Follow Up-TTC Gestapo

The public has stepped up, the TTC caved partially to the publicity but nothing from those two oafs Moscoe & Mihevic.

Sun readers step up to the plate after reading the plight of a pregnant mother who ran into a pair of uncompromising transit cops
By MIKE STROBEL

Kaeli Goldman & Son are back on the rails.

They have a new December transit pass.

Indeed, they had more than 100 from which to chose.

Thanks to you.

Yesterday, I wrote of how transit cops busted Ms Goldman, 31, and son Johnny, 4.

Kaeli is single, seven months pregnant, and a freelance magazine writer on a tight-rope budget.

At Queen's Park Station, she and Johnny were nabbed using her $100 December Metropass two days early.

Horrors. Shudder. The brazen thugs.

Kaeli had left her November pass at home, though she had receipts for both.

Two transit cops missed the poignancy of the case.

They stuck to the letter of TTC Bylaw #1, which outlaws "inappropriate fare."

PENALTY

They slapped her with a $110 summons. They seized the December pass as evidence.

Lucky they did not try to put her in chains. Takes a lot of chain to wrap a seven-months-pregnant woman.

Common sense had left the station.

Then you restore my faith.

George Pappas, 34, of Agincourt, reads the column just after picking up his own December Metropa ss.

"She can have it," he offers down the line.

Like most of you, he is galled at the Goldmans' story.

"This is... ineffable," he says.

I look it up. George, you hit the proverbial nail.

Ineffable: Unutterable. Too big to describe in words.

Hmmm. Sounds like "effluent," which fits too.

Anyway, thanks for the Metropass, George.

"I'll pay the fine," says Rogers manager Adrian Small, 38. "It's the right thing to do, just common sense."

For good measure, Elaine Millar, 44, who works in a downtown law office, offers to cover Kaeli's January's pass.

"This was overkill," she says of the big bust. "I know they (the TTC special constables) have a job to do, but circumstances should dictate how they act."

"Foolish," says retired transit driver Peter Grightmire, 68.

"Do those guys have nothing better to do than harass a woman and child?

"They should be looking for people doing something wrong."

"When you serve the public," says John Currie, 51, who fixes water mains for the city, "your job is to satisfy them, not upset them."

"That was just mean," says Elizabeth Anthony, 38.

"I'll buy her a new pass just so the TTC can keep her old one and put it where the sun don't shine," says Shalom Kenigsberg, from Kensington Market.

ANGRY

"It took me 30 minutes to simmer down after reading your column," says Michael Lyons from Whitby.

"With all that is happening in our city, this story leaves me dumbfounded and nearly in tears," writes Doris Schulman.

On and on.

By mid-morning, I lose count of your offers. Johnny and his mom could ride the TTC on your generosity for years.

"I'm astonished," Kaeli gasps down the line after picking up Johnny at junior kindergarten. The kid, born on Halloween, is a Gene Simmons wannabe.

"I didn't expect so many acts of kindness," says Kaeli. "There are no words to describe how selfless they are. But...

"I can't ask these people to give up their passes or give me money.

"I'll be fine. I can even buy another pass. Things will just be a little thinner for a month."

Great. Merry Christmas.

But I can't talk her into it. Then her phone beeps.

It's the TTC.

"They're replacing my pass," Kaeli chuckles, back on the line.

Fine still stands

Hallelujah, though the $110 summons stands.

"The fine I can deal with," says Kaeli. "At least there's some justice in it. I was in fact using the pass too soon."

She expects she'll plead guilty with an explanation.

The TTC won't comment on the case while it's before the courts.

Spokesman Marilyn Bolton says the Metropass was returned "on compassionate grounds.

"Just as I'm sure your readers were feeling compassion."

Yes, though not for the TTC, that's for sure.