NYCT Employees: What was the most difficult thing you've had to learn?

[Rutgers Tube]

With several Transit open competitive exam lists either established for hiring or nearing that point, it might be of interest for those of us on the "outside" trying to getting in to know your take on the following question:

 

Whatever your title is (or was, if you've had more than one), I personally would like to know what concept or task has been the most difficult for you to grasp and learn. For example, for a T/O, was it learning how to operate an NTT when they first came out, or was becoming familiar with your routes or was it working irregular hours as an extra-extra, etc.? Or for a C/R, was it getting your announcements down right or dealing with hostile riders, etc.? For a B/O, was it becoming familiar with driving your vehicle and not scraping curbs or other vehicles, etc.? Disciplinary procedures? Rules and regulations? Anything.

 

Any and all NYCT rapid and surface employees of any and all titles are invited to participate.

 

Thanks!

[Jah]

The hardest thing for me to learn and adjust to was the fact that you no longer control your life once you take a job with transit. This is alot more true for operating positions. If you enjoy spending time with family and friends it is hard because that part of your life is taken away.

[RTOMan]

Ajusting my lifestyle(partying hanging out on weekends) to fit RTO's "needs"...

 

Everything else the Schooling, the training fit into place. :tup:

[MotormanMike]

Personally , I felt it was very difficult to learn the R-160's were not outfitted with cup holders and leather seats.

[KNIGHTRIDER3:16]

(D)ealing with the ones who are Never satisfied no matter what you do to get from point to safely .

 

Learning that we wasn't gonna have no more RTS s was hard for me. I really liked those Badboys

[R44 CNG]

Personally , I felt it was very difficult to learn the R-160's were not outfitted with cup holders and leather seats.

 

lol i hope the future cars will...sooner r later arm rests and massage chairs

[Rutgers Tube]

The hardest thing for me to learn and adjust to was the fact that you no longer control your life once you take a job with transit. This is alot more true for operating positions. If you enjoy spending time with family and friends it is hard because that part of your life is taken away.

 

I have a friend who's been a C/R for around eight years now. We were talking about the C/R and T/O exams that I took, and one of the first comments that he made was "Make sure you get engaged before you get hired, because you're not going to be able to see the outside world for the first few years that you're there."

 

So he wasn't really joking, huh?

[ditja]

for B/O, it's when you on your own driving the bus for the probation year. knowing that NO one gonna help you if anything happen. and if sh*t happens, you have to deal with yourself. do whatever it takes not to call the console (for help). because you know once you hit that button. even you didn't do anything wrong, it's on you.

[RTOMan]

I have a friend who's been a C/R for around eight years now. We were talking about the C/R and T/O exams that I took, and one of the first comments that he made was "Make sure you get engaged before you get hired, because you're not going to be able to see the outside world for the first few years that you're there."

 

So he wasn't really joking, huh?

 

No he wasnt i know of a classmate who marriage fell down the crapper because of that. We was extra extra for FOUR years.... thats rough.

[Will-Bx-718]

Dealing with the public you could never imagine how awful NYers can be til you have to deal with them every day directly, dealing with management, and giving up my social life. And getting up every single day to do it all over again. Rinse ,Wash ,Repeat.

[S/A Vee]

The fact that the public will never be happy. And the MTA always sides with passengers.

[rtype3995]

well since i came from one title and promoted to the other, i'll try and offer some perspective in both;

 

as a station agent: the job itself is not very difficult, the one thing that is tough is that the public is never happy with you, and you take a lot of verbal abuse from the public........everything is your fault no matter what happens......

i remeber being posted with a senior guy and i asked him "why do the people seem so angry?"(they were coming off the train)........i figured it out eventually but the despise towards agents has me smh sometimes........

 

as a t/o: just a totally different world out there.......the toughest part is getting into it mentally.......the mind must be right before anything.........some of those jobs leave you so tired its not even funny...........

 

also the extra extra thing takes getting used to(with them being able to chhange your tour and days off)......it can be very difficult for anyone from the outside as opposed to being promoted........also the difficulty of getting days off down here just behooves me(you got all these xx t/o's)........

[Pelham Bay Dave]

The Hardest part for me as a C/R and Now T/O was getting use to working odd hours and work long hours. I use to work 12 Hour days all the time on the Extra List Especially in B Div be on Board at Bedford Pk and four hours later picking up a whole job at Continenal or even worst Far Rockaway or Coney Island. The money was great but all the travalling and long hours takes its toll on you and you must alway be alert when your on that train because anything can happen in the blink of an eye. They also love giving early jobs on your Monday and Late jobs on your Friday. The TA can care less about your family and social life because your just a number that can be replaced at any time. The needs of NYCT comes first in there book. I really didn't like my job much until I picked a job then it was better you can make some plans on your day off and working with a regular partner helps as well good or bad at least you know how they work.

[Rutgers Tube]

The fact that the public will never be happy. And the MTA always sides with passengers.

 

That's pretty much how it is with my agency. I'm sure it's pretty similar across the board for any department, agency, authority, etc., with a management that shows up for photo shoots, ribbon cuttings and banquets but hides from the public behind the blue collar workforce it hires and fires on the regular.

 

I worked with someone who was disciplined pretty hard based solely on an unsubstantiated 311 complaint from a citizen, much of which was exaggerated and inaccurate. I should know, as I was at the location where the supposed "harassment" occurred. Disciplinary actions were taken before the investigation even began. Once it was determined that the complaint was more or less bogus, my co-worker returned to work full-time. 18 months later, he has yet to receive any type of compensation or restitution whatsoever.

 

A job responsibilty for management must be the ability to save their face at the cost of your ass.

[Trainmaster5]

That's pretty much how it is with my agency. I'm sure it's pretty similar across the board for any department, agency, authority, etc., with a management that shows up for photo shoots, ribbon cuttings and banquets but hides from the public behind the blue collar workforce it hires and fires on the regular.

 

 

 

A job responsibilty for management must be the ability to save their face at the cost of your ass.

The last sentence sums it all up. It's an instant classic !!! Working for these people means that ....

1- You're guilty, even when proven innocent

2- Any lame-brained drunk obnoxious customer/passenger is right and you're wrong

3- You have no other life or commitments beside the

4-You are just a # and it can and will be taken away from you on a whim just because we can

5-You and your family, loved ones, belong to the and we will make the final determination on when/if you can see them.

6-Be happy you have a job so shut up, bend over and touch your toes. BTW we have no grease so grin and bear it.

[INDman]

If you work for the city in any way (TA, PD, FD) you were born wrong.

[armax1980]

The hardest thing about being a bus helper maintainer is finding things to keep myself from being bored.

[Jah]

If you work for the city in any way (TA, PD, FD) you were born wrong.

 

This statement is absolutely false. Alot of agencies get respect from a majority of the public and there own agencies. The TA employees get neither. A perfect example is 9/11/01, TA employees were the second most represented behind the NYFD but you never heard about that when thanks and accolades were being handed down for virtually any cop, fireman, or sanitation worker that spent any time there.

[INDman]

This statement is absolutely false. Alot of agencies get respect from a majority of the public and there own agencies. The TA employees get neither. A perfect example is 9/11/01, TA employees were the second most represented behind the NYFD but you never heard about that when thanks and accolades were being handed down for virtually any cop, fireman, or sanitation worker that spent any time there.

 

Ok, maybe with the FD, but not with cops at all. People have forgotten, hell even the PC and mayor will question the actions of police officers when an incident happens. Many officers who are involved in shooting get modified (gun and shield taken away) even if they were 100% justified in the use of deadly force and were within NYPD guidelines. Also, 9/11/01 has nothing to do with anything I said, I was taking about the every day dealings with the public and when something goes wrong.

[Jah]

Ok, maybe with the FD, but not with cops at all. People have forgotten, hell even the PC and mayor will question the actions of police officers when an incident happens. Many officers who are involved in shooting get modified (gun and shield taken away) even if they were 100% justified in the use of deadly force and were within NYPD guidelines. Also, 9/11/01 has nothing to do with anything I said, I was taking about the every day dealings with the public and when something goes wrong.

 

A cop on modified duty gets FULL pay. In the TA you get suspended without pay!!! And the NYPD have had there base pay go up something like 20k in the last 6 years without the public trashing them everyday like the way the TA employees are still getting trashed for a contract that wasn't a good one and would have never survived a vote by the membership.

[INDman]

A cop on modified duty gets FULL pay. In the TA you get suspended without pay!!! And the NYPD have had there base pay go up something like 20k in the last 6 years without the public trashing them everyday like the way the TA employees are still getting trashed for a contract that wasn't a good one and would have never survived a vote by the membership.

 

Sometimes cops get modified with pay and other times they do not. Contract talk has noting to do with this argument. What I said is that in the eyes of the public and management, most if not all city employees are guilty untill proven innocent. Something happens and you have to fight to clear your name, they don't have to fight to "convict" you. That's all I was saying, I never brought up pay or 9/11 in anything I said, I was talking about disciplining of workers. Also as of late, some groups are blaming all civil service and union workers (and cops and firefighters too) for the financial problems.

[RTOMan]

Also as of late, some groups are blaming all civil service and union workers (and cops and firefighters too) for the financial problems.

 

Yup there are articles all over the place talking about "fat" Union Contracts...

 

Some of them are clueless, i can say for a fact that this contract we have now isnt even close to the nonsense some of these people are saying...

[INDman]

Also as of late, some groups are blaming all civil service and union workers (and cops and firefighters too) for the financial problems.

 

Yup there are articles all over the place talking about "fat" Union Contracts...

 

Some of them are clueless, i can say for a fact that this contract we have now isnt even close to the nonsense some of these people are saying...

 

Non of these groups want to take into account that some city employees have not had a raise in years and this money is desperately needed to keep up with living expenses which have gone up alot more then any contract has. Then again the people who b*tch about this don't have to worry about making ends meet.

[SubwayGuy]

Non of these groups want to take into account that some city employees have not had a raise in years and this money is desperately needed to keep up with living expenses which have gone up alot more then any contract has. Then again the people who b*tch about this don't have to worry about making ends meet.

 

No because they are the very ass holes taking away working peoples' living means by giving themselves FAT RAISES.

 

KILL ALL FAT CATS.

[Rutgers Tube]

Non of these groups want to take into account that some city employees have not had a raise in years and this money is desperately needed to keep up with living expenses which have gone up alot more then any contract has. Then again the people who b*tch about this don't have to worry about making ends meet.

 

DC-37 was in a rough place during the most recent election when the union as a whole backed Bill Thompson because Mayor Bloomberg has always been a proponent of contracting city services out. Not every local publicly backed Thompson, but it was almost a surefire bet that Bloomberg would be the victor. Despite the margin of victory being closer than thought, he did win another term, and the very same union who backed his opposition had our contract expire last month. There hasn't been any real talk about negotiations or anything because now we're too busy trying to avoid cutbacks and layoffs. Close to 13% in my department alone.

 

And lately, no matter how many taxpaying citizens have asked me for contact information on whom to submit a written commendation for my crew after we've finished a job (and I get that at least 2-3 times per week), it seems as if the complaint from the "anonymous concerned taxpayer" always finds its was to trickle down through the cracks from the office of our commissioner to my borough via City Hall and eventually down to my yard's level where whomever the complaint concerns is disciplined without question or hesitation.

 

I try to make sure all of my crew's jobs go as smooth, safe and clean as possible, and I tell the other people in the locker room to stop UI around because it makes ALL municipal employees look bad, even if the story or picture caption is inaccurate.

 

Regardless of the agency or department, and regardless of your personnel record, management and the public only remember your mistakes because zero accidents, perfect attendance and saving a life or two simply means that you were "doing your job" while a asking a drunk rider to sit down or exit at the next stop or asking a woman texting with twins in a stroller to wait just a few seconds to stop your co-workers before entering a work zone is "harassing the public and failure to take proper precautions to ensure the safety of the public and otherwise conduct unbecoming of (insert agency/department here)."