TTC mourns death of ‘napping’ employee

[Justin10000]

^^Didn't Mr. Wieler expliot the man's illness to garner 15 minutes of fame? A smarter, wiser person would have simply contacted the TTC, or at least made sure the collector was not dead. No, Mr. Wieler, being the twat he is takes a f'ing picture. Generation Whine? More like Generation Retards.

 

[Dan416]

The fact you people are basically accusing someone of murder is frankly ridiculous. The public did not cause this poor man's death.

 

[junctionist]

^^Didn't Mr. Wieler expliot the man's illness to garner 15 minutes of fame? A smarter, wiser person would have simply contacted the TTC, or at least made sure the collector was not dead. No, Mr. Wieler, being the twat he is takes a f'ing picture. Generation Whine? More like Generation Retards.

He must have been frustrated with the TTC in general, not simply with this individual. This is the powerless generation when it comes to the TTC, just a pawn between a big union and a big bureaucracy that's technologically backwards, expanding at a dismal pace, and charging them a lot to use the system. Many aren't proud and hopeful. And the TTC seldom refers to itself as "The Better Way" anymore.

 

[kEiThZ]

The fact you people are basically accusing someone of murder is frankly ridiculous. The public did not cause this poor man's death.

+1

If I recall correctly, the photographer at the time even said he went up to the booth to get a good look at the guy and only snapped a photo once he figured the guy was actually sleeping.

In any event, the hysterics here are not warranted. I mean seriously...suggesting the stress of being outed in the paper once...months ago...killed him and therefore the public is guilty of murder? Gimme a break.

That's the kind of crap/venom the union would spew. And that's exactly the kind of talk that routinely costs them the public's sympathy.

I stand by my assertion made at the time the photo first came to light. If this man was unable to stay awake, why was he even at work? I would think that staying awake is a basic requirement of any job...particularly one that concerns the public's safety (a major function for booth jockeys). Saying he could still work if he's sick is ridiculous. He obviously couldn't work. Unless someone can explain to me how a sleeping man can be productive, I'll stand by my assertion that he should have been at home. And on this front either the union or the TTC dropped the ball. Either way, the public should not be held responsible or made to feel guilty for not accomodating a public servant napping on the job. I wonder how supportive some of the folks here would be, if something had happened to a rider and George slept right through it? Or lets say George was a police officer caught napping at a station's front desk?

And someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't a large part of his fatigue have to do with his long commute (from Coburg I believe)? If so, is the public to be held responsible for that too?

 

[BermudaTO37]

Wow. So if anyone of your pics is taken and goes viral all over the web and is made posters of, I don't think it would create any stress on yourself or your families? No one who is your friend or relative would not question what happened at all? People get stressed from all sorts of things so don't belittle the fact that the man could have been stressed out about him being posted around the globe or even still, Toronto.

If he posted the pic himself, then it would be fine because it was something that he did himself. I am not saying that it is the picture takers fault but it surely would have caused stress in his life. As for all the other heresay, that is what it is, heresay. Stop posting rumours and inuendo's about drugs and so on. Jesus, the man is dead. Have some compassion.

 

[kEiThZ]

Jason Wieler did not cause this man's death. He did not cause his illness. Get off the soapbox. This is one of the most ridiculous posts I've seen here yet, even more exploitative of this man that other people on the internet have been. You exploit this man's death for fulfill your own agenda, you are as much a disgrace to humanity as those people.

Quoted for truth. nfitz's hysterics are getting ridiculous. At least before, he had some rational arguments to put forward. These days, he's just Fresh Start coming from a different direction.

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

"Either way, the public should not be held responsible or made to feel guilty for not accomodating a public servant napping on the job."

Yeah, I mean it's not like he's a DND bureaucrat posting thousands of messages on internet message boards during work hours.

 

[nfitz]

nfitz's hysterics are getting ridiculous.

Why aren't moderators stop personal attacks?

The media report the guy was stressed by all the publicity he got for falling asleep one evening when ill, after decades of outstanding service. The guy died from a stroke. Reducing stress is a huge factor in preventing strokes.

While the guy was clearly very sick, and might not have had much longer to live either way, surely it's quite reasonable to suggest that the media attention might have been a potential factor in hastening his death.

 

[kEiThZ]

Why aren't moderators stop personal attacks?

The media report the guy was stressed by all the publicity he got for falling asleep one evening when ill, after decades of outstanding service. The guy died from a stroke. Reducing stress is a huge factor in preventing strokes.

While the guy was clearly very sick, and might not have had much longer to live either way, surely it's quite reasonable to suggest that the media attention might have been a potential factor in hastening his death.

Come now. How much attention did the guy receive after his 15 mins of fame? The guy was the talk of the town for a week or so. A month max. He faded into the background pretty quickly after that. Are you seriously suggesting that he kept getting stressed from non-existant media coverage after his moment in the sun?

Can you show me a single story from even 2-3 months ago about George anywhere in the media (particularly the mainstream media)?

He may have been stressed about the coverage at the time. But I highly doubt that media coverage in the last few months had something to do with his demise.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

Come now. How much attention did the guy receive after his 15 mins of fame? The guy was the talk of the town for a week or so. A month max. He faded into the background pretty quickly after that. Are you seriously suggesting that he kept getting stressed from non-existant media coverage after his moment in the sun?

Can you show me a single story from even 2-3 months ago about George anywhere in the media (particularly the mainstream media)?

He may have been stressed about the coverage at the time. But I highly doubt that media coverage in the last few months had something to do with his demise.

keithz, different people take things in different ways. anxiety from such an experience is not something you can shut off with a switch and such anxiety is something that can restart at any time due to various triggers. though the photographer didn't murder him, it's very possible the stress from the whole experience contributed to this man's death. nobody intended for the ticket collector to die but it did happen.

 

[kEiThZ]

keithz, different people take things in different ways. anxiety from such an experience is not something you can shut off with a switch and such anxiety is something that can restart at any time due to various triggers. though the photographer didn't murder him, it's very possible the stress from the whole experience contributed to this man's death. nobody intended for the ticket collector to die but it did happen.

I can accept that the photograph and the subsequent media attention may have caused the man stress. And perhaps some of that elevated stress may have contributed to his death, much, much after the fact.

But you don't think suggestions that the public is culpable or that the photographer should be held criminally responsible (as has been suggested nfitz) are over the top?

Besides which, I am not just saying that the whole affair is excusable. At the time, and now, I continue to assert that the man should have been on sick leave. If he was so ill that he could not stay awake on the job, then why was he at work? If a TTC customer has suffered because he was asleep, I doubt we'd be discussing the issue the same way. I hold management responsible in at least some measure for what happened.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

I can accept that the photograph and the subsequent media attention may have caused the man stress. And perhaps some of that elevated stress may have contributed to his death, much, much after the fact.

But you don't think suggestions that the public is culpable or that the photographer should be held criminally responsible (as has been suggested nfitz) are over the top?

Besides which, I am not just saying that the whole affair is excusable. At the time, and now, I continue to assert that the man should have been on sick leave. If he was so ill that he could not stay awake on the job, then why was he at work? If a TTC customer has suffered because he was asleep, I doubt we'd be discussing the issue the same way. I hold management responsible in at least some measure for what happened.

no, i don't think the photographer should be held criminally responsible.

also, though the collector obviously had an instance where he was asleep on the job, it's probably not representative of his usual performance. it could have happened a few times or maybe just that one time. for the type of job this person had, i don't think it was critical to public safety. forget for a sec that the guy fell asleep, what if he just went to the bathroom and something happened to a customer? perhaps if having a ticket collector is necessary for public safety, there should be more than one.

i don't think it was too problematic to allow a veteran of the company to have some dignity in being employed in such a fashion.

 

[BermudaTO37]

no, i don't think the photographer should be held criminally responsible.

also, though the collector obviously had an instance where he was asleep on the job, it's probably not representative of his usual performance. it could have happened a few times or maybe just that one time. for the type of job this person had, i don't think it was critical to public safety. forget for a sec that the guy fell asleep, what if he just went to the bathroom and something happened to a customer? perhaps if having a ticket collector is necessary for public safety, there should be more than one.

i don't think it was too problematic to allow a veteran of the company to have some dignity in being employed in such a fashion.

Excellent replies. I think that it was one picture that was taken out of context and it went crazy on the net. With that one photo, the man was perceived as Lazy or whatever was said. So in one foul swoop, his reputation was in tatters. Is that fair for him?

Likewise, if a pic was taken of one of the members here while doing something out of the ordinary and posted all over the net, it would most likely cause some stress in our life. I am pretty sure that people would be upset knowing that at the end of the day, they have no recourse what-so-ever.

People should think a bit more before doing things like this. How many more people's lives do we need to undo before we realise that not everything needs to be posted on the net for general consumption.

 

[Eug]

I'm sure this caused him a lot of stress. But then again he was sleeping on the job.

However, most of the angst was not directed at him per se. It was at the union, and the union's response just made things that much worse. Instead of saying they were sorry this had happened and they'd try to ensure things like this don't happen in the future, but btw he does have some health issues, they basically they scolded the public. That only incensed the public even more.

And yeah, I think nfitz's accusations here are WAY over the top.

 

[nfitz]

And yeah, I think nfitz's accusations here are WAY over the top.

Accusations? The only accusation I've made is the disgraceful lack of humanity is shocking. ... and I'm not sure that's even an accusation!