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Kindly Old Man Will Likely Lose Job Over Nap (In Token Booth)
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 5, 2010
Modified Aug 5, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 5, 2010
Modified Aug 5, 2010
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An MTA employee entering his golden years was recently caught dozing like the Maytag repairman inside the token booth at the City Hall R station. A regular late night rider took a photo of the unidentified worker, who looks like he moonlights as a kindly grandpa in Werther's Originals ads, and gave it to NY1. The news crew dispatched a reporter to confront the employee, who works the graveyard shift and has been on the job almost 20 years. His befuddled explanation just melts your heart:
"I always check money and everything else and look at it carefully," insists Sleepy, "Because I've found errors in the money, there are, slightly misprints, what do you call. In fact, I've shown clerks the same, what I've found. And as I've said, I could have been looking at it closely like this." MTA officials are investigating, and say "such behavior will not be tolerated." But the Transit Workers Union insists he has a spotless record, adding, "The union has his back... We just want to point out that perception isn't always reality." (No matter how many times you perceive it.)
NY1 points out that besides being a terrorist target, City Hall also happens to be where union leaders protested the layoff of more than 200 booth workers, warning that cuts would leave riders vulnerable. "Makes me angry," one straphanger told the news show. "Right now we have lot of people that are out of work, and who want work, who would do diligent jobs." (FWIW, the MTA is trying to lay off hundreds of station agents.) Oh come on, this guy's probably saved the MTA a fortune with all the counterfeit bills he's spotted!
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token booth clerk
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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