Protesting for tuna : cat

[–] [email protected] 77 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Have you tried pspspsing the cat ?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Nchmchnch works too

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I prefer pshpshpsh

[–] [email protected] 39 points 9 months ago (1 children)

21 MAY 2021:

Delays and cancellations to trains between Manchester and London due to 'overhead wire problem' Trains may be delayed by up to 90 minutes or cancelled

[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago (2 children)

The name of that cat? "Wire"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No, the cats name is "Leaves on the line"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

And the short form if it is LOL

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Jesse, for the last god damn time, it's copper

[–] [email protected] 34 points 9 months ago

As Denmark's queen abdicated and Frederik X became (hopefully our last) king, I was forwarding this in the family group chat with the comment "more important things are also happening in the world right now"

[–] [email protected] 33 points 9 months ago (1 children)

For anyone interested, this happened in 2021, as reported on by The Guardian.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

After a two and a half hours, the standoff came to an end when a bin was pulled up beside the carriage, giving the animal a platform on which to disembark.

The feline appeared unbothered as it alighted the train, according to station staff, who described it as “swaggering off” into the night as though it had other places to be.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago

Swaggering off? Fucking cats, man

[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Imagine having to call your boss and tell them you're late for work because of some random cat.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Imagine having to cat call your boss.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

I get your point but easy, if you have a meeting with him or a customer you're gonna be late for.

[+] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

[deleted]

[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I did this as a bus driver. Homeless people would fall asleep and not wake up. We weren't allowed to touch them. So I would go outside the bus and smack the window. 99% of the time the jumped up.

[+] [email protected] -30 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

If you're talking about the end of the day and you need everyone off the bus, ignore this post.

However, if you're talking about regular day operation and you're trying to remove someone from the bus who is doing no harm, then you're an asshole. They have it hard enough already, leave them alone.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 9 months ago (2 children)

So the driver should just go to the depot, lock the bus up at night with the person fast asleep inside? At some point, paying passengers have to leave the bus.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

You are right, I hadn't considered the end-of-day scenario where you want everyone off the bus. I assumed the scenario was regular everyday operation and the driver wanted to remove an “undesirable” from the bus. I will edit my post.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Most busses don't have locks btw. They are door lockouts, but if you know how to drive they are easy to access. Most don't go over 62 mph and have more cameras than an airplane. They have GPS and everything. Where they gonna go?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

You don't understand how bus driving works. The end of the run doesn't mean you stay and do the same thing all day long. You routinely need to deadhead to another spot and it may be the only time that they have to eat or use the restroom. And then it gets eaten up by someone sleeping and not reacting to the calls on the intercom or anything else.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

or just start moving the train slowly? surely the cat will realize they're in a bad spot and jump off

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

The cat was dangerously close to being electrocuted, so I guess inciting panic was avoided on purpose.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 9 months ago

For crying out loud, throw water at it.

[+] [email protected] -37 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (7 children)

Genuine question: why don't they just start the train? Best case, the cat jumps off. Worst case, it dies but the train continues. Is there something else? Is the presence of the cat on the roof a safety issue?

Edit: I'm asking from the train operator's perspective. Obviously we want the cat to be safe and well, but a train company with a timetable doesn't care about that, so I wondered what's actually stopping them from just starting the train and potentially killing the cat.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Maybe they don't want to kill the cat?

[–] [email protected] 35 points 9 months ago (1 children)

So you think it’s acceptable to kill an animal so people aren’t late?

Should the cat know better? I’m not sure cats comprehend timetables.

[+] [email protected] -17 points 9 months ago (2 children)

No, I don't think it's acceptable. But my question wasn't about me, nor about ethics. There's no way a train operator with a timetable cares about animal well-being or any other question of ethics. I'm curious what the real reason is.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Why on earth would a train operator care about timetables over basic ethics? They are human beings, not robots, you know?

The controller and driver both get paid either way, and I'm sure the train driver is used getting home late on occasion - and I expect they get overtime pay, so he may well be laughing anyway.

And the controller, or whatever they're called, will just be seeing it as a PR issue. The slight lost money on the refunds (that passengers actually bother to put through) is easily worth the good PR.

Edit: Missed random words, impatient brain running too fast for fingers.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I do applaud your optimism. Wish I could have that same rosy view. Unfortunately company executives have shown time and again their true motives. You are of course correct that they are not robots; however, studies do show that they are disproportionately psychopathic compared to the general population, and the behavior of companies often reflects that quite visibly. Profits and the interests of stakeholders always take priority over basic human decency. It would definitely be refreshing if that is not the case here.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You’re missing a fundamental part here. The company execs are not the ones deciding whether to delay a train with a cat on the roof.

That’s the driver and conductor, who are paid hourly or salaried. The execs don’t even know there is a cat on the roof.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Not trying to get personal or anything, but it sounds like you've never been an employee in this kind of organization. It is absolutely the higher-ups (line managers; not necessarily the CEO) who decide whether a train conductor is allowed to delay a train for reasons like this. Employees such as these are under constant stress and pressure to perform to expectations or risk negative evaluations, which can lead to the next raise being denied or, in some cases, dismissal. In many organizations with schedules, timetables, deadlines etc., employee evaluations often depend on coldly calculated heuristics such as proportion of on-time arrivals, not on a human evaluation like how nice you are to animals. Your delayed train just drops you in the statistics and “there was a cat on the roof” simply does not factor into those statistics. This is a direct consequence of the profit motive where “productivity” or “employee performance” is considered more important than peripheral considerations like animal well-being.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

My assumption is our laws don’t allow endangering animals, so perhaps they don’t care from a moral standpoint but they will care about repercussions from the law and also the optics of it.

Also, if you’ve never been on Uk trains, we don’t need a reason for them being late. They’re oft late.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This could lead to traumatized customers and a bad image as heartless company.

(or be a total win if the cat stays on top and became the new mascot; but guess they don't want to take the risk)

[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Even if killing cats for any reason, either deliberately or accidentally, is legal in the UK there are still two potential problems with starting the train: Terrible PR when the story gets out and opening your company up to potential civil litigation from the cat’s human as well as anyone else traumatised actually witnessing or contractually obliged to participate in (e.g. Driver) said death of cat. In summary, your brand takes a hit and you may lose money. As an added bonus a late train is less newsworthy in the UK than a funny cat so by delaying the train you might even generate good PR at no cost.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Those are all fair points. Still unfortunate that it's still down to money even in your explanation, but it makes sense.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Yeah. Good point. I should’ve explicitly said in a final sentence that the decision ultimately comes down to protecting / increasing shareholder profit and management bonuses; and nothing else.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah because them killing the cat is going to play sooo well for their reputation.

[+] [email protected] -6 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I just really don't think that they would care. It's easier to spin it as, “We didn't know the cat was there, what a tragedy” than to appease all the passengers who are now late and frustrated.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Why do you hate train drivers so much!?

A small delay for a single train, on a network of thousands, is not enough for the "evil train company" employees, that you seem to think that they all for some reason.

The world isn't quite as black and white as you seem to believe it is!

[–] [email protected] -2 points 9 months ago

One, it's not the train drivers calling the shots here; the train drivers (like all employees) are stringently controlled by management.

Two, it's not “hate” to observe that companies just don't care about ethics and well-being. I thought most of us agreed on this, even the company executives themselves: when ethics conflict with profits, profits are always the higher priority.

Three, this isn't what “black and white” means.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Lol I really doubt that.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Bad take after bad take from you. SMH.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

The train company might not care about ethics, but they're gonna care about PR