Metro and Herald AM in your face

Propellerhead

I am now fed up of having free newspapers that I never read being thrust into my face at Heuston.

This morning I was running to try and get on a tram but one of the vendors stepped out in front of me and attempted to get me to take one of their contributions to the city's litter problems. Needless to say I missed the tram.

Why is considered necessary to have these unfortunate people thrusting their papers at everyone? :mad:

Varkov

Most of these distributers don't thrust them in your face, they offer them with an outstretched arm and give you a "good morning" or something similer.

And I doubt the 3 seconds it takes to step around him really caused you to miss your tram (luas).

paulm17781

Varkov wrote: »

And I doubt the 3 seconds it takes to step around him really caused you to miss your tram (luas).

You'd be wrong. In Stephen's green they used to stand well back from the platform, now they are on the platform as people are trying to leave. This wouldn't cause you to miss your tram but they are definitely in the way. I can easily see them causing people to miss their trams in a busy location. Perhaps a letter to IE / RPA about the problems they're causing commuters with an insistence that they (metro / herald AM) install recycling points where they operate.

Tom Dunne

Varkov wrote: »

Most of these distributers don't thrust them in your face, they offer them with an outstretched arm and give you a "good morning" or something similer.

And I doubt the 3 seconds it takes to step around him really caused you to miss your tram (luas).

I beg to differ.

Two of them stand at the bottom of the escalator in Connolly, meaning anyone getting off it have to turn left or right to avoid plowing into them.

Plus, I even noticed this morning, they had gone onto one of the trams and left a paper in each seat. They should be done for littering.

tv3

I didnt know they grab your hand and lock the paper onto your hand so you have to take it:rolleyes:

towger

There used be a guy at the junction of Clontarf Road and Alfie Byrne road in the mornings who used to push the button on the pedestrian lights so that the traffic turning left onto Alfie Byrne road had to stop. As soon as the lights went green he'd push the button again so he had a nice queue of "customers". :mad:
He's gone now ..... kidnapped I'd assume ( not by me ..... but I was close ! )

AlekSmart

There is little doubt but that the "Free" Newspaper lark is subtly changing.
It would appear that some added pressure now exists on the unfortunate vendors (pushers?) to dispense with their stock.

One individual at Leeson St Bridge had taken to waiting for Buses to stop,whereupon he would simply stuff as many tightly folded copies as he could fit through the open window before scurrying away to do the Bus behind.

This entire practice is to my mind unsustainable in several different ways,not least of which is ecological.

The scale of waste involved is immense,unless of course substantial numbers of "customers" are amassing a catalogued record of every Herald AM/Metro issue a la the National Library.....:(

Tom Dunne

AlekSmart wrote: »

It would appear that some added pressure now exists on the unfortunate vendors (pushers?) to dispense with their stock.

It certainly seems that way.

Personally, I despise the trashy/tabloid nature of such "publications" and never accept one. I am constantly amused at the reaction from the "pushers" when I decline. The really seem to take it personally.

Galvasean

Next time just wave a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses in their face.
That'll show 'em!

trellheim

they're paid peanuts to do a very crappy job and theyre monitors are secretly keeping an eye on them to give out as many copies as possible.

Why, you may ask ?

It's all about audited circulation, which directly translates into

Advertising spend

which translates into

Quids in for the paper.

Rawr

Only ever used to take the Metro paper to read the Nemi cartoon, as almost all of the 'news' inside is what I had read already on-line the night before.

For the longest of times, Leixlip Louisa-Bridge was free from Metro / Herald AM. But the freebies probably caught on that the station was well used and eventually they posted Metro 'pushers' on the bridge next to the station. Although I have to say they were never all that annoying, and they handed papers out in more of a 'take it or leave it' fashion. The Leixlip pusher was one of the kind who simply left an opened bundle of papers on the bridge-ledge for people to take themselves. A simple strategy that seemed to work well.

Although it is clear for many to see that our busses and trains have a lot more noticible litter thanks to these papers. Back when I was in college, I would take a midday train and find it to be fairly clean. These days if I do the same, I'll often see bits of these rags all over the place.

loyatemu

Rawr wrote: »

Only ever used to take the Metro paper to read the Nemi cartoon

oh god no...

shenanigans1982

This aint just the free newspapers, I have noticed the people selling them have become slightly more aggressive (probably not the best word) in their attempts to get you to buy them.

weehamster

Needless to say I missed the tram.

I wondering how long you had to wait for the next tram.

OldGoat

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

This aint just the free newspapers, I have noticed the people selling them have become slightly more aggressive (probably not the best word) in their attempts to get you to buy them.

I've found just the opposite, I'm now being assulted with SuperNice paper-pushers. As I walk to the station they check the platforms and holler out "Two Minutes to next train". Handy admittadly but then they follow this up with a "Hello - Good Morning". The double barrelled greeting is not a crime admittadly and it would probably be very plesant if it wasn't for the fact that they then follow this greeting with a hearty, smiley, cheery ...[Shudder]..."Have a nice day".
I understand that dosen't sound bad but hearing it day after day after day grates on the nerves. And hearing it delivered in the same sing-song tone, delivered by rote, just makes it more irratating.

paulm17781

I do feel for the vendors, it's an awful job and generally I am polite back. I never take the papers as they're awful. That said, I'm guaranteed to find one on the Luas where I will read it, take it off the Luas and bin it after use, I actually get shocked when people just put them on the ground.

Fratton Fred

there is now the London Lite and the London Paper now, so in London you get it both ends of the day.

Mind you they are not as aggressive as the guys in Dublin. I used to pick up copies of both and read them on the Dart (filling about 7 monutes of my 20 minute journey:rolleyes:) and then get people trying to give them to me when i got off at connolly and then about three times up O'connell street.

The guys at glasthule weren't too bad (they put the papers together so each one would hand both papers to people coming from one direction, good idea i though) but the guys in O'Connell street were almost mugging you in reverse

Propellerhead

Having to stop and swerve out of the way did add enough seconds to allow the tram doors to close by the time I got to them. Walked on and the next tram caught up with me at Smithfield.

It's not the missing the tram that annoyed me, it's having someone stepping in front of me when it's obvious that I have no intention of stopping.

OldGoat's station sounds horrendous. I'd either change my station or get the headphones on.

1huge1

Meh I don't mind it at all, not much in this life is free and there just doing their job and i've never had any problem getting around them.

In UL in the mornings the ones working for irish times can be pushy at times giving out their free newspapers but thats because most people want them and theres a big crowd.

Acacia

I feel kind of sorry for them. They're just doing their job really, and it must be quiet hard, standing in the cold every morning, having to say 'good morning' over and over again, people ignoring you,etc. Sometimes I take one, sometimes I leave it. It is causing an environmental problem though, I always see bits of Metros and Herald Am's flying around or smushed into the ground. It's even worse when it rains.

markpb

There's a very simple way to avoid this. Grab a copy of each from the first peddler you meet and hold them in front of you for the rest of your journey. Watch with satisfaction as they quickly discard you from their sight and dive out of your way to find their next victim. If you're particularly averse, keep tomorrow's copy with you every morning so you'll never be offered another copy again.

Ste.phen

Where does one get tomorrow's copy?
I used to have a cat that'd drop it outside my door, but then I moved.

Victor

paulm17781 wrote: »

Perhaps a letter to IE / RPA about the problems they're causing commuters with an insistence that they (metro / herald AM) install recycling points where they operate.

info AT luas.ie

http://www.irishrail.ie/contact_us/contact_sw_feedback.asp

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Plus, I even noticed this morning, they had gone onto one of the trams and left a paper in each seat. They should be done for littering.

they have an agreement where they have to remove all the papers in the depot.

KTRIC

Igy wrote: »

Where does one get tomorrow's copy?
I used to have a cat that'd drop it outside my door, but then I moved.

very good

markpb

Igy wrote: »

Where does one get tomorrow's copy?
I used to have a cat that'd drop it outside my door, but then I moved.

Har har! :-)

Propellerhead

Here's my solution and it covers a number of things that are now annoying me about my commute.

It's headphones and my radio, tuned to BBC Radio 4 and the Today programme, away from this self obsessed little backwater, and a good walk in the morning. My local station is charging for car parking from Monday, so Official Ireland wants me to pay for the privilege of parking at the station, be annoyed at both ends by Metro hawkers and listen to an ear bending safety announcement on the train, in both official languages and twice over.

Insulation from local reality? Most definitely! I do not want to be sold anything or made learn useless phrases in an language that I never use or never will have cause to use, unless someone has cunningly hidden a Gaeltacht somewhere in North Kildare that I haven't stumbled on yet in the last thirty eight years.

This is my own two fingers to enforced conformity. Small and petty they may be but it's my own small declaration of independence.

OldGoat

Propellerhead wrote: »

This is my own two fingers to enforced conformity. Small and petty they may be but it's my own small declaration of independence.

Vive la Révolution!!
(I thought about translating that into an official language of the state but then I decided that I'm all for polyglotism )

Kashkai

Jeez, some people will complain about anything really. The Herald AM and Metro paper pushers are just doing a sh!tty job, probably for sh!tty money and usually in sh!tty weather but they normally have a smile for the rest of us grumpy morning commuters.

Now if you want to complain about someone, then I'd suggest the Chuggers aka the charity muggers who harrass people for their bank details for various charities in the street.

Sean9015

paulm17781 wrote: »

You'd be wrong. In Stephen's green they used to stand well back from the platform, now they are on the platform as people are trying to leave. This wouldn't cause you to miss your tram but they are definitely in the way. I can easily see them causing people to miss their trams in a busy location. Perhaps a letter to IE / RPA about the problems they're causing commuters with an insistence that they (metro / herald AM) install recycling points where they operate.

Stephens Green is a definite issue. They were on the platforms last year, and I did contact LUAS to complain. Some time later, they seemed to stay at the ends of the barriers, but I agree they have moved back onto the platform to "meet" arriving trams, and do cause significant congestion in the peak. THey seem to aim at alighters, which seems pointless as their "colleagues" are at most stations down the route, as someone said you can easily find one on the tram if you want one.

The whole set up is wasteful, and also costs the operators in clearing up - which goes on our fares. I would ban the lot....

And as for the one outside the Bus Stop shop on Gaiety Corner saying "morn, Med" over and over...........:mad:

Del2005

Sean9015 wrote: »

The whole set up is wasteful, and also costs the operators in clearing up - which goes on our fares. I would ban the lot....

Doesn't cost them a penny, the suppliers have people employed to clean up.

SteM

It really does seem pointless offfering them to people who are effectivley at the end of their commute - getting off the luas at St Stephens Green or Connolly. In London when I used to get the Metro I'd pick it up at the tube station as I got on, read it on the tube and then put it in the recycling bin at work. I never remember people trying to give them out on the street, they were always piled in the tube stations for people to pick up if they wanted to.

Ste.phen

SteM wrote: »

It really does seem pointless offfering them to people who are effectivley at the end of their commute - getting off the luas at St Stephens Green or Connolly. In London when I used to get the Metro I'd pick it up at the tube station as I got on, read it on the tube and then put it in the recycling bin at work. I never remember people trying to give them out on the street, they were always piled in the tube stations for people to pick up if they wanted to.

This is how it worked in Boston too, they gave them out at mid-range suburban stations and you read it on the way to the city centre

It really does seem pointless offfering them to people who are effectivley at the end of their commute - getting off the luas at St Stephens Green or Connolly

Well, for a lot of people it isn't the end of their commute. I used to get the LUAS to Stephens Green then walk to the DART station to go to the north side.

Anyway, these paper pushers have started to get on my nerves recently. There are just way too many of them. I was doing a course off Parnell Street recently, and I'd usually get the Metro at my local DART station to read on the train, then put it in the recycling at Tara. I'd then be accosted by the pushers outside Tara station, on O'Connell bridge and then about every 5 steps up O'Connell Street. It was like an obstacle course. You'd avoid one and the next would jump out at you. It got really irritating after a few days. There's no need for that many of them. And it is creating a serious litter problem - I don't care who they've employed to clean up - the place looks an absolute mess. Got on the luas today and it's covered in dirty wet papers all over the floor.

Sean9015

Del2005 wrote: »

Doesn't cost them a penny, the suppliers have people employed to clean up.

Source? Are you absolutely sure about that? Are there staff from both Metro and Herald doing the cleaning, picking up their own papers, or is there a joint arrangement? If so, it is different to the same organisation in the UK, where a bus company I know refused to carry the Metro on-bus due to the additional costs of clearing and disposal of the waste which Metro were not willing to cover.

Anyway, they do not clear the trams out at Stephens Green; or, as far as I can tell, at Sandyford, looking at the number of papers all over the floor.

paulm17781

Sean9015 wrote: »

Anyway, they do not clear the trams out at Stephens Green; or, as far as I can tell, at Sandyford, looking at the number of papers all over the floor.

Someone cleans them off the Luas after morning rush. I have no idea if this is veolia or the papers, I'd imagine Veolia.

Rawr

[quote=[Deleted User];57498695]It was like an obstacle course. You'd avoid one and the next would jump out at you. It got really irritating after a few days. There's no need for that many of them. [/quote]

This is just a guess (with no proof at all), but I've feeling that Metro / Herald pushers and their supervisors are under orders to make it as difficult as possible for the public to avoid these rags.

Remember, they are both essentially a book of adverts with day-old news interlaced into it to make it look like a real newspaper. The outside cover of Metro can often be just an huge advert stapled over the whole thing.

So like any advert, this has got to reach as many people as possible. As Miranda Spoiled Logger says there, there is no need for that many Herald/Metro folk. True enough, if you really wanted a Metro/Herald, you would have no problem in getting one. However, I'm guessing that the freebie 'newspapers' have an overriding need to make sure that no soul is spared of thier rags.

I also guess that they go to their advertisers and say that they reach X amount of the public, and charge for that. Then this creates to need to increase coverage, to charge more or get more advertisers in, creating the need to increase coverage again...and so on....

I could be completly wrong, but this is the impression I'm getting.

alkev

towger wrote: »

There used be a guy at the junction of Clontarf Road and Alfie Byrne road in the mornings who used to push the button on the pedestrian lights so that the traffic turning left onto Alfie Byrne road had to stop. As soon as the lights went green he'd push the button again so he had a nice queue of "customers". :mad:
He's gone now ..... kidnapped I'd assume ( not by me ..... but I was close ! )

Sounds like the guy who shoved in 3 copies one morning and 4 the next before I learned to keep my car window shut at that spot !!