This can't wait for the Trip Report.
Is there such a thing as an "Amtrak Special Agent?"
This morning (11-9-08) I was boarding Surfliner 775 at SAN when I was accosted at the car door by a seedy little guy with a beard and vaguely reptilian features. He flashed a Passport (why?), then a funny-looking document that indicated he was Amtrak Special Agent Pat. Thinking he was a loony, I said "Cool! My name's Patrick too," and turned to board. He stopped me, and said he had some questions. He was serious. "Oh GREAT," I thought, expecting a hassle about line jumping. I was ready to point out that although I was among the first to board, and not from the line, I had in fact been waiting at the station longer than anybody in the line. As usual, I had been hanging out for pictures of any action (nothing except light rail and station shots until 566 - my 775 - arrived 12 minutes late).
But it was photography that the troll had on his mind. He wanted to know why I had been walking around taking pictures. First of all, if he was so all-fired curious to know this, he had had the entire previous hour or so to inquire, instead of choosing to impede my boarding. I didn't bring this up, but politely explained that I like trains, like riding trains, enjoy taking pictures of trains, and do these things all the time. To finish, I spread my hands, shrugged, smiled, and said "I'm a railfan!"
"Yes, that's getting to be a big organization."
WOW. Rarely does one have the opportunity to witness somebody label themselves completely ignorant by uttering a single statement. Naturally I was stunned, and started to get a little worried. Ignorance scares me, especially in people who might have some control over me. And that's why I began with the above question: It is almost inconceivable to me that an "Amtrak Special Agent," if such a thing exists (and I had to assume it does), would be so thoroughly uninformed as to speak of my being a railfan in terms of me being a member of some "Railfan, The Organization."
After disabusing him of his wrongheaded notion that I'm part of any organization (didn't mention AGR membership - does that count?) I essentially repeated the stuff about liking trains, riding them, and photographing them, adding that I'd been riding and taking pictures in the area all weekend, and he was the first nonphotographer to express any interest.
He started rattling off some crap about security concerns, and I formed the distinct impression that no matter what I said, the clown's responses were pre-programmed. Probably at the General Moronics Corp. factory (Flotsam's Mistake, NJ), which turns out mindless automatons (and loonies) like Amtrak Special Agent Pat.
Finally he got to the meat of his mania. He said that in the Post-911 Era ("Here we go," I thought) there is concern about people who take pictures of crowds. I asked "What crowd did I take a picture of? There's no crowd here." "The people waiting at the station." "That's not a crowd. It's a boarding line, and I took a picture of the end of it, with the streetcar behind them." EDIT: Here again there had been time to question me earlier instead of hassling me during boarding; about 15 minutes.
He blathered more about the need for security, as representatives of the Dept. of Fear Mongering often do, asked me where I live, and my last name - which he texted into some Blackberry-looking gizmo - while blithely assuring me, in a veiled threat sort of way, that I was under no obligation to cooperate. Oh yeah? And if I don't? I just wanted to get a window seat, and had told him this twice, before on the third time he declared us done and wished me a good trip. You can imagine the choice reply I muttered under my breath as I finally climbed the stairs, and despite the worst efforts of Amtrak Special Agent Pat, managed to find a window seat in the coach/cafe car.
In retrospect it was interesting, in these tough economic times, to encounter somebody who DESERVES to be unemployed.
To whom do I complain? Don't care if it does any good, I wanna tell somebody at Amtrak how reprehensible this sort of harassment is, especially to someone who has been - and remains, despite this kind of treatment at the hands of idiot hirelings - an avid supporter and customer of Amtrak since its inception.
Is there such a thing as an "Amtrak Special Agent?"
This morning (11-9-08) I was boarding Surfliner 775 at SAN when I was accosted at the car door by a seedy little guy with a beard and vaguely reptilian features. He flashed a Passport (why?), then a funny-looking document that indicated he was Amtrak Special Agent Pat. Thinking he was a loony, I said "Cool! My name's Patrick too," and turned to board. He stopped me, and said he had some questions. He was serious. "Oh GREAT," I thought, expecting a hassle about line jumping. I was ready to point out that although I was among the first to board, and not from the line, I had in fact been waiting at the station longer than anybody in the line. As usual, I had been hanging out for pictures of any action (nothing except light rail and station shots until 566 - my 775 - arrived 12 minutes late).
But it was photography that the troll had on his mind. He wanted to know why I had been walking around taking pictures. First of all, if he was so all-fired curious to know this, he had had the entire previous hour or so to inquire, instead of choosing to impede my boarding. I didn't bring this up, but politely explained that I like trains, like riding trains, enjoy taking pictures of trains, and do these things all the time. To finish, I spread my hands, shrugged, smiled, and said "I'm a railfan!"
"Yes, that's getting to be a big organization."
WOW. Rarely does one have the opportunity to witness somebody label themselves completely ignorant by uttering a single statement. Naturally I was stunned, and started to get a little worried. Ignorance scares me, especially in people who might have some control over me. And that's why I began with the above question: It is almost inconceivable to me that an "Amtrak Special Agent," if such a thing exists (and I had to assume it does), would be so thoroughly uninformed as to speak of my being a railfan in terms of me being a member of some "Railfan, The Organization."
After disabusing him of his wrongheaded notion that I'm part of any organization (didn't mention AGR membership - does that count?) I essentially repeated the stuff about liking trains, riding them, and photographing them, adding that I'd been riding and taking pictures in the area all weekend, and he was the first nonphotographer to express any interest.
He started rattling off some crap about security concerns, and I formed the distinct impression that no matter what I said, the clown's responses were pre-programmed. Probably at the General Moronics Corp. factory (Flotsam's Mistake, NJ), which turns out mindless automatons (and loonies) like Amtrak Special Agent Pat.
Finally he got to the meat of his mania. He said that in the Post-911 Era ("Here we go," I thought) there is concern about people who take pictures of crowds. I asked "What crowd did I take a picture of? There's no crowd here." "The people waiting at the station." "That's not a crowd. It's a boarding line, and I took a picture of the end of it, with the streetcar behind them." EDIT: Here again there had been time to question me earlier instead of hassling me during boarding; about 15 minutes.
He blathered more about the need for security, as representatives of the Dept. of Fear Mongering often do, asked me where I live, and my last name - which he texted into some Blackberry-looking gizmo - while blithely assuring me, in a veiled threat sort of way, that I was under no obligation to cooperate. Oh yeah? And if I don't? I just wanted to get a window seat, and had told him this twice, before on the third time he declared us done and wished me a good trip. You can imagine the choice reply I muttered under my breath as I finally climbed the stairs, and despite the worst efforts of Amtrak Special Agent Pat, managed to find a window seat in the coach/cafe car.
In retrospect it was interesting, in these tough economic times, to encounter somebody who DESERVES to be unemployed.
To whom do I complain? Don't care if it does any good, I wanna tell somebody at Amtrak how reprehensible this sort of harassment is, especially to someone who has been - and remains, despite this kind of treatment at the hands of idiot hirelings - an avid supporter and customer of Amtrak since its inception.
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