Ceres: What brought you to this job as a bus operator?
Robert: I came to this job as an opportunity for one of my friends, just to give him moral support. That was the reason why I applied, to help him out, just so that he would go and have enough courage to apply for a good job. Come to find out, I actually enjoy this job, and it's one of the best jobs I've ever had.
Ceres: How long have you been a bus operator?
Robert: I have been an operator since 1993. I worked three and a half years part-time, and the rest have been full-time. I think I now have about eighteen and a half years under my belt, and I’ve never changed anything as far as how I treat people out there. I always give them a smile, say good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, letting them know that they should have a nice day, just like I should.
Ceres: What’s your take on women working as bus operators?
Robert: I have no problem with that, at all. There are great female operators out here, they can outmaneuver anybody that I know of. In fact, we have women that have worked over 30 years with no accidents. It's a good job, if you can handle the people, even the mean ones.
Ceres: Do you know of any safety issues that affect female operators?
Robert: Safety… I think it's more of a general thing that's going on. It's not just the women, it's also the men, although the women are just an easier prey. It affects everybody, and I think MTA is doing a good job, right now, as far as providing the safety cages—I think that is what they're called. They just came up with them, and I think it's a great idea as far as protecting the operators.
Ceres: How is your work relationship with female coworkers?
Robert: They are more like family to me, all the women that we have in the division, even the ones at the past divisions that I've worked with, it’s all family. We all look out after each other. I don't know if you've ever noticed, every time we pass by buses going the opposite way or the same way, we all wave at each other, just to show: “Hey, I’m okay!” We're all doing okay.
Ceres: We hear all the time that women can’t drive.
Robert: Not at MTA. A lot of the female operators, just like I said, can outdo anybody out there. I mean that they start off, well maybe a little bit slow, but when they get their years in, they can outdo anybody.
Ceres: If you could change something about your job, what what would it be?
Photo by Lands of Void
Robert Advincula
is a coach operator for Metro (MTA). He was born in the Philip-pines, and came to the US with his family when he was 10 years old. He went to college to study Admi-nistration of Justice, but never got to use his degree.
"They are more like family to me, all the women that we have in the division, even the ones at the past divisions that I've worked with..."
63 - Ceres Magazine - Winter 2016