Well now that the cat is out of the bag as it were, a few thoughts & comments.
First, let me confirm that Haolerider is indeed who he says he is, a now retired from Amtrak, but former high level manager for Amtrak. As a Senior Director Haolerider reported directly to one of the most senior VP's at Amtrak, and a man who IMHO is one of the best VP's that Amtrak has. There have probably been more improvements at Amtrak in the last six years or so thanks to this VP, than there have been for many years prior.
Next, I want to point out that being a member here was never part of Haolerider's job. He joined up here entirely on his own and has for years been answering questions and as he mentioned, taking things found here back to his boss at Amtrak. He's also intervened a few times on the behalf of people here. The staff here has long been aware of Haolerider and just who he is. And I can tell you, since we can see the IP addresses of all posters, that most of his posts come on his own time from his own house and not while he was at the office at Amtrak.
His dedication to making Amtrak better and trying to do his level best for the riding public are why I often jump in on topics where people soundly criticize all Amtrak management as being useless.
And a personal note from my own experience interacting, or not interacting with Amtrak brass. I rode the Surfliner 799/798 several months ago and an Amtrak official was on board, sitting in the window seat directly in front of me. He made no effort, either coming or going, to talk or interact with even the conductors, let alone passengers. He did talk very loudly and often on his cellphone, when he was in range of service, mostly about how bored he was on the train and was looking to get back to LA for a round of golf the next day. Twice the conductor came by to chat him up, obviously aware of who he was, and was waved off.
And yet many here have had the pleasure of sitting and talking with senior Amtrak managers on their trips. In fact, there were probably 8 to 10 AU members who got a chance to sit and talk with a manager on board the Texas Eagle during our Sunday ride at the Gathering last October to Bloomington/Normal from St. Louis. I didn't time things, but I'd say he sat and spoke with us for at least a good half hour and maybe longer.
So while you made have been a exemplar among Amtrak officials, don't try to pretend that everyone is or was.
I don't think for a moment that he was trying to pretend that everyone is an exemplar employee. In fact, I think he made it quite clear, I've underlined that part.
To suggest that I would "end up with a knife and fork in my torso and savored for dinner" is as inane and to suggest that all Amtrak employees/managers and executives are bumbling idiots -or that all members of this board are argumentative.
I've no doubt that Haolerider can name a few managers at Amtrak who should be looking for work elsewhere. But this is true of any company or any profession. I've taken many a trip with Steve4031 and we've often talked about this. Steve for those who don't know is a teacher in the Chicago school system. I know that if I asked Steve, he could quickly name at least 4 or 5 teachers that he'd love to shove out the door of the school and lock that door behind them.
Simply put, this is human nature. Some do, some don't.
While it would appear that Haolerider missed the "joke" as it were; I also can't totally blame him. After years of being here and seeing frequent posts by many of the members here about just how useless Amtrak management is, it has to hurt at least a little bit when he's here almost every day trying to do his best for Amtrak. Even now, retired from Amtrak, he still comes here to share his knowledge and to help people (especially first time riders) navigate the world of Amtrak.
To be told that you're useless, a waste, not trying, etc., hurts!
Especially when you are trying and you are going out of your way to do the best job you can do. Even to the point of taking your work home with you in a sense, because again, coming here to read & post was never part of his job duties.
Finally let say that part of the issue isn't that all, or even a majority, of Amtrak managers aren't doing their jobs. Many of the problems come back to other issues, things like: union contracts, lack of money, the fact that one simply can't put a manager on every train every day of the week, the fact that employees know the managers, and many other issues.
hboy:
