Page 11 - MyMetraNewsletter-Summer2021.indd

CREW SPOTLIGHT
Humberto Ramirez
How did you decide to start the
mask-making project?
When everything started happening,
the first thing my wife wanted to do
was find a way to help, so it started with
making masks for the immediate family
and spread out from there. We set up in
the garage, and everyone, including the
kids, would help out.
What do you enjoy most about
the job?
You approach each day with a positive
attitude, and you meet a lot of people. I
know COVID’s made it weird right now,
but before COVID, you’d interact with a
lot of people and you make relationships.
What are you most looking
forward to at Metra as we reach
the end of the pandemic?
I would like to see people come back
downtown, see the buildings flowing like
they were before.
MyMetraNewsletter-Summer2021_RW.indd 11
MyMetraNewsletter-Summer2021_RW.indd 11
What do you want our passengers Mr. Ramirez has
to know about your job? worked for Metra for
We have so much going on at once, and 26 years and for 24 of
we’re moving 70 miles an hour. We’re those years he’s been
juggling so many things in the air and we a conductor on the
can’t afford to drop one. Number one is
the operation of the train, communicat- Milwaukee District. He
ing with the engineer, the assistant con- received a My Metra
ductor and all the other things that fall honor this spring after
under safety. The second most important
he and his wife made
thing is the loading and unloading of
passengers. Then, there’s the clock. We’ve masks for other workers
got a schedule to keep, transfer points at a time they were in
where people have to catch other trains, short supply.
buses, whatever. It gets stressful.
What’s the key to good service?
In this job, you have all this training,
all these rule books and procedures
that you have to follow, but you’re
going to run into circumstances that
aren’t in the playbook. You’re going to
have to use good judgement and make
the best decision and do the right thing
by the customer.
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7/26/21 8:48 PM
7/26/21 8:48 PM