Proud of ourselves for making it on-board with seconds to spare considering the office Christmas party ran into overtime, and both of us were hoping to be home at a decent hour to fit in some exercise, not even three minutes outside of Union did we come to a grinding halt.
CSA Daniel took to the airwaves to tell us that trespassers had been spotted on the tracks near Danforth, that it had been reported a man and a small child were sleeping near the tracks. This was of great concern to all of us on Coach 2819 as "sleeping" could be code for un-moving. It was unnerving to say the least and although there were groans of, "Oh no, not again," because of service disruptions during the past week, we all waited patiently to learn more.
At 6:10 pm or so, CSA Daniel told us Toronto Police had asked that all rail traffic be shut down so they could locate the trespasser(s). Three Transit Safety Officers came through our coach very shortly after. Their poker faces gave away nothing.
At 6:21 pm, our train lurched forward and an announcement was made to tell us service had been reinstated and CSA Daniel had been replaced with CSA for-the-life-of-me-I-can't-remember-the-name. I actually asked out loud, "The hell? What happened to Daniel?!" Everyone on the coach chuckled.
I waited with baited breath for CSA for-the-life-of-me-I-can't-remember-the-name to update us on what happened to Daniel, but he remained silent for the rest of the ride until we got to Oshawa where he told us that Daniel would be back tomorrow and hopefully our journey would be smooth sailing.
For God's sake, can someone please tell me what happened to Daniel? Did he have an appointment to get to? Did the Transit Safety Officers take him away? Did he head off to the locomotive to do double duty as an engineer? Did he join in the hunt for the trespassers?
If I didn't have to run to catch the bus, I would have jaunted down one coach and asked CSA for-the-life-of-me-I-can't-remember-the-name if Daniel was okay. Also, we were never told if there really was a trespasser or if someone saw a discarded sleeping bag and took it for a person. Hey, I'm all about let's be safe rather than sorry and I understand how a police investigation has to be conducted safely, so the service shut down, although annoying, had to happen. But why not tell us if police were able to resolve the matter and that everyone (including Daniel) is safe? I guess there are reasons I don't need to know but you can't help but think about it for the rest of the night.
Here's hoping the trespasser reports were false.
Here's hoping the trespasser reports were false.
So weird. Maybe Daniel needed a nap? By the tracks?
ReplyDeleteNot a great week for Go!!!
I feel bad for the CSAs most of all. They're the ones on the front line, trying to make the best of a bad situation often with little or no information and I cringe when have to tap dance around the situation.
ReplyDeleteWow. It sounds like you had more information than me. I find it hard to believe that someone would take a child out to sleep in weather like this and in fact, if they needed some place to sleep, why not head to a shelter?
ReplyDeleteAnd Daniel was the one who CSA'd my train this morning. Whether it is the same one or not, I don't know. But if it is, he is back.
^ Ever been in the car where the CSA sits when an incident happens? The rudeness, snarky comments and outright meanness towards the GO through the CSA is outrageous (sometimes). I had to stop sitting in that car because I was afraid one day i might lose it with the complainers.
ReplyDeleteI amhopeful GO will go ahead and try their experiment with system-wide announcements from the control center rather than the underlings taking the heat.
George, I was wondering if CSA Daniel was in need of assistance.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a passenger went too far last night?
I think, based on things I could piece together from Twitter updates that the TSOs abandoned a fare inspection, coming through my coach, to assist the CSA
Squiggles,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Daniel is okay. I had CSA Dave this morning though my favourite is Mario.
My favourite part of this post: First paragraph.
ReplyDeleteA year ago you wouldn't have thought that was possible. You go girl!
April!
ReplyDeleteThat is so true!!!
I told Kolette as we ran from Duncan and King and up those stairs, that a year ago, which was 50 pounds ago, no way in hell at 298 pounds was I running to anywhere and up anywhere.
I still have a ways to go but my cardio endurance is amazing. I can actually run. I can run without gagging and coughing. I can run. Period.
Hi C.J.
ReplyDeleteI was on the 5:53 last night, and just to clarify Daniel was not on the train at any point. It was his day off and I am sure he is fine.
Also, I talked to the CSA (still don't have his name, sorry) and "sleeping" was not a code for anything worse. If there's a trespasser/pedestrian fatality they'll let you know.
Cheers!
What?! That does not make sense. Was someone impersonating Daniel at the start of the trip?
ReplyDeleteMy co worker and I heard Daniel. She even asked me this morning if I found out what happened to him.