Appreciation.
I don't often take the TTC (officially "Toronto Transit Commission", but used colloquially to refer generally to public transit in Toronto); but last night I walked Halex to the subway and then took a bus back home.
On the bus, near the driver, was a sticker which said something to the effect of "one TTC employee is assaulted every day..." Which is a lot! Who assaults their bus driver? Which got me thinking a bit about how crappy that job must be at times... I know how much I dislike driving in Toronto, and I'd be homicidal in no time if I did it for a living. And then to have to deal with the public all day on top of that... no thank you.
So, when I got off the bus I said "Thanks" to the bus driver, who seemed pretty startled, and took a couple seconds to reply "Thank you, have a nice evening!" He sounded genuine when he said so, and I'd venture also pleasantly surprised that someone actually thanked him for what I imagine is often a thankless job (assuming it's not worse thank thankless, ie. getting assaulted).
Anyways, it costs you nothing to say thanks to someone who provided a useful service to you, and it might make a difference in their day, so... why not?
Also, on a related note: I hear a lot of bitching from locals about how crappy the TTC is... but I also often hear from visitors to Toronto that the transit system is pretty good... and, as someone who only takes it occasionally, I can't say that I have any real complaints. Most of the subway stations I've been in are pretty well labeled to help you figure out where you need to go, and I've generally been able to find a system maps whenever I needed one. Halex has a TTC app on his phone which allows him to find out when the next bus is intended to arrive at a certain stop - apparently the actual bus locations are tracked with GPS units now - and the times he got from his phone were accurate, as far as they pertained to me.
I was only on the bus for 5 minutes or so, but the only annoyance was a young woman talking loudly on her cell phone - this isn't really the transit system's fault (and overall I think it'd be worse for them to have a "no cell phone use" policy, which would be the only way for them to stop it).
I guess the ride was a little jerky at times; but it's a 40'-long bus, not a Cadillac, and the driver is attempting to maneuver the huge beast in and out of Toronto traffic - I know how much respect / patience Toronto drivers generally have for anyone, let alone buses and other such things that are likely to delay them for more than a fraction of a precious second - so frankly I'm pleasantly surprised that we didn't hit anyone.
I wonder if most transit riders actually dislike other transit riders, and/or the unavoidable realities of using transit, rather than Toronto's transit system specifically? It's sort of like me saying that I hate driving, when I actually enjoy driving - what I really hate is driving in traffic - particularly Toronto traffic.
Anyways... just thoughts.
B.
On the bus, near the driver, was a sticker which said something to the effect of "one TTC employee is assaulted every day..." Which is a lot! Who assaults their bus driver? Which got me thinking a bit about how crappy that job must be at times... I know how much I dislike driving in Toronto, and I'd be homicidal in no time if I did it for a living. And then to have to deal with the public all day on top of that... no thank you.
So, when I got off the bus I said "Thanks" to the bus driver, who seemed pretty startled, and took a couple seconds to reply "Thank you, have a nice evening!" He sounded genuine when he said so, and I'd venture also pleasantly surprised that someone actually thanked him for what I imagine is often a thankless job (assuming it's not worse thank thankless, ie. getting assaulted).
Anyways, it costs you nothing to say thanks to someone who provided a useful service to you, and it might make a difference in their day, so... why not?
Also, on a related note: I hear a lot of bitching from locals about how crappy the TTC is... but I also often hear from visitors to Toronto that the transit system is pretty good... and, as someone who only takes it occasionally, I can't say that I have any real complaints. Most of the subway stations I've been in are pretty well labeled to help you figure out where you need to go, and I've generally been able to find a system maps whenever I needed one. Halex has a TTC app on his phone which allows him to find out when the next bus is intended to arrive at a certain stop - apparently the actual bus locations are tracked with GPS units now - and the times he got from his phone were accurate, as far as they pertained to me.
I was only on the bus for 5 minutes or so, but the only annoyance was a young woman talking loudly on her cell phone - this isn't really the transit system's fault (and overall I think it'd be worse for them to have a "no cell phone use" policy, which would be the only way for them to stop it).
I guess the ride was a little jerky at times; but it's a 40'-long bus, not a Cadillac, and the driver is attempting to maneuver the huge beast in and out of Toronto traffic - I know how much respect / patience Toronto drivers generally have for anyone, let alone buses and other such things that are likely to delay them for more than a fraction of a precious second - so frankly I'm pleasantly surprised that we didn't hit anyone.
I wonder if most transit riders actually dislike other transit riders, and/or the unavoidable realities of using transit, rather than Toronto's transit system specifically? It's sort of like me saying that I hate driving, when I actually enjoy driving - what I really hate is driving in traffic - particularly Toronto traffic.
Anyways... just thoughts.
B.