Oh, just give the city bureaucracy a chance to do something stupid and they'll come up with something. Always. This is their forte. The MTA (they run the subways and buses in New York) told five (5) Sikhs that they cannot wear their turbans on the job. Most of them work in token booths (punishment enough) and one runs a train. In fact, one of them has worked for the MTA for 20 years - wearing the turban.
Well that's what the MTA said at first - no turbans. The Sikhs then filed a protest. The MTA rethought (I use that word loosely) their position and said that they could wear the turbans, but would have to stick an MTA Button on the front of the turban.
So the turban is a religious symbol. Many religions have some sort of a sacred hat. But what in the world could the MTA have been thinking. Oh, I know - the turbans scare people who think that terrorists have taken over the token booths. That must be it.
Yes, their new strategy is to take over the token booths (which don't sell tokens anyway anymore) and hold the metro-cards for ransom.
I believe what's happening is that with the recent events - the MTA is beginning to believe that it is some kind of para-military operation and that the best way to get organized is to make sure that everyone wears the same uniform.
My own suggestion is that they get the announcements to be audible on the trains before they tackle the terrorists.
3 comments:
Whoa! I didn't know the MTA was headed by Jaques Chirac!
The MTA is headed by: Peter S. Kalikow.
Mr. Kalikow is the former owner and publisher of the New York Post, the oldest daily newspaper in America, founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1801.
I kid you not.
Right after 9/11 a man was reported exiting a subway hatch near Battery Park. He was wearing a turbin. The police were called. Turned out that it waa, if my memory is correct, the Chief Engineer of the MTA who was on an inspection with other employees.
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