Sack and Charge This Idiot

What sane society allows a train driver to stop the train and call the police because passengers would not stop singing?

The worst thing about this incident is that we have become a society in which it is possible for a train driver to form the belief that not just is it reasonable to tell singing passengers to stop, but it is also justifiable to call the police and so grossly exaggerate the events that 15 to 20 officers turn up with sniffer dogs and the train is stopped for a significant period of time.

According to the article, Queensland Rail says that "neither the driver, nor the guard called police". Who believes that without corroboration?

How come 15 to 20 police, plus dogs were waiting for the train at the next station?

Reading quotes from the article, passengers were simply singing loudly. No swearing or bawdy songs, nothing yobby; just happy people enjoying themselves. There were children on the train. None of their parents reported concerns about any of the behaviour.

The police made no arrests.

There is one person who should be arrested: the driver. There are plenty of possible charges: public nuisance, wasting police resources, making a false report to police. There is no way 15 or 20 police would turn up to a train station unless the driver had grossly exaggerated and possibly even fabricated events.

Now the passengers are probably thinking what aggressive dickheads the police are. This may be very unfair. How do we know the driver didn’t report a violent disturbance by a large group? The police would have had to respond in force to a complaint like this. Which is precisely why they should throw the book at this turd.

Additionally, the driver should be sacked by Queensland Rail. If the union tries to bung on an act, take them to court. Any union bloody mindedness in a situation such as this is precisely why we need legislation preventing strikes by vital services such as public transport, fire brigades and hospitals. For such highly unionized, public service industries, the Fair Work Ombudsman should be equipped to handle legitimate grievances (and dismiss illegitimate ones).

It has always been the case that some people in positions of authority have misinterpreted a sense of entitlement as a licence to abuse their power for personal reasons. Free societies recognize this and censure it.

It appears a more recent development is for absolute peons such as train or bus drivers, bar staff, council workers, clerks etc. to believe they actually have some meaningful authority. Those with a sufficiently weighty chip on their shoulder seem increasingly bent on trying to include the rest of us in this delusion by making absurd requests under the guise of pretend rules.

If we tolerate this, they will not only keep doing it, but become emboldened to even more bullshit. Make formal complaints, find out their names and publish them wherever you can. Make sure they are aware that the consequences of trying it on with you will not be worth it.

Perhaps this more recent development of shitkickers believing they can get away with bunging on acts is a symptom of Western society’s increasing emphasis on rights over responsibilities.

To the train driver: Your responsibility is to drive the fucking train and stop it at the stations. It’s not hard. That’s why you don’t get paid as much as say, an engineer or an airline pilot. Your right is to collect your pay each fortnight and have a work environment free from violence. You do not have a right to stop passengers from singing loudly and in particular, you do not have a right to hold up 400 passengers while you make a false complaint to police because you are unhappy with your pathetic, loser life.

Hopefully the police will charge this idiot and the press will publish his name and address. Maybe some of those inconvenienced passengers can tell him personally what they think his rights and responsibilities are.