Underground Woman: My Four Years as a New York City Subway Conductor (Labor And Social Change)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.90 (830 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1566396107 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 262 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-04-15 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
This personal account has both humor and drama. In 1982, Swerdlow, then a graduate student in sociology, became one of the city's first female conductors. Reading this, straphangers will gain a little compassion for subway conductors--and maybe stop whacking them on the head. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. (``Conductors don't like sticking their heads out,'' Swerdlow tells us, ``because they get deliberately hit by people on the platform.'') This unusual glimpse of the other side of life on the tracks reveals how things look from the conductor's point of view. From Kirkus Reviews 1-55639-610-7 The subway conductor--the man or woman, in a tiny compartment in the train's middle car, whose head emerges when the train stops in a station--is the one who bear the brunt of harried commuters' dissatisfaction with the vagaries of New York City's transit system. She faced shootings and stabbings on her train and sexual harassment from male riders, tells of trac
"Fascinating but condescending view of NYC Transit life" according to Mary Donch (RailScout@aol.com). As one of Marian Swerdlow's seniors in the NYCTA, I don't think any of us thought we were the subjects of a sociologist's eye while we were working with her. It turns out we were, and Underground Woman is the result.Swerdlow's book brings back many memories of my former railroad and the people in it. Many of her anecdotes ring true - at times I was laughing out loud - although I was never aware of . "Fascinating" according to Antsy. If you really want to understand the working conditions of those who recently struck, shutting down NYC for days, this is your book. The subway subculture is mostly invisible to the riders and this is the only book I know of that reveals it. My only objection is to some repetitiveness and disorganization, plus it would have explained a lot to have known that the authors father had worked on trains
In the days when subway cars were canvas for graffiti murals and there were no toilets for women employees, Swerdlow trained in Manhattan's underworld of tunnels and learned how to cope with its dangers and frustrations. This fascinating insider's account from four years on the job is laden with anecdotes that range from the funny to the painful to the absurd.. Take a wild ride through the New York City subway system with author Marian Swerdlow, one of the first women subway conductors