The letter I am sending to the LIRR, NY Daily News, Newday. ..

The BBQ Pit
21

What can I say mhendo, it’s the Pit, and I am calling it as I see it. I find that very unlikely, also somewhat curious why Biggirl got the service charge fare incorrect. IIRC NJ Transit charge is $5, perhaps when she said:

She also changed the name of the RR, and used Jamica station (one of the most popular stations in the whole system). I know very little of NJT as I don’t take it much.

If the story were true as expressed then that guy should be fired, possibly arrested, maybe have a limb or 2 cut off, tarred and feathered and put to death. The story just doesn’t agree with what riders of the LIRR know to be SOP.

That may help Biggirl, the story, even if true, needs a rewrite, some things just aren’t right.

22

No shit, Sherlock!

I think that was Biggirl’s point–this is not, and should not be, standard operating procedure.

23

OK mhendo make that this conductors actions would not/ could not work unless ALL other LIRR personel on that train were also in on it. I find that highly unlikely.

24

Can we nominate kanicbird for gapingest asshole of the year award? I was expecting to receive that statuette myself, but I’d gladly step aside for one who is so plainly worthy of it. I’ve been posting to the SDMB for over four years, and kanicbird’s contribution to this thread is about the most jawdroppingly rude behavior I have witnessed here.

25

The story seems too crazy to be made up.

26

I’ll second that nomination. It takes a real Dick to respond to a OP merely to call her a Liar. What a Fuckwit!

27

Ah kanicbird, nice to see a skeptic posting in my thread. It’s hard to believe that a fellow human being could be such an asshole, isn’t it? Well, it shouldn’t be that hard for you to believe since you seem to be living the life.

For the record, it is a 3.50 surcharge-- for a regular one way ticket. I buy a weekly ticket, which is discounted, so that the extra cost to me equaled 5 dollars.

28

This doesn’t make any sense either. Perhaps you use a ten trip off peak ticket? this is the only way it would come close to $5 (excluding travel w/o a single or some ajoining zone(s) w/ a weekly, which I guess is a possibility)

Anyhoo

My post will be some of the response you will be getting if you want to submit this publically. Your audiance will be riders of the LIRR who have seen things like this happen but for a reason and they realise that not all passengers have seen the whole story - they will assume that you are missing some critical facts, as I do.

If what you say is accurate then lets hang the conductor, but I’m not convinced it is accurate, though it seem like you beleive it to be.

Also I don’t like the idea of you charging racism, I personally don’t know the motivation behind any of the people and you (a observer) to the situation making that claim based on what I can only assume is the skin color of the 2 people is speculation and IMHO diminishes the claim.

29

kanicbird, do you realise how totally arbitrary your decision to call Biggirl a liar is? Why don’t you believe her that the guy is racist? Not because of any information you have about a particular ticket-taker on a particular train, but only because you know Biggirl is the accuser.

In what way could someone accuse someone of being racist that you would ‘like’? The fact that Biggirl is an observer makes her observation invalid? WTF!?!?

30

He did say he believes I believe what I’m saying, so he’s not actually calling me a liar just, I dunno, ulteriorly motivated I guess.
I mean, really, he took her shoes! I saw him do it and I still find it incredible.

Well, I’ve cleaned up my letters and have gotten the address of The Amsterdam News, The Daily News, The NY Post and NY Newsday. I’m printing them up tomorrow at lunch. My whole office is in an uproar about it.

31

OK Eonwe I can understand your objection and will try to explain ONCE.

1st I was a little agitated when I came to the pit, some of that came though in my post.

I take the LIRR quite often, not daily, but maybe 2x/week avg. I have seen many incidents and from observation know the LIRR SOP for such incidnets. I don’t feel that a conductor instigated incident could have the cooperation of the entire train crew, along w/ possilbe police that sometime ride the train. I withdraw calling Biggirl a liar, but thing she is either somewhat exagerating or did not get the full story (though she may fully believe she did).

Do we automaticaly assume any incident is racist because of differing skin colors between the parties? Racism had to do with intent, with geting into someones mind, I do not beleive Biggirl has tha qualification, nor did she post anything that the conductor said that would lead to that conclusion, in short as far as I can see she is assuming facts not in evidence, or in laymans terms pulling it out of her donkey. Also such charges of rasism, sexism are thrown around so casually (in such manner as here) as to actually diminsh the arugment, and to further degrade the terms.

No direct opposite, I do not not know Biggirl though she seems to be a long time poster here. Actually most of my 1st post I wrote before I saw the racist part of the OP, as I was skimming and wondering how she would get a $5 service charge. When I re-read the OP, I did some editing, but my origional impressiong was without knowing who Biggirl is
or knowing that she was accusing rasism.

I would like that man would not judge the mind of another man for the purpose of intensifing the crime (such things as being mercyful to the mentally disabled are OK). No man can truly understand the mind of another, if a crime is commited then punish him. Would it be any worse if this conductor did this to any other race (including his own)? I say that the punshment for such actions (if it were as Biggirl states) should be the same regardless of race. Perhaps you can tell me why the conductor should get only one arm chopper off is it were a ‘green’ person but both if it were a ‘blue’ person? Isn;t this the very definition of racism?

The observer has been somewhat inconsistant to not only fairs (and the LIRR do anounce the extra service charge at nasium over the PA, along w/ the “clean train campain” - which I assume just means that the conductors will continously remind us to pick up our own trash, and cell phone ettiquite) but to the way the LIRR works when there is a disruption. If the observer has stated thing that I see as inconsistant, do I have to think her statement valid? WTF!?!? or can I point out this inconsistansies and ask for clarification or more information?

32

Biggirl I got to say that the way you handeled critisism has earned my respect.

33

Points taken, but I still think it odd that a discrepancy between what the OP says regarding what happened and the SOP as you understand it is being used as basis for not trusting the OP.

Kind of like, if I said, ‘hey, my high school teacher molested me,’ and you said, ‘well, I find that highly unlikely because there are systems in place to prevent that.’

It would be insulting to me, that just because it’s not supposed to happen, you assume it didn’t, or that I don’t understand the situation.

34

I’m with the majority here; this story is way too freaky to be made up. I don’t know about you, Kanicbird, but whenever I judge the veracity of someone’s claims, my own personal, casual experience is not the only barometer I utilize.

IOW, “I just haven’t seen anything like this happen before, so I don’t believe it could!” is a pretty shitty excuse for accusing anyone of lying, even if you did take it back.

I’ve seen tons of crazy shit, but I sure haven’t seen all of it. Neither have you. So perhaps you should double-check yourself before you go around accusing people of wildly exaggerating, misunderstanding, or outright inventing stuff.

Food for thought: Why would anyone make this shit up?

And as for your charge that it isn’t racism b/c one can’t get into someone else’s mind…I’m sorry, what? So we can only recognize racism if we’re mind readers? “I’m sorry, but while I know that this person is repeatedly hostile to persons of only one color, I cannot read his mind, and therefore I must assume this was a coincidence, having nothing to do with race, until we consult with our local county mystic, who will get back to us with the racist-mind-reading data.”

Please.

35

I would think this different because it happened to you directly, you were not an observer, you were a participant. Also I do not the SOP of some nameless highschool, I do know, from observation, something about LIRR SOP.

Audrey Levins Please address:

before you make such statements.

36

Yeah, I think Biggirl has seen more shit on the LIRR than you. And riding the same train, probably the same car, most of this time, she has had an opportunity to observe this particular employee quite a lot. kanicbird (who should really use spellcheck) more likely rides various trains, in various cars, and at a much lower frequency. Who are you going to believe in describing one employee’s behavior here?

37

Biggirl really excellent letter, story very well told. Kudos to you for speaking up. I can’t think of anything more clever than the Curious George remark (although some sort of observation seems in order). I’ll just point out that “Lickily” is my favorite typo of the year thus far.

kanicbird WTF? Your posts don’t make any sense & they really aren’t helping me learn anything more about this situation; sometimes skepticism does enlighten, but what you’ve written is just balderdash.

38

The next time this guy has someone arrested you should get off the train and tell the cops what really happened.

39

Also, can I move that anyone who uses the word “Anyhoo” be shunned from polite society for all eternity? Am I the only person who cringes every time they read this particular combination of letters? I tend to stop reading a poster INSTANTLY when I come across it, and thenceforth can never take them seriously again.

40

BESIDES which–what are you kanicbird, 11? You’re really not ready to play with the grownups yet. I’m glad to see that you’re obviously a precocious child, and that you’re willing to think about some serious issues, but you’re still not very far along in the process. You’ve obviously given these issues no more than a cursory consideration–much like your BALLS in RESPONDING to the OP with accusations of LYING without even having READ THE ENTIRE FUCKING THING. And then you have the infantile gall to try to defend your utterly indefensible position! Your apology, and your admission that you don’t know WHAT the FUCK you’re talking about–on any level–are long overdue.

(Couple things to fold into your thought process as you continue, one hopes, to consider these issues: as an eleven-year-old, just because you haven’t seen it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen; just because you’re not fully aware of all the details of a situation doesn’t mean your assumptions will adequately fill in those gaps of knowledge; and when someone commits a series of violent acts on a green person, and then a blue person, and then a plaid person, he’s obviously not acting out of racial hatred–but when he shows a pattern of persecuting and attacking only green people, he is in a very real way explicitly threatening all other green people with similar violence: it’s that added threat that escalates a crime to a racially motivted crime and justifies a harsher punishment. So it’s not different punishments for the same crime: it’s different punishments for different crimes, one of which is for all intents and purposes an act of terrorism as well as an act of physical violence.)