Foul Language on trains

[Jeff O]

I enjoy riding the trains and often I take my 6yr old son along. On a recent trip on the NEC there were a few people using foul language and not that I'm a prude , but with my 6yr old hearing this i wasnt too pleased :angry:

The conductor was very busy and the train was full so I couldnt get any help!

The people using the language were about 3 rows away , and with standing room and the facct I had a 6yr old in tow I couldnt address it myself.

How are conductors instructed to handle this?

 

[battalion51]

They're supposed to ask the passengers to stop, but there's really nothing they can hold over the passenger's head unless they are threatening someone or something.

 

[panamaclipper]

If you've watched that cable show about the airline it shouldn't be surprising that the behavior of travelers has plunged. Perhaps that has something to do with folks who don't want to eat with others in the diner, too. I remember going to pick up my granny who came to Dallas on the Texas Chief. She always wore a navy blue suit and dove grey gloves. Everyone of the train was dressed "for travel." Those days are long gone and won't be back. Last weekend I took my 83-year-old mom to church on Mothers Day. I was shocked to see young people at the service in cut off jeans and t shirts. Okay, so I hadn't been in a while. Maybe that is why my eyes were so big at how people dressed. Our society no longer values manners and etiquette so we can't expect it. That is considered "old fashioned." I'm sad to see it gone.

 

[The Future]

At least you understand it is gone and there's nothing you can do.

 

[Guest]

Whenever I travel, be it air or rail, I always wear cargos and a T. You can pack extra stuff in the cargos and still be comfertable to sleep in a coach chair. (Or as comfertable as you can be in coach on a plane) I don't view it as a lack of manners or respect, just trying to make it from point A to point B.

 

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

On the SWC a couple years ago i was with the conductor and the car attendent called him and said there 2 people making out in coach they were butt naked and just cussing like anything i have ever heard in my life they got thrown off and the police had to come help out.Conductors can throw people off for using foul words.

 

[Amfleet]

About 2 years ago my mom, sister, and I were going to Richmond and in our coach was a lady who had gotten on in Washington completely drunk. She kept telling everyone around her that she had come from having lunch with some sort of government official. The conductors did do much and even fed into her. Luckily she detrained in Fedricksburg.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

When I was a kid I would go up to a porter or somebody and lie and say "I've never been on a train before. May I go in and look around?" (Back then you could do those things.)

Anyway, one afternoon Southern Railroad's Royal Palm was in the station, in Chattanooga at 5 p.m. I wandered into the club car and old couple was totally drunk, totaly zonkered, she was across his lap, his hands were etc, etc,etc.,etc. They cursed and yelled at me to "Get hell out of there, kid."

Natually nobody else was in there. I feebly tried to explain to some conductor or somebody what I had just seen. I did scamper on my way. I was quite young, probably just barely old enough to "appreciate" what I had just seen.

 

[PennsyFan]

I am a lawyer at a somewhat old-fashioned firm, and so I wear a suit and tie every week-day. Whenever I travel for business or depart on a Friday afternoon I am usually dressed for the office. On the Acela this is not an unusual thing, but if I am taking a long-distance train I am virtually always the best-dressed man on the train. When I travel for leisure I usually wear a sport jacket and slacks, and even this makes me stand out. My generation (people now between 20 and 30) has grown up without being expected to dress up for anything. I attended an old-style prep school, and therefore spent my teenage years wearing a blazer and necktie to class and meals, but at college "dressy" meant a polo shirt and slacks, and there were many kids who never wore a tie for four years except at senior formal and graduation. This, mind you, was at Princeton. I personally think that this is a bad thing - it contributes to a lack of formality in general and while I like being laid-back as much as the next guy there are times when respect is appropriate, and my generation just doesn't realize that. The only good news is that with so few well-dressed people, being well-dressed turns something on inside many people's heads, so that you wind up getting more respect or better service.

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee]

Passengers are required to maintain themselves in a civil manner while on a train. Keep in mind the train is private property as the same as a store is for example. Having a ticket allows a passenger permission to be on board that particular train under the "rules", "regulations," and the "laws" of the state, county, and city which the train is passing through. The conductor can remove anyone he/she deems necessary in order to provide an enviroment of "safety and comfort" for all passengers on board! In other words we need to act accordingly as conductors can make or break one's trip if they can't behave in a civil manner! On the Florida Trains, we have certain towns and counties which have profanity laws active on the books! Some of our conductors have no problem allowing the local police take care of these kinds of situations when they occur! :lol:

 

[GG-1]

were many kids who never wore a tie for four years except at senior formal and graduation.  This, mind you, was at Princeton.  I personally think that this is a bad thing - it contributes to a lack of formality in general and while I like

Aloha

Sorry I must dissagree with you. A tie does not make you anything. I wore a tie in 1967 at my wedding, and again in 2000 at my daughter's wedding. Hawaiian formal is different and respect is earned by conduct.

 

[amtrakmichigan]

For those of you who watch college basketball, you will remember their was a problem this year with the student sections at some major universities involving chanting 4 letter words. These chants could easily be herd on TV broadcast. The universities feared the degrading chants would make their school look bad (which I agree). But after some of these public schools discussed what they could do about it, they figured out they better not try to do much of anything. What the schools wanted to do was throw these students out of the arena, but they figured they better not. Why?? Because the public schools feared lawsuits charging them with civil rights violations, freedom of speech to be exact. (acording to ESPN sport shows)

If this same example could be used on a Amtrak train, I really don't know. But in our lawsuit happy world, I guess anything is almost possible. Obviously the lawyers at these schools thought something could be done by the students as far as nice hefty lawsuites against them.

What most of these schools said they would do is move the student sections way out in left field somewhere to try to discourage their behavior.

 

[Chatter163]

I believe that the college (and Amtrak, for that matter) could certainly evict patrons who loudly use profane language (they certainly would be prepared to if the patrons were using non-PC talk, such as racial, gender, ethinic or religious slurs); these could be addressed under laws about creating public distrubance, as well as D & D statutes.

However, I believe the reluctance to evict from public areas such as these stems from the burden required for proof. In a crowd, it is very difficult to prove who said what. Most folks will claim the officers were mistaken, and it is difficult to prove even a preponderance of the evidence (civil cases), to say nothing of beyond a reasonable doubt (criminal cases).