep well, they have problems concentrating, easily distracted, easily startled, and they may have a short fuse."

Described, often dismissively, as shell shock in World War I, and neurosis in World War II, and captured in Vietnam War-era photos as the "thousand-yard stare," post-traumatic stress disorder is now recognized not as a moral weakness but as a legitimate, sometimes devastating disorder.

"I came to the realization I was shut off all the time, even when I came home," said subway operator Tollefson, who says he missed five months of work in the late '90s due to the disorder. "It bothers me that I don't feel anything. Oftentimes I don't feel anger or joy or pleasure. You just go about your business. You do what is right by your family, but there's no feeling behind it."

Several psychiatrists and experts say bus drivers are more prone to the disorder than those in many other jobs.

"They're easy targets. They wear a uniform. They represent a form of authority but without too much power," said Brunet, who found a "higher than expected" rate of the disorder among Montreal bus drivers in a study conducted 12 years ago.Norman Shields, a psychologist who treats combat veterans, says bus drivers might be more likely to suffer from the disorder than soldiers because of the driver's relative inability to act – to use handcuffs, a weapon, anything to react to the adrenaline rush that comes with an assault.

"We're sitting ducks out here," said Dino, a bus driver for 10 years. "You don't know when it's coming."

Dino, 43, who says he's been punched, threatened with death, spit on and had to dodge rocks thrown through his windshield, doesn't want his last name published for fear his assailants will track him down. Dino missed a month of work in 2000 after a domestic dispute spilled onto his bus and a man waved a gun in his face, muttering, "I'm going to blow your head off."

While TTC officials say 99 per cent of the riding public are kind and thankful, it is clear drivers have become whipping posts for frustrated Torontonians.

"Imagine if I was in a supermarket, and I didn't like the price of milk that day and I punched the clerk," said Bob Kinnear, head of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents the 4,500 TTC operators. "I don't know of many jobs where you have people missing time because they got punched in the face at work."

Giambrone says the rise is due in part to increasing pressures on the system.

"We carry more people. We have more customer service complaints," Giambrone says. "Are people more upset when the quality of service is not what it was in the past? Absolutely. Is it acceptable to take it out on the driver? No."

A dedicated and decorated employee, Shawn Gilchrist, 47, needed only four years on the job to become the driver he is today: Nervous in public and joyless on the job.

His breaking point: Around 8 p.m., May 7, 2005. He asked a man who underpaid to pay a full fare. The rider taunted Gilchrist until the bus pulled into the Lawrence West subway station. "Four guys kicked the s--- out of me. I was panicking for my life," said Gilchrist, who, before joining the TTC, made headlines when he tackled a gun-wielding, would-be bank robber at a midtown CIBC branch.

"I had trouble sleeping. I wasn't eating. I was afraid to leave my apartment. I was crying for no reason. I don't think I'm a wimp."

His colleague and friend Fred Hickey, 38, missed 11 months due to post-traumatic stress disorder after a rider pierced his lip with a broken beer bottle May 29, 2004.

TTC officials say they cannot pinpoint the cost of the problem, though all claims accepted by the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board, including those involving physical injuries, drain nearly $10 million from the commission every year.

Add to this the cost of lost fares as drivers increasingly fear challenging riders who don't pay. Several drivers interviewed by the Star said it's a simple if depressing choice: Ignore the fraud, or challenge the freeloader and risk a punch.

"I fear fare disputes because I just want to get home in one piece," says driver Anne Marie Dennis, 40. "You do it to the wrong person and he pulls a knife."

Dennis, a light bruise fading from around her left eye, talked to the Star two days after being hit in the face by a rider she asked to leave the bus for swearing at passengers. On the report Dennis is required to fill out after such an incident, the doctor at the walk-in clinic near her home wrote: "Stressed out, fear of going back to work."

And the cost mounts. Due to an increase in driver assaults, the TTC plans to install plastic shields on buses and streetcars. One prototype, including installation, would cost $1,500 per bus. The shields could appear as soon as this year.

As part of a $34 million project, the TTC is currently installing cameras on buses and streetcars and in subway stations to help deter would-be offenders.

Also, with the help of a $446,000 research grant from the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board, the TTC, along with two Toronto hospitals, this month began a study of drivers who have suffered stress-related injuries. The TTC's chief safety officer says the study should help the commission understand how to best treat sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder.

In December, the TTC announced it will spend more than $7 million to hire a U.S. firm expected to reduce workplace injuries by reviewing and possibly enhancing safety polices. The contract could run as high as $9 million. The firm is the same one NASA hired after its last shuttle disaster killed seven.

Bus driver Fernando Da Silva recalled a recent fare dispute that erupted into violence when a rider punched him in the face. "All they cared about was the paperwork. All they care about: Are you coming to work tomorrow? Are you going to file WSIB?" he said. "All I wanted was ice on my eye."

TTC chair Giambrone says what Da Silva described "often leads to taking a bad situation and making it worse. Bad culture in the workplace leads to bad attitudes."

Giambrone and general manager Gary Webster said the agency is trying to do a better job of serving drivers' mental and emotional needs."I think as a company we've been a bit too hard-nosed, punitive," said Webster, sitting in his office at TTC headquarters, a book on workplace safety on his coffee table. "These (drivers) are very concerned about their safety. A lot of them are saying: `Show me the action.'"

But for driver Gary Dennis, Anne Marie's husband, the plastic shields threaten to drive an even deeper wedge between rider and driver.

"I'd probably quit the job if shields were put on," he said. "I'm claustrophobic. I like to deal with people."

Instead, Dennis would like to see more special constables to bolster the TTC's current force of 95 that is charged with patrolling the system's nearly 2,000 buses, streetcars and subway trains.

A TTC official says the commission is considering doubling the constable ranks by 2011.

"I think a lot of our surface operators don't feel like they have support out there," Giambrone said.

Data analysis by the Star's Andrew Bailey

David Bruser can be reached at 416-869-4282 or dbruser@thestar.ca

____________________________________________________________________________


I pulled this from the Toronto Star as I do not want to loose it when the site archives it.
I think this is important for people to read and remember.

Sorry it is a long read.

Here is the link as well.

The more bad publicity the more I fear going to work.

Love you too Toronto. Glad the media has made you guys do their dirty work and is trying to pit the public against us and us against you.

Not that we don't already have enough assaults and problems with riders and drivers.

So thanks guys! I wonder how many of you fear going to work the day after more bad publicity?

Diana....not liking the public much of late and getting more and more jaded everyday.

A BIG THANK YOU TO

I would like to add a big thank you to the two ladies who comforted me yesterday when an incident happened on my Bus.

A man had kicked the bus just as I was pulling away and into an intersection and the sound was so loud, I thought I had hit someone or something. I jumped outta my skin.

Once through the intersection I realized I was shaking so bad from the jolt of fear and adrenaline that I felt it best not to continue the down trip. It was not safe for me to drive.

While they comforted me, there was a man yelling at me, telling me that if I am the nervous type then I should find another fucking job and that he was going to call in a complaint against me.

Those where his exact words. Thanks asshole for your support. I will remember to smile at you when I see you again......from the rear that is.....

Ladies you have restored my faith that people will come around and see that people do make a positive impact on us.

Diana