The Standards Have Changed Dramatically

For those not in the know, I've been hired on with the City of Saskatoon and I am currently training to be a bus operator.  I've only jumped through the first hurdle of obtaining my Air Endorsement and, from what I am told, it was also the hardest portion of that quest.  The task now laid before me is learning and retaining the practical side of the Air Endorsement which is basically applying what I know and proving that I understand it. 🤔

Another hurdle to acquiring this position, is obtaining the Class 2 drivers license.  For this, I was prepared and obtain this classification way back when I drove a school bus.  At the time, I did so to better my value within that company, to allow myself to drive charters.  Unfortunately, the company, at the time did not share that belief and we parted way shortly after, but not before I obtained that beloved Class 2 license, which brings me to present day.  Because I already have my Class 2, I needn't take the necessary road test to obtain it.

The class of potential new drivers is quite large, the biggest in years, as described by the instructors.  As such, there's enough students to allow two people for every instructor.  For the past few days, myself and one other fellow have been taking to the streets of Saskatoon to polish our new craft.  However, until yesterday, I'd not gotten behind the wheel of one of these behemoth machines.  Because of my previous experience as a school bus operator and the fact that I needn't take the Class 2 road test, I've passed on driving to allow my cohort to get in the necessary practice for his driving test next week.  The extra free time allows me to sit in the back of the bus and study my notes, learn from his travels and simply look at the world around me as it passed by at 45km/h.

In the past couple of days, as we drove the most likely route that the examiner will take my fellow pupil on, we've driven past the company Standard Machine.  The company, as described on its website, is such that it provides machining and manufacturing services to (I'm going to paraphrase as it's quite lengthy and I don't wish to bore the two people who actually read my shit) mining, military, marine, oil and gas, and even aerospace industries all over the world.  The facility located on 60th Street is quite gargantuan, but I remember it when it was a small company located on Faithfull Avenue.

My dad worked there when I was quite young, well before I ever attended public school, so I was probably four years old or so, maybe?  My dad worked days and my mom would come to pick him up.  Her practice back then, just as it is today, is to show up way too early for anything and this was no different.  I recall the front bay doors of the building were open.  It was very warm inside and opening the bay doors would allow for a breeze to sweep through the shop, comforting the employees in the process. 

When my mom would show up, I'd immediately spring from the car and run in to see my dad.  Locating him quickly, I'd stand next to him as all the busy chaos was happening around me.  My dad would smile and greet me with a "Hey buddy." before returning his attention to the task he was performing.  I don't remember much more than that, other than playing with the metal shavings that were piling at his feet and accompanying him to the break room when the quitting horn would sound.

It's strange.  Given all the safety guidelines and standards that are in place nowadays, but I was allowed by that company, way back then, to stand next to my dad, wearing shorts and a T-shirt and running shoes.  Today, as a worker, you need to wear a reflective vest, a hard hat, coveralls and steel-toed shoes.  And if your family wanted to see what you did, good luck, because that shit ain't never gonna happen.

Can you imagine all the controversy that would erupt if the small son of this fellow were to be standing at his side while the father was working with a piece of equipment this incredible?  The company would go on lockdown, the father would probably be brought up on some sort of charge of Child Endangerment or worse.  Maybe the child would be removed from the home entirely.  Then social media, holy f**k, don't get me started on all the arm chair experts who'd have to weigh in.  My, how the standards have changed.  Granted, much is for the better, but sometimes, I think shit has gotten too strict.  Not just in industry, but life in general.

Today, kids are required to wear helmets and pads and all kinds of protective wear, when riding a bike.  Even if the bike has training wheels and there's no way of it tipping, they need to wear protective gear.  When I was a kid, I never wore any of that shit.  I remember learning to ride a bike and the training wheels would not stay in place and when I'd tilt to one side, instead of ending there, the wheel would shoot back and I'd continue my decent into the gravel.  I grew up on a farm, so when you crashed you bicycle, which I did repeatedly, you'd get a scrape or a cut.  You'd get up, brush the gravel out of the bleeding patch on your knees and you'd try again.  There was no coddling and if you ask me, kids were better for it.  Nowadays, kids bump into a wall and they're instantly crying then there's a follow-up on how can we make hallways more safe for our youth and blah-blah-blah.  If I'd have cried at something as stupid as that, when I was a kid?  I'd have been picked up by the wrist, smacked on the ass, and told to stop crying. Then I would and today, I'm a better person for it.

Not only have the standards of safety changed, but of life in general and while the former is probably for the better, the latter just makes life a pain in the ass.  Life was better before and I miss those days.

Sub Par

 

I have been a fan of Subway restaurants since they first appeared here, in Saskatoon.  I loved the taste of the freshly baked bread versus the packaged buns of their competitors.  Fresh veggies and cold cut meats, versus the packaged products of the other guys. And the friendly service I always got, unlike the other sub shops where the employees acted like they didn't want to be there.  Plus, Subway had another practice that toppled the competition -- the V-cut.

Where every other sub shop that I ever visited, did the traditional hinge cut, where as Subway perfected the cut by introducing a "U-gouge" down the middle of the warm bun, fresh from the oven. Subway proved by cutting their buns in this fashion kept all the fresh toppings inside the sandwich, rather than spilling all over the patron's shirt and all over the table.  This proved especially handy with Meatball subs.  I can remember several occasions of eating at the Mr. Sub with my dad and both of us cursing as the meatballs, heavily doused with tomato sauce, would shoot out the side of the hinge-cut sandwich and deposit themselves in our laps, leaving a saucy trail down our shirts.  In those days, it was not unusual to see customers leaving the restaurant with parts of their meal stained on their apparel. Subway's unique V-cut eliminated that probability.

The history of Subway began in 1965, when a seventeen year old Fred DeLuca borrowed a thousand dollars from his pal, Peter Buck, to open the first restaurant, simply called Pete's Super Submarines, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  Two years later, the duo would change the name to Subway.  Then in 1974, the restaurant began franchising, seeing a second location open in Wallingford, Connecticut.  Soon the restaurant, rising in popularity, would spread across the continental USA, the first Subway restaurant opening on the west coast, appeared in Fresno, California in 1978.  After this it wouldn't take long for Subway's appeal to spread across the world, having approximately 41,600 restaurants, worldwide, by 2021.  Primarily located in continental North America, Subway has roughly 21,800 restaurants in the US, alone, with an additional 2881 in Canada and 758 in Mexico. The rest are peppered across the globe, like parmesan cheese on your favourite sandwich. Fred DeLuca would serve as the company CEO until 2015 when he lost his battle to Leukemia which he'd been battling for the previous two years. Several CEO's have succeeded Fred DeLuca since his passing, including his sister, Suzanne Greco.

It's my opinion that Subway began to falter in the absence of it's founder, Pete DeLuca.  Despite its continued success climbing in numbers, the restaurant seems to have altered the restaurateur's original vision.  It seems like it was around this time when the traditional V-cut was abandoned, replacing it with the problematic hinge-cut.  When asked, I was originally told that people "complained" about the V-cut, but later sources have made claims that it was a safety concern.  The latter excuse makes no sense as the sandwich artists still use a sharp knife to slice through the buns.  If anything, the hinge-cut would be more detrimental as one cuts the bun while holding it with their opposite hand.

Reports lay claim that if you wish your sandwich to be cut the old way, Subway staff are more than happy to oblige.  However, in all the Subway restaurants that I've been in, in Canada, the staff look at you like you've just spoken an alien language, having no clue as to what you're referring to.  There is only one Subway, that I continue to patronize, who knows how to cut the original V-cut.  I went so far as to sing their praises on Twitter, but was contacted by Subway Canada, inquiring as to which location this was, adding that the store was in direct violation of Subway's practices.  I never snitched, because I don't want to lose my preferred method of eating my delicious Subway sandwiches.

Subway restaurants have altered their practices and added options to their menus and subtracted other popular sandwiches and in recent years, as popular as the restaurant chain is, attempted some maneuvers that even an untrained eye would recognize as somewhat desperate.  Granted they had that setback when Jared Fogle, the patron who alleged that he had lost over 200lbs by eating healthy sandwiches from Subway in his native Indiana, who was later found to be in possession of child pornography and having sexual misconduct with a minor.  Fogle was immediately erased from Subway's lexicon and subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison as a result.  On a side note, if you go to YouTube, you can look up comedian Tom Segura's tale of how he was hired and had actually shot some commercials that would never air, where he portrayed Fogle's fat brother, Jerome, who ate all the unhealthy sandwiches and remained fat.  I heard him tell this story on Conan O'Brien and it was f**king hysterical. 

Subway calls their employees, Sandwich Artists, but all the artistry is lost.  The same great taste is their, although in recent times, I've heard people relentlessly criticizing the taste of the bread, claiming they add sugar or something like that.  I don't know, the food tastes the same today as it ever did, as far as I'm concerned.  People just don't seem happy unless they have something to complain about.  Hell, this whole blog complains about how the hinge-cut as much as it praises the restaurant chain on it's uniqueness.

Someday, the proprietor of the Subway that I frequent, will sell her franchise and then the art of the V-cut will truly be dead and that saddens me greatly.  However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  YouTube being the phenomenal site that it is, has people demonstrating how to make the V-cut at home.  At some point, in the not too distant future, I will set aside the kitten videos and game playthroughs and settle in to learn the artistry of the infamous V-cut. Then I can start making my own Meatball subs at home, carefully avoiding the peril of dumping saucy meatballs down my shirt and into my lap.  Tomato sauce is difficult to remove from the sofa upholstery.