Blatherskite Posted March 4, 2011 Share #1 Posted March 4, 2011 I decided to start this thread because most people don't really come here to talk about how good it can be being a conductor for NYC Transit. Many seem to focus on the negative, and act as if there is no positive. I'm only going to refer to Conductor and address negative things that have been said about it. I'm not going to refer to any of the other positions. Those with reading comprehension problems, please reread the previous sentence 5 more times before posting anything. Metro North and LIRR conductor jobs are better-----Maybe, but you have a large financial responsibility by carrying and collecting fares on the train. What happens if you lose the money? Also having to walk through the train constantly increases your chance of an injury or something else bad that can happen. In NYC Transit, you have one position the whole ride. Unless something happens, you won't have to move. Granted the other two railroads pay more, but they do a lot more than just open doors and collect fares. They also put trains together. NYC Transit conductor has no fare collection, nor putting trains together and still pays well. NYC Transit also has much shorter trips than the other 2 railroads. Spitting in your face. --------------People on the street can spit in your face too. If you watch for it, you won't get spat in the face and will be able to close your window in time. True an inconvenience, but you can protect yourself and can go your entire time without having someone spit in your face. You can be assaulted. -----------------If you are already aware of this, you can prepare for this and keep yourself from being assaulted. Do not trust strangers, especially ones that may be angry with you because they are miserable. You can also get assaulted just by walking on the street if you get into a confrontation with someone, so crap can happen anywhere regardless if you are a conductor or someone wearing a Statue of Liberty costume to hand out fliers. Dealing with the public. -----------------The public in NYC are the public anywhere in NYC. Even if you don't work you will have to deal with jackasses walking around in NYC or driving around NYC. It's NYC. The NYC public aren't only bad to subway conductors, they are nasty to anyone, and often times, for no apparent reason. You have to work 25 years and be 55 years old-----------Try having to work past 70 years old because you make too little to retire and have no pension, and then get back to me on why 25/55 is so bad. The job can be difficult--------Only if you let it be. Try working for minimum wage in a job where you have to move heavy crap and have no job protection, nor benefits while your employer has the right to terminate you for any reason, or no reason at all because you have no union protection at all. All this being in constant pain having to move heavy things around while a manager sits there and watches you as if you are his or her slave and doesn't help you. Stepping on third rails and being electrocuted, or getting hit by trains. ------------If you pay attention and are careful it won't happen. You can die anywhere at any moment, so why is this scary, but walking across the street with oncoming traffic isn't? You are much more likely to die in a highway accident than stepping on a third rail, but few people are terrified of driving on the highway or being a passenger in a car on the highway. Pay attention, be careful, and you will be ok as a conductor. There are better jobs out there.---------There are plenty of better jobs out there, but how many jobs that pay $29.00 an hour after 3 years with complete health benefits and guaranteed 40 hours a week for pushing buttons and answering questions, and the only requirement for the job is a high school diploma, or GED and no previous experience. Not many. Working in the subway is bad.---------------Want to try bad? Try being homeless, or having a terminal disease. That's bad. It's not that working for the subway is bad, it's the perspective of the person perceiving it as bad. I'd rather be a conductor than be bored out of my mind working in an office where they can decide to lay you off out of nowhere while you have a mortgage or rent to pay. That's bad. The MTA is screwed up--------so is the US government and every other corporation. Either learn to deal with it, or run for office and change things. Sorry for the typo with the beiong. I hit the i and o and didn't notice until after I posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoSpectacular Posted March 4, 2011 Share #2 Posted March 4, 2011 The job can be difficult--------Only if you let it be. Try working for minimum wage in a job where you have to move heavy crap and have no job protection, nor benefits while your employer has the right to terminate you for any reason, or no reason at all because you have no union protection at all. All this being in constant pain having to move heavey things around while a manager sits there and watches you as if you are his or her slave and doesn't help you. Been there, done that. DON'T ever work for Walmart. EVER. I learned a good lesson out of that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatherskite Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted March 4, 2011 Been there, done that. DON'T ever work for Walmart. EVER. I learned a good lesson out of that... I refuse to buy even a stick of gum from walmart. Walmart is the closest thing to corporate satan in this country. They treat their employees like trash, pay them trash, and sell trash. I bought one thing in my lifetime from walmart because a girl I was dating loved going there. I bought a phone. It broke within 2 weeks. I'm white and refuse to buy there for two reasons. The treatment of the non white workers there, and their China deal with the devil. I don't understand how non whites would buy there. Maybe it's just me, but Walmart seems like the epitome of the southern plantation owners of the 19th century treating their employees like garbage. If they could legally, I'm sure they would have slaves working for them. They are close to it in the feeble pay and treatment they give their employees. I think Corporations see unions like an abusive husband sees a wife trying to be independent and get away from him. He can no longer control her and abuse her once she has a job and starts to be more independent. A corporation cannot abuse an employee once they have a union protecting them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xentor Posted March 4, 2011 Share #4 Posted March 4, 2011 On another note, it seems Donald has reviewed his posts on this thread (although correct in both cases) and decided to delete them from this thread as a result of your increasingly hostile aggression towards him. Either that or the mods did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatherskite Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted March 4, 2011 On another note, it seems Donald has reviewed his posts on this thread (although correct in both cases) and decided to delete them from this thread as a result of your increasingly hostile aggression towards him. Either that or the mods did it. Let's not get off topic please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xentor Posted March 4, 2011 Share #6 Posted March 4, 2011 Let's not get off topic please. Why sure let's keep talking about Walmart because we DIDN"T know that working for long periods of time in ANY franchise or department store has negative long term effects on your life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckie Posted March 4, 2011 Share #7 Posted March 4, 2011 Metro North and LIRR conductor jobs are better-----Maybe, but you have a large financial responsibility by carrying and collecting fares on the train. What happens if you lose the money? Also having to walk through the train constantly increases your chance of an injury or something else bad that can happen. I can't speak for LIRR but if a Metro North conductor loses money it comes out of their own pocket. Having worked in the ticket receivers office (conductors remittance) from time to time, I've seen conductors remit as little as $3.00 a tour to over $300.00 a tour. Metro North and LIRR conductors also have to deal with fare evaders. It's not like the subway were you pay at the turnstile. If someone gets on the train with out a ticket and gets confrontational, the conductor has to deal with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtype3995 Posted March 6, 2011 Share #8 Posted March 6, 2011 you forgot to say that they are "extra-extra" for up to 3 years and are at the mercy of the crew office............also being on board at canarsie, and then trying to send you to 95th st on the R...........wtf is that???? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTOMan Posted March 6, 2011 Share #9 Posted March 6, 2011 you forgot to say that they are "extra-extra" for up to 3 years and are at the mercy of the crew office............also being on board at canarsie, and then trying to send you to 95th st on the R...........wtf is that???? lol My Class of October 29th 2001 was Extra Extra for 4 and a half effing years... I Tell ya not having a life for that long really builds character. Had three trips Cancelled due to it... Im waiting for a new T/O Class from Off the Street to top that..... B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatherskite Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share #10 Posted March 6, 2011 you forgot to say that they are "extra-extra" for up to 3 years and are at the mercy of the crew office............also being on board at canarsie, and then trying to send you to 95th st on the R...........wtf is that???? lol wtf is that? It's a temporary inconvenience. No reward that comes too easy is worth it man. The harder the reward comes the more you will appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald Posted March 6, 2011 Share #11 Posted March 6, 2011 you forgot to say that they are "extra-extra" for up to 3 years and are at the mercy of the crew office............also being on board at canarsie, and then trying to send you to 95th st on the R...........wtf is that???? lol At least being an extra or extra-extra is a great way to learn the entire system really fast... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rutgers Tube Posted March 6, 2011 Share #12 Posted March 6, 2011 At least being an extra or extra-extra is a great way to learn the entire system really fast... So will having a conductor for a father. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTOMan Posted March 6, 2011 Share #13 Posted March 6, 2011 so will having a conductor for a father. iawpt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopsicleXGirl Posted March 6, 2011 Share #14 Posted March 6, 2011 being XX is definitely an inconvenience, but from my experience as well as others that i know, the A division CAS does at least try to keep you close to home which for me is very important. it has gotten a lot easier, especially after you know how to work the system so it works for you. of course there are frustrating days, but that's always the case just like any other job. gotta take the good with the bad. i can say i am 100 times less stressed out being a conductor than i was working in a school. if you just do the job your paid to do and pick your battles wisely, you have nothing to worry about. i don't have any regrets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xentor Posted March 7, 2011 Share #15 Posted March 7, 2011 Aside from the obvious reason, why is it important for you to be close to home? Have you succumbed to family life with a husband and children? Do the cats often starve from long hours doing transit? Does the turtle miss you? Im just saying.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amtrak7 Posted March 7, 2011 Share #16 Posted March 7, 2011 I can't speak for LIRR but if a Metro North conductor loses money it comes out of their own pocket. Having worked in the ticket receivers office (conductors remittance) from time to time, I've seen conductors remit as little as $3.00 a tour to over $300.00 a tour. Metro North and LIRR conductors also have to deal with fare evaders. It's not like the subway were you pay at the turnstile. If someone gets on the train with out a ticket and gets confrontational, the conductor has to deal with them. How hard is qualifying for MNR? (C/R and engineer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroadwayBuffer Posted March 7, 2011 Share #17 Posted March 7, 2011 Aside from the obvious reason, why is it important for you to be close to home? Have you succumbed to family life with a husband and children? Do the cats often starve from long hours doing transit? Does the turtle miss you? Im just saying.. Not speaking for popsicle or anyone else, but especially in the case of the reporting location at the beginning of the tour, the longer it takes to get there, the more of a chance that you could wind up late if there is some delay. That's what would scare me the most about having a very distant reporting location or one that is just inconvenient to get to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sealteam1962 Posted March 7, 2011 Share #18 Posted March 7, 2011 i took but exams low 600s on conductor low 700s on 8006 i worked as a bus driver before but resigned due to being i broke my leg and got very sick 3 times .i know about all the stress with driving a bus,traffice and nasty passengers.i am more leaning this time to conductor its much easier but ill have to take what comes first if the bus operator comes first which i think it will so be it.but if it gets to be to much dealing with the public bullshit and other issues i can just transfer to conductor or via ser versa which is a good thing just have to keep excelllent attendance im glad i have to option for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olegkha Posted March 7, 2011 Share #19 Posted March 7, 2011 i took but exams low 600s on conductor low 700s on 8006 i worked as a bus driver before but resigned due to being i broke my leg and got very sick 3 times .i know about all the stress with driving a bus,traffice and nasty passengers.i am more leaning this time to conductor its much easier but ill have to take what comes first if the bus operator comes first which i think it will so be it.but if it gets to be to much dealing with the public bullshit and other issues i can just transfer to conductor or via ser versa which is a good thing just have to keep excelllent attendance im glad i have to option for me. You drove for TA and resigned because of broken leg and 3 sick time outs ? ? ? Where did you drive ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sealteam1962 Posted March 7, 2011 Share #20 Posted March 7, 2011 i took but exams low 600s on conductor low 700s on 8006 i worked as a bus driver before but resigned due to being i broke my leg and got very sick 3 times .i know about all the stress with driving a bus,traffice and nasty passengers.i am more leaning this time to conductor its much easier but ill have to take what comes first if the bus operator comes first which i think it will so be it.but if it gets to be to much dealing with the public bullshit and other issues i can just transfer to conductor or via ser versa which is a good thing just have to keep excelllent attendance im glad i have to option for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sealteam1962 Posted March 7, 2011 Share #21 Posted March 7, 2011 You drove for TA and resigned because of broken leg and 3 sick time outs ? ? ? Where did you drive ? i did my line training out of fresh pond 3 yrs ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald Posted March 7, 2011 Share #22 Posted March 7, 2011 "How hard is qualifying for MNR? (C/R and engineer)" Depends on whether you know someone at MNR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald Posted March 7, 2011 Share #23 Posted March 7, 2011 Conductors most certainly have to deal with the public; not as much as B/Os, but your still going to get spit on and have to throw homeless people and drug addicts off the train at the terminal. The current track worker list is due to expire soon, so if you don't want to have to deal with the public, take the next test for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdi919 Posted March 7, 2011 Share #24 Posted March 7, 2011 Conductors most certainly have to deal with the public; not as much as B/Os, but your still going to get spit on and have to throw homeless people and drug addicts off the train at the terminal. The current track worker list is due to expire soon, so if you don't want to have to deal with the public, take the next test for it. again you dont know what the hell you are talking about but you still keep on pumping out false statements. conductors dont throw anyone off of the train. thats not transit policy. i'm a real conductor and a flagman so if anyone has questions about the role of a conductor ask me or popsicle girl. dont listen to the guy with the made up father/conductor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattTrain Posted March 7, 2011 Share #25 Posted March 7, 2011 You know what, Donald, maybe I'm not understanding you very well, because your points of view are lacking consistency. You constant bringing up the Conductor Dad is drawing some serious doubts about your creditability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.