hrfcarl wrote:I am not sure if I am mixing up Darius with another person: Was he the one who drove a subway as a minor, only discovered for not stopping at stations properly? If yes, then, again if IIRC, I believe he did apply to be an engineer when he came of age, but could not pass the physical requirements. Please correct me if I am wrong.
It is too bad that someone with such enthusisam cannot get a job doing what he loves.
As far as I've read, McCollum drove the train and made all the stops perfectly. No one knew anything was amiss. He was only discovered - and arrested - when he walked back through the train at the last stop to start the return journey uptown.
As far as I've read, McCollum did apply to work for the TA on multiple occasions, but was turned down each time. I am unaware which position(s) he may have applied for at the TA. It's definitely quite sad that McCollum hasn't been able to get a job with the TA doing what he obviously loves, and is obviously qualified, to do.
RussNelson wrote:I would point out that a number of ex-hackers have been hired as security consultants. Not all of them, and some customers would never consider hiring them, but I support the idea of the MTA hiring Darius. I betcha he would make a great historian for an MTA Museum. That would allow him to feed his obsession in a way that ends up being productive. And it would keep him out of the way of operations.
Yep, with Frank Abagnale being one of the most famous cases-in-point.
I'm sure McCollum would be more than knowledgeable enough to be a great historian for an MTA Museum, the problem is more that I don't think McCollum would be interested in being a historian at a museum, even a transit museum. (I could be wrong though, it definitely wouldn't hurt for the MTA to make him an offer and see if he's interested...) My sense is McCollum is more (solely?) interested in directly helping in the transit system...
RearOfSignal wrote:Impersonating federal agents, transit and railroad workers and hijacking a subway train is not enthusiasm, it's criminal!
He never impersonated a federal agent. He flashed a bogus "National Justice Bureau" ID card. I don't even think a "National Justice Bureau" exists. If the "National Justice Bureau" doesn't even exist, how could he be impersonating a federal agent?
McCollum also never 'hijacked' a subway train. "Hijacking" means "to take over by force." This is something McCollum has never done.
Obviously, McCollum did pretend to be a transit/railroad worker on numerous occasions, and this is why he has been arrested and been in jail so many times. But if he were actually hired by the TA and became an actual transit/railroad worker, wouldn't that solve this problem? He'd no longer need to
pretend to be a transit worker; he'd be a legitimate transit worker!