There is this sentiment in the news today, with the internet and all “competing” with the “real” news. That sentiment is “who cares about the facts, as long as I report it first”. And this sentiment sickens me. Seriously.
I have been having issues with my laptop charger, so I haven’t been on my computer quite as much this week. So I totally missed the other day’s story about the person getting killed by the 6 train at 77th Street. Maybe it was good I missed it. Maybe because the story was complete and utter bullshit. Check out the story on The New York Times‘ website, and read the comments. You will see something drastically different than what the story reports. Why? Because the story was changed as the “real” information came in.
Apparently the original story reported that a young girl was struck by the train. Not only that, witnesses report that the girl was possibly pushed off the platform, as students were horsing around. That is pretty fucked up. A person getting pushed? That is murder on the subway! But hey, guess what, that story was completely false. It is now reported that the person that was struck was not a child, but a forty-eight-year-old woman named Rose M. Mankos. And not only was she NOT pushed, the story now reports that she dropped her bag on the tracks, and JUMPED DOWN TO RETRIEVE IT. That on the other hand is NOT murder. That is complete and utter stupidity. I am so sorry, but that woman got what she deserved. You may call me heartless, but if you jump down on the tracks, you are an idiot.
People, never, never, NEVER go down on those damn tracks. Just don’t do it. Losing something on the tracks does happen. New York City Transit estimates that it happens perhaps twelve to fifteen times per day. If you do lose an item, you need to report it to a police officer or employee. There is an Emergency Response and Track Lubrication Division, and they respond to these events. Once the call is made, a track specialist responds and will retrieve the item. It may not happen instantaneously, and you may have to return later to pick up the item, but at least you will be safe. Life is worth more than whatever stupid possessions you may have dropped. You can buy a new iPod. But your poor family members (whom I am truly sorry for… having to identify that mangled mess of your daughter / sister in the morgue) can’t buy another you.
Note: This post has been edited, because I am a moron and wrote that this happened Friday, when in reality it occurred on Thursday. Talk about criticizing the “media,” hah! It has also been updated to reflect the response I got from NYCTSubwayScoop on Twitter regarding the procedure for retrieving a lost item.
I’m one of the unfortunate people who lost a (brand new 400 dollar) iPod on the 7 Train tracks. There was NO WAY in hell I was jumping down there for it. I went and got a station agent and an hour and a half later, help came. They looked down there for over half an hour and it didn’t turn up. They theorized someone *else* jumped down there when I went to get help. I can’t imagine anyone being so crazy but obviously people are. What a horrible, horrible way to die and the poor train conductor and people that witnessed it. Just terrifying.
It’s heartless but it’s true. It drives me mad when people are killed on railway tracks through their own stupidity, and yet somehow the train companies get the blame. Train tracks are dangerous: end of. If you drop something down there, kiss it goodbye.
My sympathies are always with the driver in these cases. Totally unfair on him.
You’re right. For that driver, just knowing that you killed someone is terrible, even if it wasn’t your fault. I wouldn’t be surprised if the family tries to sue the city somehow and win. I recall reading a story about a drunk fratboy that fell off the platform and lost his leg. Totally his fault, but he managed to extract quite a bit of money from city/the MTA.