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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Good effort on her part? Yes? No?





For those who can't see Twitter at work, the gist of this is a teacher bringing students in by GO Train to the WE Day event downtown wanted the train trip to be considered a special event, and the quiet zone eliminated. She asked her followers to tweet GO Transit asking for no quiet zones on trains today. GO Transit tweeted back that the quiet zone would remain in affect for today. The teacher was not pleased tweeting, "disappointing 20 000 young people building schools, running food drives and volunteering at shelters isn't considered "special"."

This was followed up with a tweet that read (from the Umoja Study Program): "Thanks for traveling to Kenya to build a school, but @gotransit says your passion and enthusiasm must be quiet because #WEDay isn't special!"

But one question does remain, what does GO Transit consider a special event to be?

15 comments:

KL said...

I'm with the teacher. GO sent out alerts yesterday telling those who get them to to expect buses and trains to be busier than usual, so we all knew it was happening so none of us would be surprised if they eliminated quiet zones. But then I think about how this is a good teaching moment, being the wife of a teacher myself, about manners and respect for others, right? When my husband takes his grade 10s to Ottawa and they go through Parliament, he doesn't ask the RCMP if it's okay they relax all the rules about noise levels just because I got kids with me. Interested to hear what others say. No idea what a special event is, sorry I can't help.

Unknown said...

Thankfully, I am at home today. I cannot stand the noise and extra crowding so taking myself out of it makes everyone happier. But I am not a kid person (I think most should be on leashes in public and parents need to take them home as soon as they start acting up) and therefore have a low tolerance for them. If they are well-behaved, that is one thing but anymore I see rambunctious children with parents doing nothing to teach them how to behave in public.

In this instance, I have to side with GO Transit on this one. A one day event that teaches kids to behave and respect others on public transit isn't going to ruin the day. The teacher comes across as entitled, especially once her request was denied and having people tweet in response. All that teaches the children is to do the same thing.

Last year, I did have to go into the office on WE day. That morning, on the 6:24 LSE, there were several groups of children heading off to this event. The teachers/adults actually went from child to child in the QZ reminding them to be quiet/keep low voices/etc. I respect those teachers and the children as they respected the other riders and the situation. Yet they still had fun based on the giggling happening.

I do not respect this one.

Anonymous said...

@Squiggles Wow, just wow.

Matt said...

I don't see the big deal...she asked, they looked into it, they said no. What more does she want?

Telling the kids they can't by boisterous on the train in no way, shape, or form diminishes the meaning of the day, or what those kids have accomplished.

I think the teacher is reaching a little bit here.

Bicky said...

It could have been a teachable moment on how to be polite and respect others in public. Instead it's a whiny, sense of entitlement, how dare they moment. Brought on by an adult no less.

Yes, I get that the kids are going to be all excited about WE day. Doesn't excuse rowdy behaviour that not everyone wants to hear/see for an hour. Especially at the end of the day.

@Anon, what did Squiggles say that upset you so much? Curious.

Skin Man said...

Today the CSA announced the QZ reminder at everystop. I was downstairs so no idea what it was like, but the noise level was no different than normal in my coach.

I agree with the above, respect to others is important regardless of what you're doing. If I do a good deed, do I get to be an asshat? Le no!

mya said...

Not impressed with the public sulky tweet from the teacher at the end of the conversation. That's very unprofessional and sends a poor message to the students. WEday is supposed to be positive rather than negative & petulant.

(This is me speaking as someone who was a teacher for 12 years and has an active twitter personality)

Unknown said...

1. Go Transit didn't provide any reason for not accepting the request. They didn't define what a 'special event' is. If they decline a request they should provide a reason that makes sense. They did, after all, open up the possibility of suspending the Quiet Zone so the least they can do is explain what the hell they mean by special events.
2. I can appreciate what a pain it must be to try and keep 20 kids quiet for the whole ride. Especially when they're excited.
3. Agree that whining and kicking up a fuss is not a good reaction. (It's no less than I would do but I'm not a teacher.)
4. This whole thing falls under 'first world problems'. I really couldn't give a crap about such a trivial matter.

C.J. Smith said...

I'm with you Bob. WHAT IS A SPECIAL EVENT?
Jesus Christ, is it the 4 hour breakdown we had on the LSE in September? Because at 6:30 pm our CSA told us the Quiet Zone was suspended for the remainder of our trip LOL ... the trip! HA HA HA. The one where we weren't moving...

Sylv said...

Nothing wrong with asking, but not with the whining once the answer wasn't what was expected. On the other hand, maybe the trip could have been used to instill some courteous behavior. It would have been great to see these youngsters offer their seats to older passengers. Doesn't "charity" begin at home?

Tal Hartsfeld said...

Typical, isn't it?
The "special" types demanding everyone else to compromise, sacrifice, and generally "stop doing whatever they normally do" for the purpose of accommodating their "special" asses.
Reiterating how much more "important" certain folks are than certain others.

RonNasty said...

I remember GO cancelled the QZ either last year or the year before without any warning. It was quite a shock, and I'm sure they must have gotten a lot of complaints about it. I almost took the day off so I wouldn't have to listen to any ankle biters. Fortunately there wasn't really an issue, other than over-crowding on the ride home.

Ed said...

Boo hoo. They had to keep quiet. I'm sure the little darlings and their SJW teacher have been affected for life. JUSTICE MUST BE DONE!!!! METROLINX IS EVIL AND REFUSES TO ACCEDE TO MY DEMANDS!!!!

They asked and got refused. End of story except when feelings are hurt. Boo hoo again.

If it weren't for social media, these people would still be nobodies with little or no importance to anyone but themselves. Sometimes I long for those days to return but there actually is a good use for social media. Just not this issue.

GO Transit doesn't publish what a special event is but decides on a case by case basis. If definitions were published it would cause endless arguments just like above.

Anonymous said...

"These youth deserve the chance to talk on the train"

Get real, lady. They are not being imprisoned. They can shut their traps for an hour or so.

Anonymous said...

@Bickey

How could anyone not have an issue with this statement.

"I think most should be on leashes in public"