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About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

On the evening of this past Christmas, an MBTA dispatcher was working the lonely, Christmas-day evening shift when an idea for an amusing joke occurred to them. This clever dispatcher programmed the announcement PA at Park Street to sing "Deck the Halls." The PA continued to announce train arrivals, lest no one miss out on finding out that a train was now approaching. But in addition, the dispatcher had the amusing idea to add in "Deck the Halls", complete with the Fa-La-La-La etc., which is pretty outright funny when you consider it's being read by a robotic text-to-voice program. See the video at: http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/12/mbta-prank-delights-riders-gets-dispatcher-hot-water/YVxBd9RTslE1l7SbunOdnO/index.html.

So, in the wake of the calamitous event that some harmless humor was actually played out on the boards, providing a bit of cheer for those patrons taking the train on Christmas evening, this dispatcher faces written warning, suspension, or termination. As SNL might put it: Really, MBTA? Sure, we like our untrammelled train announcements, but we love the dispatcher's humor just as much. Give him or her a holiday gift, and let it go this once.

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Do Not Discipline the MBTA Dispatcher for a Funny, Harmless Joke

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

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Do Not Discipline the MBTA Dispatcher for a Funny, Harmless Joke

On the evening of this past Christmas, an MBTA dispatcher was working the lonely, Christmas-day evening shift when they had an idea for an amusing joke. He or she (we don't know) programmed the announcement PA at Park Street to sing "Deck the Halls." The PA continued to announce train arrivals, so no one missed out on that. In addition, though, the dispatcher had the amusing idea to add in "Deck the Halls", complete with the Fa-la-la-la verse, which is pretty funny when read by a robotic text-to-voice thing. See the video at: http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/12/mbta-prank-delights-riders-gets-dispatcher-hot-water/YVxBd9RTslE1l7SbunOdnO/index.html.

So, in the wake of the calamitous event that some harmless humor was actually played out on the boards, with some cheer for people taking the train on Christmas evening, this dispatcher faces written warning, suspension, or termination. As SNL might put it: Really, MBTA?
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Sincerely,

[Your name]

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