December 28, 2007
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Fucking Translink Assholes!
Is Translink hiring more assholes to staff their positions these days or are people just bigger assholes when it snows in Vancouver? Here I am skytraining it home in the evening from downtown, usually a very enjoyable and pleasant experience. I’ve almost never had any problems. I’ve got a little bit of a headache that’s been growing since halfway through Jordan’s farewell dinner. It gets steadily more snowy as I head east. I get off at Production to take the transfer up to SFU, and I flick up the collar of my coat and adjust my black scarf to keep me as warm as possible. I need to take a leak, and so I go in to see if I can find a washroom at the mini-mart there (which I remember having used before). Walking up to the counter, an older Middle Eastern gentleman is manning the stand, doing what looks like paperwork. I walk up to him and say “Excuse me.” He ignores me. I say “Excuse me” again and ask if they have a washroom, and he looks up briefly just enough to mumble no and shake his head before returning straight to his pen and piece of paper.
I’m somewhat perplexed, but begrudgingly I head out to the bus stop and accept that I’ll have to wait till I get home. I reach the bus stop. There are two people there. We wait for about ten minutes in the freezing cold and just sheltered from the snow until one of the two, a man, goes up and checks the next bus arrival time, and he motions to his partner to go inside and says the next bus won’t come until 11:00pm – about 15 more minutes.
I’m somewhat irritated and I head back to the minimart, thinking that perhaps I can find a washroom somewhere in the complex. There are no other shops or stands other than the mini-mart because all the vendors (the Subway and the other small food bars) are located in the mart and are closed. I go back inside out of the cold and walk around to where I remembered there was a washroom. I walk to the hallway and see that there is indeed a washroom with a sign that says “see cashier for key”. I am miffed because there clearly is a washroom and the man behind the counter flat out lied to me. I do not know why he is an asshole tonight. I have a headache and do not feel like making a scene, so I wait -annoyed- until it’s time to take the bus.
At just before 11, I go out to the bus stop with the other waiting passengers and wait for another five minutes until the bus finally comes. I stand at the middle ‘Fare Paid’ entrance since I have my valid UPass on me, as with two other people. The door opens and I patiently wait for the people inside to exit, but when I step up to the door the bus driver slams the middle door shut almost trapping my arm in the doorway! I even have my UPass in hand, as I walk up to the front entrance with the other two people and show it to the driver as I enter. The bus driver, a tall bald middle-aged white guy with a brown beard barely acknowledges that I have it in my hand. I’m appalled but I still have a pounding headache, I still need to go to the washroom, and I really don’t have the energy to confront him. All through the bus ride, I think, “I really ought to go up to him as I’m leaving and tell him ‘Am I NOT supposed to enter through the middle Fare Paid entrance as indicated at the bus stop when I have a VALID Upass? You almost took out my arm in the doorway as I was trying to get in.’ “ All the while, my arm is a little sore, and I tell myself I will certainly write a complaint letter if it bruises. Asshole.
In any case, my headache and everything makes me ignore the rude behaviour of the Translink employees until I can get back home, as I still have a seven minute walk through the continuous snow and freezing cold back to my apartment once we reach the top. Utterly appalling!
