So a passenger didnt want his open return season ticket stamped and the guard was in the wrong, okay then.
I said that I told the passenger the guard was correct in what he was saying. The guard was in the wrong for speaking to him in a way which probably made him feel 2cm tall. I don't support colleagues who use browbeating to deal with customers they think are difficult or stupid.
Some people may feel that it's justified, but the person on the receiving end won't always see it that way.
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But its not the first time you've taken the opportunity to attack the grade, last time it was how guards always offload their problems onto the poor old ticket office staff...
That was a specific scenario. A guard chose to send an angry passenger to the ticket office for a handout they weren't entitled to. I've been on the receiving end of people who get emotional over not getting a handout they've been told they'll get and it's not always pretty. Twice, the person became a danger to those around them before the BTP even arrived. One had to be tied up before being taken away. On another occasion, someone tried to thump down my window in a vain attempt to intimidate me. I stand by my suggestion of finding a way to defuse the situation without creating a risk for another front line member of staff.
Exactly, you're just a bloke, not in uniform, stopping him from making it worse for himself, you are an ally, he had no reason to want to take it on with you. In uniform, you would have been an enemy and supporting the b*stard trying to get money out of him. Its easy when you are not in uniform, I've helped someone with missed connections due to delays on an advance (the guard was 6 coaches away at the dispatch position for the station we were approaching and the passenger in question needed to know before we arrived at that same station) and there was no snide comments or snipes about late running. If I do the same in uniform then the comments will flow.
Yes, I've found that a uniform can be a like a red rag to a bull. People see one and feel it gives them a free licence to vent their frustrations. I've learned to let them. I completely agree with your comment about being an "ally." I've even taken on the role of the ally whilst in uniform to defuse an argument. I will back a colleague up with my primary concern being their welfare - not to provide a "united front" that makes the person feel like they are being ganged up on. Given this technique meant making the passenger feel like the member of staff did something wrong, I found it was best to remove one of them from the immediate vicinity. In the end, the situation was defused.
A thin line you seem to assume is easy to see for everyone and anyone who crosses it has no-one to blame but themselves. I naturally smile and have an awful habit of almost smirking when I am nervous, I know I do it but I find it nigh on impossible to control. If I get decked because of it if someone misreads it do I only have to blame myself for pushing someone?
Regardless of blame, if that line is crossed then someone could end up hurt. I feel that being able to spot when to stop and back away is an important part of any job where conflict is likely to happen. The company ought to invest in promising staff for whom this isn't a strong point. I see no shame whatsoever in getting the company to pay for personal development. I certainly would request training if it meant my chances of being assaulted were reduced.
I don't know you personally, but would hazard a guess that it hasn't happened before. As I've said, some people are nutters and would deck people for any reason. Reading between the lines, I'd certainly doubt that it would be your fault if that ever happened.
Then why the attitude that we do nothing but causes ourselves and other problems and seemingly taking a certain amount of glee from outsmarting or exposing problems with guards?
As a customer, I've had some bad experiences with staff being scornful and belittling towards me. It generates a certain feeling within, which I channel into typing up formal reports and posts of a blogging nature. Some people, with a much lower threshold for being demeaned, channel it through their fists in the heat of the moment.
I see quite a few posts on here about rubbish bus drivers and people receiving crap service from clerks at ticket office windows. I don't take offence to it or see it as an attack on the grade, because admittedly I think that there is some foundation to those grievances. I take it in and channel it into developing my own performance. I don't want to end up being posted about on here or complained about!
I've never taken any glee from outsmarting anybody. I wouldn't even call it that. At the moment, I get texts and emails from staff at various TOCs I don't work for who want to find out about certain tickets - I'm more than happy to help them out.
