Where oh where to begin?
The uniform is ridiculous. In 80 degree weather I’m expected to wear black shoes, socks, and shorts (or pants if I happen to not have shorts available) and a heavy undershirt under my uniform shirt? Not to mention the quarter mile of belt they give you. (Seriously takes several minutes to wrap around and around and around.)
The “customers” are routinely either drunk, high, or otherwise inebriated or mentally ill which makes every encounter a possible life or death situation depending on that person’s mood at any given moment. Luckily, the transit police are only a radio or phone call away. In theory, anyway. When it comes to an actual situation they’ll decide what is worth their time and, if afterward the situation is deemed to be below them, they will inform you not to waste their time with something like that again. The station inspectors will do the same.
You will deal with someone else’s bodily excretions at some point or another. Whether “#1” or “#2” you will see it at some point in the first few weeks. That is guaranteed.
The pay is... above minimum wage. Really the only positive thing to be said considering the above hazards of the job.
Speaking of pay, they have two options: direct deposit or something called “Money Network” which is some type of scam that basically forces you to pay for your own money. Say, for example, that you forget to set up direct deposit. Well your next paycheck goes into a handy little Visa debit card with “Valued Customer” printed on the front so you know it’s legit. Now, you can do one of several things: pay a fee to withdraw from an ATM (in AND out of network), pay a fee to transfer to the account you actually want the funds to be in, or.. use the debit card and hope you last long enough at the job because once you stop working, there is a $35 monthly account maintenance fee. Gotta love paying for your own money right?
Going back to job hazards, often times the stations are either too hot or.. well.. that’s it. They are too hot. Even in the winter they are too hot. Don’t worry, though, they place fans where the customers sit so every 15 minutes you can walk by one for a split second to cool off. Don’t you get any idea about sitting yourself though. That’s for the customers only. If your manager or supervisor happens to be in the station or watching the cameras and you’re leaning on a wall or machine or sitting on a bench for a moment because your feet are killing you after your 4th, 5th, 6th 9 hour shift in a row then you’ll get a point. Or two. Either way, you have 8 points to lose before you’re fired. You do get two 15 minute paid breaks but if someone decides to ask you a question or there is an incident you have to respond. No more break for you.
The stations are also filthy so you could be inhaling or ingesting really anything at any given moment. (Try blowing your nose after a shift and see what color comes out.) Good luck getting any of the maintenance crews to take a call seriously either. Someone urinating on the platform gets a response 30 minutes later if you’re lucky. If there’s food on the platform? It’ll probably be there next time you come in.
During COVID-19, they were kind enough to put in hand sanitizer dispensers at each stations. However, because people are animals those dispensers either have the batteries stolen or are clogged and dispense miscellaneous black flakes of something with the sanitizer so you’re not really sure if it’s clean or not. They will not be fixed.
Working for public transit, one would think they would offer a free transit pass for their workers right? WRONG. We can go through if we’re wearing the uniform because our colleagues are understanding but no free passes for us on personal time. That would be too generous.
This is just what came to mind off the top of my head. I’m sure there is more that I’m missing but I feel like this gives a general overview of the position. Anyone who says this position is great and whatever else is simply some corporate intern or HR rep inflating the ratings.
