A Luas checker’s early morning inspiring behaviour

This week’s column in The

Kerryman newspaper.

Michael Commane

It was 07.10 when the checker boarded the Luas on its way to Dublin’s Broombridge. He is a friendly man, who is often on my early morning tram to check tickets, indeed, we’ve chatted and shared the odd joke. 

He’s a gentle person and friendly too, always polite to passengers when asking to see their tickets.

He approached a passenger asking to see his ticket, the man told him he’d no time to buy one. The checker explained the trams come every few minutes. 

He then asked him for identity, the passenger said he had none. Next question is to ask for his address and Eircode but they don’t match and the checker explains that to the passenger. 

At that the passenger raises his voice and calls the checker an ‘f….cu..’ and then goes on to shout at him that if he were black he would not be treated in such a manner.

That’s exactly what happened. I know. I was sitting beside the passenger. And all the time the checker kept his cool, was always polite but definite with the passenger. He called for assistance and asked the passenger to leave the tram with him at the next stop.

It was an horrific early morning experience; the violence of the passenger was palpable. I was greatly impressed by the conduct of the checker.

The following morning the checker was back on my tram. He told me that the passenger turned more violent on the platform, it was only when he realised that the CCTV was recording his behaviour that he quietened down. 

He was issued a Standard Fare Notice, which means he is obliged to pay €45 within 14 days, failing that he has to pay €100, and if he does not pay that after 28 days it can be a court appearance and a fine of up to €1,000. And all that for not paying a €2 fare.

That’s how the passenger behaved in a public space; how must he behave behind closed doors when he gets annoyed and angry? At all times the checker was clear and polite with him. How must that passenger react when someone challenges him raising their voice or behaving in a like manner? How could a woman or child deal with such behaviour, anyone? 

For someone to argue that foul words are just words and ok to use I can assure them nothing is further from the truth.

The F-word has now gained common parlance, it’s used as a verb, noun, adjective, as an exclamation.

Have we all become too loose with our use of words? 

Always with these type of words there is a veiled anger, annoyance, unpleasantness simmering or lurking behind them. And that passenger is the perfect example of the damage those words can cause.

Over the years I’ve worked in different jobs in different places and what annoys me most of all is how people throw around these words, managers too. 

And those same people can go off and appear in the media and you’d think butter would not melt in their mouths.

I never once heard my mother or father attempt using the F or C-words. 

The Luas checker was a shining light in a moment of darkness.