Author's book publication cancelled after a tweet reporting on a WMATA employee eating on the metro

[Anonymous]

Part of the writer’s original tweet:

“I thought we were not allowed to eat on the train. This is unacceptable. Hope @wmata responds.”

She added, “When I asked the employee about this, her response was ‘worry about yourself.’”

Latest update, this one from Buzzfeed:
“And while the Metro employee will not be facing disciplinary action for eating on the train, she is “hurt and embarrassed” for being blasted on social media, Barry Hobson, a spokesperson for the Metro workers union, told BuzzFeed News Monday.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prominently posted in several places in every Metro train car is the notice (complete with graphical symbols for the illiterate) that eating and drinking, among other conduct, are “[b]strictly prohibited in the Metrorail system. It’s the law. Violation is punishable by fine and/or jail.”

So what part of conduct that is punishable by fine or even imprisonment is ok for a Metro employee, in uniform no less?’

She's black.

Rules and laws don't apply to black folk, you should know that by know.

Don’t be jelly because white folk aren’t the chosen people anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually know this woman, she's not a racist, conflating her stupid tweet with racism is ridiculous. Calling out people is what she does. Why she did it this time, in this fashion, I'm not sure. BUT, she's not a racist.

I don't think she is I just think she's an idiot.

This seemed more classist to me than racist, but I think it also fits in with the overall issue of black people being monitored and policed in a different way from everyone else. I would imagine if NT had done this in the years before BBQ Becky and all those others, it would have been taken differently than it is now.

Bad judgment for a supposed communications expert. But I think it's also worth remembering that this could happen to any of us, who speak without thinking sometimes.

The OP here (op of the comment not thread). Possibly, but knowing her, I can tell you if this was an old white man WMATA employee, she'd have made the same tweet. It wasn't class or race based. Part of her brand is calling out hypocrisy when she sees it. In this case, she made several really bad mistakes. But who of us doesn't. And while I completely understand the hypocrisy sentiment, I'd never have posted the woman's picture. But to drag her through the mud and ask for her head was WAY way crazy of a reaction. I'm a liberal and consider myself both woke and an ally, and I think the reaction to this has been hysterical and vindictive. And Unsuckmetro is trash. I didn't realize this till this whole debacle happened.

Her only mistake was to be brave, and to denounce something that needed to be publicly denounced.

Yes, it’s oh so very brave to take someone’s picture without her permission because you’re upset and want your followers to vindicate you. If she really wanted to change things, she could have omitted or deleted her face. This was personal. Whether the employee was right or wrong is a separate issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No, I do not think anyone should eat on the underground public transport in a city full of rats.

This author was not in the wrong in calling an employee out.

I do not know the reason for the publication cancellation, but if the tweet is really the reason, then it's deplorable. And really weird.

If the employee was a White man then the author would have been lauded. I think the author was correct in tweeting this as a metro customer. She got dinged because the employee was a black female.

If using social media was overreaction, then so was publishing it in WaPo.

What did the Black employee or Metro lose? Nothing. What did the whistleblower lose - quite a lot. She should sue the Metro and her publisher.

That’s the risk you take when you CHOOSE to post someone’s picture without permission. If you did something that reflects poorly on the reputation of your employers, they would have the option to fire you. Why is the relationship between the writer and publisher any different? I’m sure her contract had terms regarding this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually know this woman, she's not a racist, conflating her stupid tweet with racism is ridiculous. Calling out people is what she does. Why she did it this time, in this fashion, I'm not sure. BUT, she's not a racist.

I don't think she is I just think she's an idiot.

This seemed more classist to me than racist, but I think it also fits in with the overall issue of black people being monitored and policed in a different way from everyone else. I would imagine if NT had done this in the years before BBQ Becky and all those others, it would have been taken differently than it is now.

Bad judgment for a supposed communications expert. But I think it's also worth remembering that this could happen to any of us, who speak without thinking sometimes.

The OP here (op of the comment not thread). Possibly, but knowing her, I can tell you if this was an old white man WMATA employee, she'd have made the same tweet. It wasn't class or race based. Part of her brand is calling out hypocrisy when she sees it. In this case, she made several really bad mistakes. But who of us doesn't. And while I completely understand the hypocrisy sentiment, I'd never have posted the woman's picture. But to drag her through the mud and ask for her head was WAY way crazy of a reaction. I'm a liberal and consider myself both woke and an ally, and I think the reaction to this has been hysterical and vindictive. And Unsuckmetro is trash. I didn't realize this till this whole debacle happened.

Her only mistake was to be brave, and to denounce something that needed to be publicly denounced.

Yes, it’s oh so very brave to take someone’s picture without her permission because you’re upset and want your followers to vindicate you. If she really wanted to change things, she could have omitted or deleted her face. This was personal. Whether the employee was right or wrong is a separate issue.

DP. Of course it was personal. If someone tells me to go jump after I point out that they're doing something they're not allowed to do that they've told other people to not do, you can bet I'd be annoyed too. She should have apologized and smiled nicely and at least made up some sort of excuse and said it wasn't something she'd normally do. Or something. The fact is that it *IS* my business if I want to eat on metro and I'm not allowed to do it because I'd get in trouble if a metro employee sees me... and then there's one doing it in front of me who feels immune to the rules.

That arrogant comment quite possibly changed the post from being something with face blurred out to something with face showing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Book deal lady seems like a first class beeyatch but I see nothing wrong with this - a uniformed metro employee breaking the law (or what we all thought the law was until yesterday.) This deserves to get called out and I do t see why race matters to anyone except the wapo reporter and all the faux woke people here.

This isn't the metro worker being rude (if that were a crime ain't enough jails in the world). This was small but criminal behavior by someone who KNOWS better.

Because book lady was seen as punching down. It's a bad look for someone who styles herself as an ally to the underrepresented.

I don't understand why it's so hard for people to understand this.

Because I don’t think that being an ally to the underrepresented means you intentionally look the other way when they are doing something that you think is wrong.

+1.

But, Americans have gone crazy, especially with anything remotely related to skin color.

That’s what happens when you do nothing for centuries about the evils of racism. Eventually the pendulum swings the other way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually know this woman, she's not a racist, conflating her stupid tweet with racism is ridiculous. Calling out people is what she does. Why she did it this time, in this fashion, I'm not sure. BUT, she's not a racist.

I don't think she is I just think she's an idiot.

This seemed more classist to me than racist, but I think it also fits in with the overall issue of black people being monitored and policed in a different way from everyone else. I would imagine if NT had done this in the years before BBQ Becky and all those others, it would have been taken differently than it is now.

Bad judgment for a supposed communications expert. But I think it's also worth remembering that this could happen to any of us, who speak without thinking sometimes.

The OP here (op of the comment not thread). Possibly, but knowing her, I can tell you if this was an old white man WMATA employee, she'd have made the same tweet. It wasn't class or race based. Part of her brand is calling out hypocrisy when she sees it. In this case, she made several really bad mistakes. But who of us doesn't. And while I completely understand the hypocrisy sentiment, I'd never have posted the woman's picture. But to drag her through the mud and ask for her head was WAY way crazy of a reaction. I'm a liberal and consider myself both woke and an ally, and I think the reaction to this has been hysterical and vindictive. And Unsuckmetro is trash. I didn't realize this till this whole debacle happened.

Her only mistake was to be brave, and to denounce something that needed to be publicly denounced.

Yes, it’s oh so very brave to take someone’s picture without her permission because you’re upset and want your followers to vindicate you. If she really wanted to change things, she could have omitted or deleted her face. This was personal. Whether the employee was right or wrong is a separate issue.

DP. Of course it was personal. If someone tells me to go jump after I point out that they're doing something they're not allowed to do that they've told other people to not do, you can bet I'd be annoyed too. She should have apologized and smiled nicely and at least made up some sort of excuse and said it wasn't something she'd normally do. Or something. The fact is that it *IS* my business if I want to eat on metro and I'm not allowed to do it because I'd get in trouble if a metro employee sees me... and then there's one doing it in front of me who feels immune to the rules.

That arrogant comment quite possibly changed the post from being something with face blurred out to something with face showing.

Arrogant? The employee wasn’t breaking the rules per Metro, so she was being polite. Someone else would have told her to eff off. It was arrogant of Tynes to take her picture. She might have thought the employee was entitled, but she took her picture because she felt entitled. If Tynes gets enraged by something so minor (being told off), no business would want to be associated with her.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t read the whole thread, but why was it the author lady’s job to tell the metro lady she was breaking the rules. I get the whole “see something say something” campaign but I thought that was more for life threatening infractions. She could have handled it way differently. Use the train intercom to call the authorities, taken a picture and then take it to metro police. Who probably would have cited her for being a nuisance.

What gave her the right to take the law into her own hands? She isn’t a metro employee. She wasn’t attempting to correct a child. This was another grown adult woman. She has no agency over this woman. What a sense of entitlement. She should have minded her own business.

The poster who tagged her metro molly got it right!

[Anonymous]

UPDATE:

The transit agency’s largest union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 Chief of Staff Barry Hobson said the woman is a bus operator whose schedule that day required her to travel by train from one bus to another during her meal break. He added that the bus operator had not been informed of any disciplinary action by her supervisors.

Metro spokesman Dan Stessel noted that eating in the transit system is against the rules but declined to comment on what action, if any, would be taken against the Metrobus employee.
“This kind of incident wouldn’t be expected to result in more than counseling for a first offense,” he said. “We try to reserve disciplinary action .?.?. for more serious violations directly related to safety and service delivery.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read the whole thread, but why was it the author lady’s job to tell the metro lady she was breaking the rules. I get the whole “see something say something” campaign but I thought that was more for life threatening infractions. She could have handled it way differently. Use the train intercom to call the authorities, taken a picture and then take it to metro police. Who probably would have cited her for being a nuisance.

What gave her the right to take the law into her own hands? She isn’t a metro employee. She wasn’t attempting to correct a child. This was another grown adult woman. She has no agency over this woman. What a sense of entitlement. She should have minded her own business.

The poster who tagged her metro molly got it right!

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Next time you make one bad decision,
let’s take away YOUR livelihood.

And it is public knowledge where she works

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Part of the writer’s original tweet:

“I thought we were not allowed to eat on the train. This is unacceptable. Hope @wmata responds.”

She added, “When I asked the employee about this, her response was ‘worry about yourself.’”

Latest update, this one from Buzzfeed:
“And while the Metro employee will not be facing disciplinary action for eating on the train, she is “hurt and embarrassed” for being blasted on social media, Barry Hobson, a spokesperson for the Metro workers union, told BuzzFeed News Monday.”

The Metro "worker" should be embarrassed. She's been exposed as a lawbreaker and hypocrite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read the whole thread, but why was it the author lady’s job to tell the metro lady she was breaking the rules. I get the whole “see something say something” campaign but I thought that was more for life threatening infractions. She could have handled it way differently. Use the train intercom to call the authorities, taken a picture and then take it to metro police. Who probably would have cited her for being a nuisance.

What gave her the right to take the law into her own hands? She isn’t a metro employee. She wasn’t attempting to correct a child. This was another grown adult woman. She has no agency over this woman. What a sense of entitlement. She should have minded her own business.

The poster who tagged her metro molly got it right!

The riders have to call out people who violate the rules. The other day I was on a Metro train, and some hipster kept putting his shoes on part of the seat where I was sitting. I finally asked him to take his feet down. He actually refused to do it at first and asked what was wrong with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read the whole thread, but why was it the author lady’s job to tell the metro lady she was breaking the rules. I get the whole “see something say something” campaign but I thought that was more for life threatening infractions. She could have handled it way differently. Use the train intercom to call the authorities, taken a picture and then take it to metro police. Who probably would have cited her for being a nuisance.

What gave her the right to take the law into her own hands? She isn’t a metro employee. She wasn’t attempting to correct a child. This was another grown adult woman. She has no agency over this woman. What a sense of entitlement. She should have minded her own business.

The poster who tagged her metro molly got it right!

The riders have to call out people who violate the rules. The other day I was on a Metro train, and some hipster kept putting his shoes on part of the seat where I was sitting. I finally asked him to take his feet down. He actually refused to do it at first and asked what was wrong with it.

But you didn't display his photo to thousands when you did that, right? Hence the difference and the justifiable outrage.

[Anonymous]

If Metro riders are afraid to speak up, the system will continue to define deviancy down.