Author faces backlash for reporting black Metro employee for eating on train; book deal halted

[Demovictory9]

A D.C. author shamed a Metro worker for eating on the train. Now her book deal is in jeopardy.
The backlash was swift, with many accusing the woman, Natasha Tynes, of trying to get the employee fired.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2019/05/11/dc-pundit-shamed-metro-worker-eating-train-now-her-book-deal-is-jeopardy/?utm_term=.7b885876401e

Author Natasha Tynes has ignited a firestorm on social media, where she criticized a black Metro employee for eating on the train and reported the woman to transit officials.

Tynes, a Jordanian-American writer and World Bank employee in Washington, tweeted a photo of the woman Friday, showing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority employee in uniform, eating on the Red Line. Tynes tagged the WMATA account, reporting that when she confronted the woman for breaking Metro rules, the woman told her to “worry about yourself.”

“When you’re on your morning commute & see @wmata employee in UNIFORM eating on the train,” Tynes tweeted. “I thought we were not allowed to eat on the train. This is unacceptable. Hope @wmata responds."



The backlash was swift on Twitter, where people have been calling out the self-described “minority writer” for shaming a black woman and attempting to get her into trouble. Amid the uproar, Tynes apologized, saying she was “truly sorry” for the tweet, which she acknowledged had been deleted. By early Saturday morning, she had also set her account to private.


----

Barry Hobson, the chief of staff for the Metro workers union — Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 — said in a statement the Metro employee was taking her meal break while in transit from one assignment to another. The statement notes operators have "an average of 20 minutes to consume a meal and get to their next access point to ensure all buses and trains are on time, safe, and ready to serve the riding public.”

-----

Rare Birds Books, a publishing house that was set to distribute Tynes’s upcoming novel, “They Called Me Wyatt,” has since decided not to do so.

The company said in a statement Friday that it had learned that the author “did something truly horrible today in tweeting a picture of a metro worker eating her breakfast on the train this morning and drawing attention to her employer. Black women face a constant barrage of this kind of inappropriate behavior directed toward them and a constant policing of their bodies.

[madaboutharry]

1. This will teach her to mind her own business.

I don’t get people who go out of their way to get another person in trouble when that other person is doing something that is harmless. There must be some gain for them, like feeling superior or something.

[RhodeIslandOne]

2. Apparently you can't eat on the train, period.

I would never want to get an employee in trouble or rat them out for something non safety related or not dangerous. But it's bad form for an employee to break a rule right in front of the customers when they are expected to turn around and enforce it. It's hypocritical, period.

Furthermore, the employee should have proper break and meal times to eat in private, not have to be "in transit" to make their next post on their break.

[marble falls]

4. Which is worse: Breaking the rule or not having an opportunity to eat?

[IndyOp]

7. The public shaming is cruel - mob mentality -

and all of it needs to stop. She can’t think of anything better to share on public media than a photo of a person who didn’t agree to be the subject of a post with a holier-than-thou snarky statement? When an adult - especially - is trying to gain social popularity by criticizing others it smacks of the relational aggression they should have outgrown soon after junior high.

Also - in my world - authority figures get to break rules I am expected to follow and that they have to enforce, when situations warrant.

Finally, yes, she should have a quiet, private location to take a decent break - but she doesn’t. So what was she supposed to do? Operate public transportation safely for a bunch more hours after having not eaten for hours since her last meal?

It would have been more professional for the Metro employee to explain her situation to the author - but it is almost guaranteed that the author’s comment to the employee was made in an obviously disrespectful manner and it is human nature to respond to disrespect with anger.

[Igel]

27. You'd have to shut down Twitter.

Much of it is showing public virtue by public shaming of transgressors of one kind or another--perhaps a kind of rule that's simply logistic, like this; perhaps it's a moral or values-based rule where "my" values are universal while "your" values are crap and we need mob enforcement followed, hopefully, by ending "your" Twitter life.

Whether "we" think that's a good thing (and "we" is in quotes because I don't, and for the most part it doesn't really matter who I put into the category of "we" because I think most people fall into it), although more draw the line at doxxing.

Not all, and more than a few call for ruining somebody's life forever, and those of his/her families, through public shaming. No empathy, no understanding, no compassion needed--or, indeed, allowed.

What's vaguely humorous is how this shows how power relations have shifted.

[superpatriotman]

37. Shutting down twitter would be the start of a new day in America

Facebook after that

[Rambling Man]

69. so glad I "opt out" of that crap

social media is moronic.

[Blue_Tires]

108. +1

[samnsara]

23. they get 20 min to eat their meal when they are in transit from one assignment to another..

..so the employee is right

[Merlot]

48. She didn't break a rule, the metro authority seemd to condone what she was doing

20 minutes to eat between moving from one location to the next for her job. Sounds like it's accepted practice. Also sounds illegal from the perspective of being forced to eat which should be a break, and spendng break time doing work related tasks - such as traveling.

Furthermore, the employee should have proper break and meal times to eat in private, not have to be "in transit" to make their next post on their break.

Obviously not what's happening. Possibly this incident will help to make some changes in policy.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. While that might all be true, it wasn't up to some total stranger to police that employee's behavior

and tweet it all over the place to get the employee in trouble.

[backscatter712]

83. Fuck that - if she was on her lunch break, and according to the union, she was...

...she has a right to eat.

[RhodeIslandOne]

84. "Fuck that" what?

That for one, an employee should have a safe space to eat with appropriated meal breaks while at the same time not actually violating a rule that they are expected to enforce?

Fuck that indeed. The union should do better by their people, or get rid of the "Don't eat on the Metro" rule for EVERYONE.

[obamanut2012]

101. It is a rule no longer being enforced

As in, it is officially not being enforced on the Metro anymore, and hasn't been for a few months.

[obamanut2012]

102. Not true -- it is a rule no longer being enforced

You used to not even be able to drink water or lick a lollipop. An edict wnet down a few months ago that this would no longer be enforced.

[RhodeIslandOne]

109. Then that's a different story

[Dorian Gray]

95. Yep...

it's obnoxious.

[IndyOp]

3. The sanctimoniousness - it burns!!

Not nearly as much as the racism - the Metro employee was apparently working multiple shifts, because Metro employees probably don’t earn a living wage - and this woman feels entitled to shame her?

Reminds me of a woman whose story was told - I think in a Michael Moore movie - she had to hold down multiple low-wage jobs when a social program was ended that had helped her and her kindergarten soon make ends meet. While she was gone - working a typical 18-hour day - a family member was staying with the boy who found a gun in the home and accidentally shot and killed himself.

You never, ever know a stranger’s story. I learned way back to ask myself if there might be an entirely valid reason why someone is behaving in a way that is unexpected to me. I actually had a pastor once who said that in situations like this he thinks up “excuses” for others - the backstory that explains what he is seeing. Empathizing beats being judgmental any day.

Disclaimers: This is appropriate for situations in which someone is eating on the metro or using two BBQ grills at the park when you are supposed to use only one per group - not for situations in which someone is being put in real danger.

[RVN VET71]

13. Metro median salary is $70,000 per year

10% of Metro workers earn more than $100,000. In D.C. area, both are at least comfortable income levels.

I missed the part in the story where she was working multiple shifts. I don't know what her job was, but if Metro is allowing motormen to work multiples, they need to stop. It violates every rule of safety.

Still, I get it. No one knows why the woman was eating on the job. Oh, she was probably hungry, of course. But it is not unlikely that she had to rush her lunch or breakfast en-route to her next assignment.

I agree, if you aren't walking in that other person's shoes, don't assume you know where she's going or where she's been. I was taught to keep my nose out of other peoples business because you never know what the backstory is.

[delisen]

15. Metro employees make quite a bit but work overtime to do it

because Metro pays significant overtime instead of filling vacant positions.

So a Metro employee is more likely to be okra g overtime the working additional jobs for multiple employees

[wolfie001]

5. Good outcome! nt

[RVN VET71]

6. Anyone remember Fawn Hall?

She worked for Ollie North in the Reagan White House. She was arrested by a Metro police officer for the crime of eating a banana on the Metro platform.

The culture of Metro has always assumed that everyone knows and understands the prohibition against eating in the station, on a train, on the platform. Is it honored 100%? Of course not. And incidents like what happened to Fawn Hall have not surfaced in decades. But the fact remains, everyone who uses the Metro system knows of the prohibition. They know, certainly, that if they are eating, they are in technical violation.

Don't rush to assume this was a racist action. Yes, it was misdirected -- and holding someone, a stranger, anyone, up to public contumely on the internet (saving political and other public figures, I suppose) is wrong on so many levels. If the situation was that troubling to her, she might have taken the matter up with Metro officials.

But racist? I doubt it.

[IndyOp]

9. The thing about racism is - more often than not, it is subtle -

not saying something racist aloud, but behaving in a way that you might towards others who are your same race in some circumstances, but doing so with much less justification or noe at all.

Cops pull white people who seem suspicious to them out of the car and accuse them of shit they didn’t do and use their authority as an excuse for abuse. That they do so habitually with POC is racist.

[RVN VET71]

11. I agree.

And it is certainly possible that this lady would not have reacted so extremely had the Metro worker been white.

But that is not in evidence in the story and I'm reluctant to assume racism without more details.

I do not know either woman. I was not on the scene. I know only one version of what happened, and there was no racial animus evident. So I will not accuse the complaining woman of racism. Poor judgment? Yeah. Over-rreacting? Yes, definitely. But racism?

[IndyOp]

31. I do see racism.

https://m.

Georgetown Law has recently released a report on black girls that reveals that they receive more discriminatory treatment than blacks boys in schools and in the juvenile justice system.

Beliefs of authority figures about black girls boil down the idea that black girls must be disciplined frequently to make them conform to social norms.

Nearly 50% of black women have heart disease. When falsely accused of wrongdoing they react with spikes in blood pressure while white women do not.

When I learn of an incident like this I assume racism unless there is evidence to the contrary because discrimination against black women is everywhere all the time.

Girlhood Interrupted: The erasure of black girls childhood
https://www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-inequality-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2017/08/girlhood-interrupted.pdf

[MaryMagdaline]

52. I see it the same way. Racism lurks in our psyche, and we have to be aware of it.

[struggle4progress]

76. +

[treestar]

62. I wonder if the tweet would go viral if

she was stopped by someone in authority (as we see in the thread, passengers have been called on the carpet for it, so if another employee above her did it). Or if both people had been the same race. Interaction between white and black people will occur and is it always racism? It is a result of desegregation to have more interactions.

[HipChick]

40. Exactly....

[BannonsLiver]

57. Unlikely it was motivated by race

What is interesting though to me is the eating rule which seems really unrealistic and poorly thought out.

[RVN VET71]

96. Which is why the Metro police seem to have stopped enforcement --

at the very least, they seem to have ceased arresting people.

And that, of course, makes the woman's complaint, and extraordinary, unnecessary manner of punishing the Metro worker (by publicizing the event as if she'd tried to stop some horrible crime) so wrong and over the top.

But I just cannot see evidence of racism here.

[obamanut2012]

103. Except it is a rule no longer enforced

As in officially it is no longer enforced.

WOC are policed for their actions more than any other demographic, even MOC.

[mwb970]

8. She deserves what she got.

What a horrible woman. I hope she never gets published now.

[3Hotdogs]

10. The act of eating on subway or public vehicle IS harmful. Debris attracts rodents.

Have you seen photos and videos of rats on N.Y.C. subways?



However, Tynes response was out of proportion. Employee's response was not the best, either.

[treestar]

12. I don't see what it has to do with the quality of the novel and whether or not to publish it

Further, it appears one is not supposed to eat on the train. This is a bit strained. True she is tattling but if she just put in on Twitter, that was not like directly telling the employer. The racism angle seems a bit much - how do we know that has anything to do with it? She may well have tweeted the same no matter what the race or gender.

[Silver Gaia]

14. I don't see the connection, either.

Thanks.

[MH1]

71. Any train rider who sees behavior by a transit system employee, that they think is unacceptable,

needs to report that behavior. Period.

If it wasn't unacceptable, she shouldn't have been blasting it over twitter.

If it was unacceptable, she should have properly reported it. I'm betting there's signs all over that train and every station, telling train riders how to report concerns to management.

[treestar]

75. She must have a lot of followers

Random observations of one’s life on twitter seem like something I could do without alerting the planet.

[SMC22307]

92. It was 100% telling the employer. She used @wmata as well as @unsuckdcmetro in her tweet...

and @wmata replied. If she wanted to complain that's one thing, but taking a pic of the employee and blasting it all over Twitter was wrong. People really need to check themselves with their rude, intrusive cell-phone camera use.

[Vinca]

16. I wouldn't rat on someone, but it would piss me off if I was hungry and not allowed to eat on the

train and saw the train employee eating. The employee was wrong whether she was black, white or green.

[Honeycombe8]

17. Even if the employee had been breaking the rule, who would try to get her fired?

I hear about this from time to time. A convenience store employee who's rude, a transit employee eating a burger on the train, etc.

I always wonder...who would go after a low level working class person for a trivial offense? Maybe he/she was rude or violated a rule, but come on...people like that are likely to get fired, when someone complains about them. We all are rude sometimes, we all break minor rules sometimes. Let it go. Move on. You never know what's going on in someone else's life. Don't get a person fired over something trivial. PERSPECTIVE.

You can complain all you want about an executive in a business. I guarantee you he won't be fired. Complain away!

[dsc]

18. maybe someone who got arrested for eating on the Metro

which is a thing.

[Honeycombe8]

21. But the boss said she was on 20 min. dinner break, so it's allowed.

There is a difference between workers who have 20 mins to eat, and thousands of people eating on a subway/bus all day. The latter would cause a big problem, with the food dropped or left, the trash, etc.

She wasn't breaking the rules, apparently.

[Igel]

29. It doesn't say that.

The best you can infer from the text is that it was necessary, if she was going to take a meal on her meal break.

Just because there's an unpleasant choice (eat meal ~ don't eat meal versus don't take additional shift ~ take additional shift) doesn't mean the rules change. One can argue for flexibility in enforcing the rules, but it's not like the words on the page change or the words suddenly have to acquire new meanings just for that person.

It's good to treat exceptions as exceptions and say they're exceptional.

[Honeycombe8]

33. That was the reason she didn't get in trouble. If that's the case...

then there is no rule against it, for practical reasons.

Otherwise, they have to stop the train and wait for her to eat outside of the train.

Workers get breaks and dinner breaks. That's the law.

[CreekDog]

97. gosh, you've never heard of mandatory overtime?

the real world is calling.

[Shrek]

30. Actually she was

From the article:

Though the union acknowledged it is against Metro rules to eat on a train or in a station, Hobson’s statement also referenced an email from Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik sent May 8, ordering officers to “cease and desist from issuing criminal citations in the District of Columbia for fare evasion; eating; drinking; spitting, and playing musical instruments without headphones until further advised.”

So there is a rule that applied to her, but apparently the chief had just recently decided to stop enforcing it.

[Honeycombe8]

34. So...effectively there is no rule.

It's a catch-22. We have a rule against that, but by law you must be given dinner breaks, we can't stop the train to wait. So you are forced to eat on the train. Although there is a rule against that...technically.

So there is no rule. A law that is unenforceable and not enforced, does not exist. It's for an obvious reason: it's not the worker's fault. It's someone's decision not to stop the train to allow the workers to go on dinner break.

I rode the bus for a while in Dallas. Sometimes the bus would just stop, and the driver would leave the bus for 10 to 20 minutes, while we sat there and waited. He never explained anything. He just stopped and left and went into a coffee shop or whatever. That was pretty irritating. In that case, they had to stop the bus, because there was no 2nd driver to take over while he ate. But nothing we could do about it.

[Laffy Kat]

42. This happens to me all the time.

I have a 30-minute meal break which about 50% of the time I do not get to take because the manager forgot to block the appnt. slots. It's eat at my desk, discreetly, or go hungry. I get in trouble either way: not taking my union-mandated break or eating at my desk. It's management's fault and yes, reporting her is anti-worker and racist, IMO.

[Honeycombe8]

43. +1. nt

[MichMan]

68. Maybe they need to shut it down if they treat employees so unfairly

If the Metro train cannot provide sufficient accommodations for employees to eat their meals and take breaks in private away from passengers, maybe they need to shut it down until that can be accomplished

[dsc]

32. First that isn't true

second, even if it were, then the employee should have said that instead of being rude when properly called out for breaking a rule she was expected to enforce.

[Honeycombe8]

35. People who deal with the public can be very rude sometimes.

It gets to you. Maybe it was the way the other person complained to her. I mean...it's obvious why she was eating. Why would anyone even bother to point out, "Hey, I know you get to eat, and I know we can't stop the train to wait for you to leave to go eat, but it's against the rules for you to eat on the train, despite the catch-22 you're in?"

People who worry about workers eating on their short dinner breaks have a pretty easy life, I'm thinking, if that's what they are concerned about.

[dsc]

38. But she isn't permitted to eat on the train

It would be one thing if that were the case but it isn't. Instead, she broke the rule, and when confronted told the person to worry about herself. Again, people have had their freedom taken away for violating this very same rule. Frankly these employees should be provided with sufficient breaks to eat. Crumbs spilled by her I am presuming don't contain roach and ant repellent.

[Honeycombe8]

39. Her boss says she is.

That was a pretty rude question/complaint the passenger said to her. Because the answer was obvious. She gets a dinner break on a train that won't stop for her to leave to eat. Duh. As for crumbs...yes there would be, I'm sure. And that's why the thousands of passengers riding trains 24/7 aren't allowed to eat.

I'm sure most workers would prefer to be able to leave to eat and not have to eat with a bunch of strangers staring at her.

How odd a reaction this is for some people who think Amazon is being abusive by monitoring how long an employee spends in the bathroom.

The question is still: Your choice: either the train stops for 20 minutes for employees to get a dinner break, or the employees must eat on the train.

I can only imagine the complaints of passengers, if the trains were to stop for employees to eat.

Your solution is what?

[dsc]

45. No her boss didn't say that

Though the union acknowledged it is against Metro rules to eat on a train or in a station, Hobson’s statement also referenced an email from Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik sent May 8, ordering officers to “cease and desist from issuing criminal citations in the District of Columbia for fare evasion; eating; drinking; spitting, and playing musical instruments without headphones until further advised.”

I presume that some other enforcement scheme is in the works but enforcement or no, and apparently this rule was being enforced with criminal citations as recently as May 7th or 5 days ago, it was still a rule that was being held out to the public as being enforced with criminal citations. Again, if she was in the right, why didn't this employee simply say that she was permitted to eat and that the rule wasn't being enforced. But instead she was rude and we are shocked, shocked I tell you that the customer was pissed off.

[Honeycombe8]

47. What is your solution?

Don't just complain. Write to the transit system and suggest a solution.

1. Transit Workers get 20 minute dinner breaks, incl those working on trains/buses.
2. We don't stop trains/buses to let workers leave for dinner breaks,and wait for them.
3. Therefore, workers are forced to eat on their trains/buses
4. We recognize that workers would rather eat in peace, rather than in front of a group of strangers staring at them, and sometimes making rude comments to them about it.
5. We can't allow thousands of passengers to eat on the trains/buses 24/7 because that would result in a situation where the trains/buses would become unrideable and unsafe because of the food and trash, requiring us to stop trains/buses for cleanup during the day. This would require us to raise taxes to pay for the cleanup workers and the cost to stop the routes.

Now you go. What's the solution? On buses I used to ride, there were no backup drivers, so sometimes a bus would just stop, and the driver would get out and disappear for 10 to 20 minutes, without saying anything. Then he'd come back, and we'd resume.

So that's one solution. Just stopping the trains/buses for the workers to go on dinner breaks.

[dsc]

49. Simple

give the workers a long enough break to eat. Also the break should start and end in the same station. Or have a small, private place on the train for the worker to eat while on break. What you don't do, is arrest people for something but have the workers do the very same thing, publicly when some of that public might well have been arrested for the very same thing.

[Honeycombe8]

56. Do your letter.

And expect huge complaints from passengers for the frequent short runs, instead of the longer runs. And for the tax increases to pay for increased worker costs for them hanging around waiting for the next train to take them back to home base, or to start working on another line.

Ge out train schedules and really start to schedule these things. You'll see why experienced people chose this as the solution.

As for passengers being jealous, you are just failing to understand the difference between tens of thousands of people doing something 24/7, and 200 people doing something twice a day. People who will be held accountable for leaving a mess.

Oh, well. Whatever, dude.

[druidity33]

93. I got one!

As a Union Steward I'm solutions oriented!

I've got a break room, why don't these employees? I suggest they devote a small "break room space" on every train for employees to rest or have some food. Surely they could devote some space to their hard working people. Maybe even a microwave and a fridge and a small couch.

[ecstatic]

88. My thoughts too. It shows a lack of compassion

and really reveals her character. An angry person, probably a trump supporter as well.

[Recursion]

19. I'm ambivalent. Metro has a history of arresting and handuffing people for eating

Given that I don't see what's wrong with calling out a uniformed WMATA employee for breaking the same rule with impunity.

[Honeycombe8]

22. There's no rule against that, is what I get from the article.

She was on a 20 min. dinner break, the boss said. Apparently it's allowed.

It's different for a certain number of (few) workers taking their dinner breaks on the trains, and thousands of people riding transit system all day eating...dropping food, leaving trash. The latter would be a nightmare.

I wonder if people would prefer they stop the trains so that the transit workers can leave the trains and eat, then come back.

[whistler162]

20. Well,,,, when this stops I will have

sympathy for the Metro worker

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/metro-transit-police-arrest-teenager-for-carrying-chips-and-lollipop-into-station/2016/10/19/1360a014-9627-11e6-bb29-bf2701dbe0a3_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.783e30012327

[Honeycombe8]

24. Would you prefer they stop the train, so that the worker can leave to eat?

So the passengers will have to wait for her dinner break to end, before the train can proceed?

There seems to be no rule that workers can't eat during their 20 minute dinner breaks. There is an obvious difference between the workers eating there, and thousands of passengers eating on the trains round the clock. In no time at all, it'd be hard to find a place to sit that wasn't covered in dropped food and trash. Which is why they have the rule, I'm sure.

[Recursion]

25. I'd prefer WMATA took the drivers out altogether

They aren't actually doing anything there other than talking to us and holding down a deadman's switch.

[CreekDog]

98. OF COURSE YOU WANT TO ELIMINATE JOBS!!!

and of course because you don’t know what those jobs do!

you’re ignorant that they hold the doors and/or the trains if people get caught in them.

you’re ignorant that they drive the trains under many conditions and in fact on WMATA, there have been periods where trains weren’t automatically driven for extended periods of time.

the one thing you acknowledge is that they’re there to pull the deadman’s switch and yet you’re ignorant of how important that is on a system with multiple crashes that deadman’s switch operation by the train operator is the only additional safety measure to prevent a crash.

[Recursion]

100. I don't care if they keep getting paid, there's no reason for them to be in the train

Hell, double the number of train operators, just keep them out of the trains. Offloading full trains in rush hour just to spite traffic control operators is just about the only thing they are in a technical position to do, and I just don't see the value add there.

[CreekDog]

110. You don't know what they do!!! You don't know anything of their jobs, how can you know their value?

And then NOT KNOWING, you want to get rid of them.

Because your first post shows that you don't know shit about their job.

They DO drive the trains, they reposition the trains, they drive the trains for extended periods when the system has required it. There is an automated system but it doesn't do everything and or do it well enough to make the system safe enough without human operators.

And they stop the trains in emergencies, they open doors in emergencies, they open doors when people are caught in them.

You don't know shit about their jobs and you don't feel the need to learn before spouting nonsense.

I have ZERO patience for know it alls that don't know squat.

If you're spouting ignorance, and you ARE, you're removing value from the conversation.

[Recursion]

111. Well, fortunately WMATA disagrees with you, starting next month

They're *finally* taking the human source of error out of the berthing/door open sequence in June. You'll see that take effect as more of the station dwell time gets to be used for entraining and detraining, which will also mean less tunnel time stopped keeping headways. It's going to be great.

[tenderfoot]

26. I just stopped in for all the comments defending the author.

[Tipperary]

28. Interesting, yes?

[lunasun]

54. Same

[dsc]

36. I think the public nature of what the author did was out of line

but frankly I find it hard to defend the actions of the employee. She broke a well known and enforced rule against eating on the train. People have been arrested for violating this very same rule. They have had their freedom taken away, albeit for a very short time, for breaking this very same rule. And when the customer confronted this woman for breaking this rule, that people have been arrested for breaking it should be noted, she was told to worry about herself. I think she should have called or emailed and not used a public post but the fact is this woman had every earthly right to complain about this. Again, people have literally been arrested and put in jail for breaking this rule.

[Wounded Bear]

41. Authoritarian Handbook 101...

Get people to rat each other out about minor offenses.

[Laffy Kat]

44. I can't believe how many DUers are defending this racist woman.

Blame the worker for having a bite on shift, for not explaining to the jerk why she was so bold as to eat, etc., etc. All these, "well, the rider over-reacted, but....."

Please.

[dsc]

46. funny no one had a problem with this

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/metro-transit-police-arrest-teenager-for-carrying-chips-and-lollipop-into-station/2016/10/19/1360a014-9627-11e6-bb29-bf2701dbe0a3_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a7d4c65d55f4

[WillowTree]

53. I agree that this "author" was out of line and should learn to mind her own business, but.......

…….please point out what part of the story indicates that her stupid action was racially motivated.

[Downtown Hound]

70. Funny thing about racism

It's often subtle and not so overt. My wife is Venezuelan, but to many white people, that means she's Mexican. And living my whole life as a large white man did not prepare me for the constant slights, acts of rudeness, callousness, and very subtle acts of aggression she deals with everyday.

Racism is alive and well. It's not always so in your face. Racists have learned to be more coy about it. Which is one of the reasons why so many white people refuse to believe it's as real or widespread as it is. Because unless it's Nazis rampaging through Charlottesville or people in Confederate battle gear yelling the N-word, then to most white people, it doesn't exist.

But having seen how it is applied in many ways that most white people would never notice, I can tell you that it definitely does.

[WillowTree]

74. In other words, just because the metro worker was black, it had to have been racially motivated.

Thank you.

[Downtown Hound]

80. LOL. Not even remotely what I said.

But you go ahead and take it however you want (no matter how wrong it is).

[WillowTree]

82. My initial request asked what in the article indicated that this was racially motivated.

You responded with a bunch of verbiage that, while interesting, did not address my question. Thus, I can only assume that the only thing that gives you that impression was that the metra worker was a Person of Color.

[Downtown Hound]

86. No, my point is that your question is impossible to answer

because many people, white people in particular, refuse to accept that racism plays a part in these things unless the perpetrators are decked out in swastikas or confederate flags.

The lady who did this may not normally be racist, could even have a picture of Martin Luther King on her bedroom wall (although I kind of doubt it), and racism could still have factored into her decision because it often takes on subtle forms that sometimes even its practitioners aren't aware of.

There is no proof of any racism behind her actions. But in my experience, things like this tend to happen to black people far more than white people. So it's always something we should consider. I wonder if this author did some serious reflection on herself if she could honestly answer yes that she would have done the same thing if this worker had been white? Of course we will never know. But it is something we as a society should ask and keep in mind if we're ever to move forward.

And I'm aware that the author in question here is Jordanian. That does not mean she can't be racist. Racism exists in all ethnic groups, White people just have more experience with it and have historically had the power and the guns to back it up.

[WillowTree]

91. Actually, my question is very easy to answer.

There is nothing in that article that would lead someone to the conclusion that it was racially motivated except the race of the metra worker. In truth, it may or may not have been, we can't tell. Yet the person who authored post #44 makes an unevoquivicated statement that the perpetrator of this injustice is a "racist woman".

I just really dislike assumptions like that because they give credence in the minds of actual racists that people of color just claim every negative thing that happens to them is because of their race. It just doesn't advance the conversation in any useful way in my mind. YMMV.

[treestar]

105. +1 sometimes it appears every negative white/black interaction

is racism, and that is an extreme.

[Recursion]

107. Neither party here is white (nt)

[happybird]

58. Metro has always been hardcore about enforcement of

the no food or drink rule. Having been made to throw away both food and drinks on the platform more than once over the years, it would piss me off to see an employee eating openly on the train. It wouldn't matter if they were black, white, green, or orange, many riders would be highly annoyed by it.

If employees are forced to take their lunch breaks while riding between stations, they should do it in the little locked rooms at the front of each car.

That being said, I wouldn't report them because that's an asshole move, especially putting a pic on Twitter. What bothers me most about this story is the employees aren't getting proper meal breaks.

[Rambling Man]

50. It's like people have a little slavemaster perched on their shoulders.

[Laffy Kat]

63. I know! nt

[Iggo]

55. You put shit on blast, you better be ready for the comeback.

Now it's not just the distributor, but the publisher as well.

"A publisher says it has postponed a book's publish date and is seeking to officially cancel the project after author Natasha Tynes was accused of shaming a black woman who works for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for eating on the train."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2019/05/11/natasha-tynes-book-deal-halted-amid-metro-shaming-backlash/1176291001/

The Internet is a motherfucker.

[Downtown Hound]

59. If more people just learned to mind their own fucking business

and not police everybody around them, the world would be a happier place. Just sayin'.

[MineralMan]

60. If there's a rule against eating on the train, I won't eat on the train.

However, I'm not going to report someone who is eating on the train to anyone. That would be really dickish of me.

Even though I follow such rules, it's not up to me to enforce them in any way. My line of thinking would be that the person might not know that there's such a rule or has some other reason for eating on the train.

None of my business, really. None at all.

[Rambling Man]

64. or they could be diabetic

or they could just simply be hungry.

Living in a population center is predicated upon "NUNYA" and "MYOB."

[MineralMan]

65. Exactly. I don't understand people who think everything

is their business. That can get you in all kinds of trouble, really.

[treestar]

77. What is the reason for the rule?

That could come into play. I don’t know. If there is a safety concern maybe

[MineralMan]

81. Cleaning. If people can eat on the train, they'll just drop

their fast food bags on the floor of the car and get off the train. Guaranteed. Hell, I've watched people sit and eat their MacDonalds in the parking lot and then toss the bags out the window and drive off. Never mind that there are trash cans right there. Or, they'll eat in the car as they're driving and toss the bags out the window when they're finished, along the road.

That's the reason eating isn't allowed on the trains.

[cwydro]

85. I've traveled through Ireland recently.

Used many intercity trains.

They actually sell food and beverages on board. No problems that I noticed.

[MineralMan]

89. I'm not surprised. Some Americans are uncouth.

We tend to leave messes behind us.

[cwydro]

106. Yeah, no doubt you're right.

Unfortunately, they do tend to have a lot of litter around.

I notice that every time I visit. Go figure.

[treestar]

104. Americans are really bad about littering

In the UK people took their trash with them to throw out later. (I recall looking for trash bins out in the streets in London and there were almost none). It's like they have pride in their city. Here in the US we have trash bins and yet tons of littering.

[CreekDog]

99. you mean they wouldn't do that if there was a law against littering?

how you get to be such a smart man? please regale us with more smartiness sir!

[comradebillyboy]

61. Maybe Tynes should have made a formal complaint to the

Metro management instead of tweeting her obnoxious whine to the whole world. I'm sure there must be a mechanism for customers to complain to the metro authorities.

[4139]

66. Metro Transit Police can arrest you for eating on the train

“Don't

Eat, drink, smoke or litter on Metro vehicles or in stations. Metro Transit Police issue citations or make arrests to enforce the law.”

https://www.wmata.com/rider-guide/rules/

[eShirl]

73. Maybe the author can apply for a job with them, now that her book deal is dead.

[nini]

67. If it wasn't racist it's definitley classist

It's both in my opinion. And that comment was for those who think race didn't play into this. C'mon..have you not been paying attention to the rise of this crap under 45?

That snot can go directly to hell. WHY call out any worker who is trying to get a bit to eat when confined like she is to do her job. Why call out her employer in an attempt to get her in trouble? We know why - she wants to get her fired because she dared not be subservient to her. I wouldn't want to do business with her type either. Good on the publishing company.


Service workers are not those asshole's slaves.

hisssssssssssssssssss

[Bonx]

72. Sorry, but you don't eat on the metro. They are very strict.

And I'm glad. I don't want to sit in someone's mess.

[Iggo]

87. I accept your apology.

[SMC22307]

94. I don't want to sit in anyone's mess either and appreciate the no-eating policy.

But ol' Natasha the Snitch needed to mind her own bleepin' business. Or if she *had* to tweet to @wmata, not attempt to publicly shame the employee by blasting her photo.

[MyNameGoesHere]

78. There's a reason DC metro doesn't look

Like a rat infested garbage dump. Don't eat, drink in Metro.

[Dream Girl]

79. I especially love it when immigrants decide they get to be anti-black racists too.

They get to be real Americans and honorary whites.

[skypilot]

90. Why do some people...

...feel compelled to post every little damned thing on Twitter or Facebook anyway?