Trudging to the T in the morning typically isn’t an uplifting experience, but a friendly smile and a warm “good morning” can go a long way.
That’s something Jonel Bresca understands. The 23-year-old student recently marked his final day as a Metro Boston newspaper promoter to focus on his studies at College Bound Dorchester, where he’s majoring in computer science. And apparently, he’ll be very missed.
Metro US reached out to Bresca for a quick Q&A after receiving an email from reader Charlot Lucien, who frequently travels through the Forest Hills T station.
“People actually seem to prefer waiting to get their paper from [Bresca] instead of just picking it up quickly in the Metro box,” said Lucien. “He even has his finger already in between the second and third page when he hands the paper so people don’t have to fumble to go straight to page 2 and 3.”
Bresca, who hails from Les Cayes, Haiti, has handed out Metro Boston papers to straphangers at the Forest Hills station for the last five months.
“People are usually in a hurry so I always wanted to prepare their paper for them as they arrived, for easy reading,” he said.
Metro asked, “Why so chipper? What did you like so much about the gig?”
“Everything,” he said. “The people were so kind to me every day.”
T-bound Bostonians, friendly in the morning? Sure, Bresca.
But there was one grueling aspect of the job every hawker has to deal with, and Bresca was no exception.
“The only thing I didn’t like was waking up so early in the morning!” said Bresca, who set his alarm for 4:45 a.m. in order to make it to work on time.
As for Lucien, he’ll miss Bresca’s daily greetings.
“Thanks Metro for getting some gracious staff to help us start the day on a smiling note,” he wrote.
You’re welcome, Mr. Lucien. We’re proud of our hawkers, and the work that they do to help keep commuters informed.
If you’d like to learn more about becoming a Metro hawker, call 617-532-0102 or email antonio.catatao@metro.us.
