Ravenwood - 09/09/05 07:30 AM
The D.C. Metro has a strict policy about taking food and drinks on trains. A 12-year old girl was arrested, taken away in handcuffs, and convicted for eating a french fry at a Metrorail station. The arrest was part of a week long sting to catch Metro eaters and drinkers. Another woman was cited for eating a candy bar.
Well, now it turns out that last week's door malfunction - in which an Orange Line door popped open while the train was in motion - was caused by the train conductor's spilled coffee.
"We conducted a thorough investigation of the train's doors, electronics, operating and engineering components . . . and all indications led us to conclude that the coffee that accidentally spilled into the train's console damaged the train's control board, which caused the doors to open," said Fred Goodine, Metro's assistant general manager for safety.No word on whether or not the conductor will be arrested and charged.Metro's policy against food or drink on the subway system extends to train operators. Transit managers will "follow up and discipline" the coffee drinker, Farbstein said.
The rule is there to intimidate the masses with the authority of the authorities, not to protect the trains. It's not really hypocrisy.
It's like the no-dogs-in-rescue-boats rule, as if American society can't supply a boat if it has a dog in it, and the boat is otherwise empty. Rules are rules. Leave the dog or die in your flooded house, your choice. Many people choose staying with the dog. No matter, the rule exists for the authorities themselves.
I'm surprised they let the refugees have candy. It's been overlooked, is my guess.
As someone who used mass transit for many years, the anti food and drink regs are welcome. If the point is that the transit police went over the top in enforcing it, it appears that way, but only because the kid was 12 years old.
Transit cops do not arrest someone they see eating. They warn the person and tell them to put the food away and rarely even write a ticket. You would have to be mouthing off and ignoring the cops instructions for them to bother with you any more than that.
According to the Washington Post, it was the result of a WEEK LONG STING to catch people eating and drinking on Metro. If you think that is a wise use of police resources, I have to disagree.
Posted by: Ravenwood at September 9, 2005 1:46 PMThese are not undercover officers meeting ahead of time for an elaborate sting operation, selling french fries and sodas for a sell/bust. They just tell the normal crews to go ahead and enforce the regs. There are always transit cops and, with 9/11, plainsclothes cops on the trains. My guess is that they just told them to not ignore the normal lawbreaking in the hopes it would have some effect.
So arresting a 12 year old and putting her in cuffs? why dont the riders just boycott the trainline and have food fight with the owners of the line getting plastered with rotten fruit and veggies till they reek
Posted by: screaming eagle at September 9, 2005 6:28 PMWasn't "coffee spilling into the controls" the premise of the movie "Fate is the Hunter"? Except there it was an airliner.
(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
