Hi all! Currently about hour and a half out of San Antonio on my TE/CS trip to Seattle from Bloomington. Great trip so far as far as Amtrak goes, save for indifferent at best dining car attendants. Oh well, they're outa here having left the TE at Austin. What's been interesting are some of the oddballs I've met on board (and Traveler isn't even on the train! :lol: )
The fun began even before the trip started, in Bloomington. An older woman, who was deaf, was going to board and get off somewhere in Texas. The woman's daughter was trying to explain to the ticket agent about her mother and also that her mom was trouble and would cause all sorts of havoc. The daughter and mom got into it, and I was left to wonder if the mom in addition to being deaf was a few fries short of a Happy Meal besides. I was left to wonder why she was allowed to travel by herself. She seemed totally incapable of traveling unassisted and that had nothing to do with her deafness.
I will give a full report once I get back home, but onward with the oddities. At breakfast today (8-13) a couple who had never been on the train had no clue as to how to open the doors, and the dining car steward had to do it for them. I guess the concept of "Press to open" was too much for them. Then they proceeded to complain loudly about how someone ought to show them how things worked. :blink: :blink: Then who should proceed to the diner but the deaf lady!! I'm traveling with my uncle and we were afraid she'd sit with us. But the steward had her sit across from us. Deaf or no deaf, she was incapable of doing anything but babbling incoherently. I've known enough deaf people to know they can carry on a conversation you can understand even if you don't know sign language. I'm not being mean or insensitive but I don't think she could have carried on a coherent conversation if she could hear.
Next, prior to the stop at Longview, TX, I heard our car attendant, Robert (an excellent one, one of the best I've ever had) explain to a woman who was going to take the bus to Shreveport that the trip would take about two hours. This lady became irate and chewed Robert up one side and spit him out the other (as though it was his fault) because the Amtrak agent she talked to said it would take about 45 minutes. The agent was at fault, not Robert, and at any rate the woman could have looked at a map and found out for herself. As I said, that was the agent's fault, not Robert's.
After that, things settled down until Fort Worth. Right at 2:10, a woman with a young boy and baby in tow (and a chihuahua
came sauntering up with enough luggage to service an army of Cossacks for a month. The train was supposed to leave right at 2:10 and it was her good fortune our train was held up for 20 minutes until the arrival of the northbound TE. What possible service that waste of protoplasm chihuahua could perform is beyond me. I can think of a few services one could perform for me, but animal lovers would forever hate me so I won't mention any of them. :lol: I have to assume it was legit, though.
At dinner, this same woman with the dog also couldn't figure out how to open the doors. I've been on several Amtrak trains and never have I seen anyone not able to open the doors. Until today. And it happened TWICE! Also at dinner, our dinner companion told us she was also traveling the Coast Starlight to Portland and would arrive there "on the 15th" Well, no. Since we are going to Seattle and are arriving the 16th, she was mixed up. Turns out she was looking at her ticket and thought the date on it meant the day she arrived in Portland and not the day she departed Los Angeles, which IS the 15th. We finally got her straightened out, and left her to figure out how to contact the person that was going to pick her up in Portland. And, to top the day off, the SAME woman with the kids and dog went down the stairs at Temple, TX, to give that waste of protoplasm a potty break and to smoke. She didn't make it because people were walking up the stairs as she was walking down. And she proceeded to ***** loudly about it. Gee, lady, that's what happens when you have a 15 minute smoke break and you spend the entire 15 minutes doing heaven knows what and then try to take your break when everyone else is coming back up the stairs at the "All aboard" call!!!! Oh, and for the record: This ditz is a blonde! :lol:
Well, it's certainly been an entertaining trip so far to say the least! More later!
The fun began even before the trip started, in Bloomington. An older woman, who was deaf, was going to board and get off somewhere in Texas. The woman's daughter was trying to explain to the ticket agent about her mother and also that her mom was trouble and would cause all sorts of havoc. The daughter and mom got into it, and I was left to wonder if the mom in addition to being deaf was a few fries short of a Happy Meal besides. I was left to wonder why she was allowed to travel by herself. She seemed totally incapable of traveling unassisted and that had nothing to do with her deafness.
I will give a full report once I get back home, but onward with the oddities. At breakfast today (8-13) a couple who had never been on the train had no clue as to how to open the doors, and the dining car steward had to do it for them. I guess the concept of "Press to open" was too much for them. Then they proceeded to complain loudly about how someone ought to show them how things worked. :blink: :blink: Then who should proceed to the diner but the deaf lady!! I'm traveling with my uncle and we were afraid she'd sit with us. But the steward had her sit across from us. Deaf or no deaf, she was incapable of doing anything but babbling incoherently. I've known enough deaf people to know they can carry on a conversation you can understand even if you don't know sign language. I'm not being mean or insensitive but I don't think she could have carried on a coherent conversation if she could hear.
Next, prior to the stop at Longview, TX, I heard our car attendant, Robert (an excellent one, one of the best I've ever had) explain to a woman who was going to take the bus to Shreveport that the trip would take about two hours. This lady became irate and chewed Robert up one side and spit him out the other (as though it was his fault) because the Amtrak agent she talked to said it would take about 45 minutes. The agent was at fault, not Robert, and at any rate the woman could have looked at a map and found out for herself. As I said, that was the agent's fault, not Robert's.
After that, things settled down until Fort Worth. Right at 2:10, a woman with a young boy and baby in tow (and a chihuahua
came sauntering up with enough luggage to service an army of Cossacks for a month. The train was supposed to leave right at 2:10 and it was her good fortune our train was held up for 20 minutes until the arrival of the northbound TE. What possible service that waste of protoplasm chihuahua could perform is beyond me. I can think of a few services one could perform for me, but animal lovers would forever hate me so I won't mention any of them. :lol: I have to assume it was legit, though.
At dinner, this same woman with the dog also couldn't figure out how to open the doors. I've been on several Amtrak trains and never have I seen anyone not able to open the doors. Until today. And it happened TWICE! Also at dinner, our dinner companion told us she was also traveling the Coast Starlight to Portland and would arrive there "on the 15th" Well, no. Since we are going to Seattle and are arriving the 16th, she was mixed up. Turns out she was looking at her ticket and thought the date on it meant the day she arrived in Portland and not the day she departed Los Angeles, which IS the 15th. We finally got her straightened out, and left her to figure out how to contact the person that was going to pick her up in Portland. And, to top the day off, the SAME woman with the kids and dog went down the stairs at Temple, TX, to give that waste of protoplasm a potty break and to smoke. She didn't make it because people were walking up the stairs as she was walking down. And she proceeded to ***** loudly about it. Gee, lady, that's what happens when you have a 15 minute smoke break and you spend the entire 15 minutes doing heaven knows what and then try to take your break when everyone else is coming back up the stairs at the "All aboard" call!!!! Oh, and for the record: This ditz is a blonde! :lol:
Well, it's certainly been an entertaining trip so far to say the least! More later!