When circumstances get messy, there is no question more pointless than “Why?”
For example, yesterday’s experience isn’t the greatest story ever told, but is a good example of this truth. Thank you, by the way to those who entertained me with stories via various means.
5:30 am at Penn Station, I was greeted with the news that all trains south of Philadelphia were suspended due to a downed Catenary Pole.
(I learned this term from one of the story tellers in my private message inbox. A Catenary Pole holds up the electrical wires that some trains use to power themselves electrically. In the case of the Northeast Corridor, not only is that the Amtrak Acela trains, but also several local commuter rail systems along the path).
The station agent, the Acela Club attendant and the usher at the top of the escalator all warned me of this issue and informed me that there would be busses from Wilmington, DE to DC. I’m not a fan of busses, but whatever works. Fine with me.
The train was empty. In fact, I had an entire car to myself all to Newark. I rearranged my schedule based on a 10:30-ish arrival into DC, which was my best guess. I did a little work, relaxed and enjoyed the peace.
The conductor passed through to remind me that the train would stop in Wilmington, then it would be a bus with stops in Baltimore and DC. Pulling into the station, the overhead announcement reiterated this fact.
We 50 or so passengers disembarked from the train past local news cameras and passengers waiting to board for their northbound journey. Down to the main station, then to the curb.
No busses. Curbside, i spotted a former colleague who I hadn’t see in a good 3 or 4 years.
“Hey! You part of this mess?” I asked
“Yep. My colleague went inside to see what’s up with the busses.”
His colleague came back out. “No busses. There aren’t going to be busses, apparently according to the Amtrak station manager.”
“I’m getting a car. You two want a ride?” I asked. They came in with me to the rental car counter. Other passengers began grouping together to carpool into Baltimore or DC, then headed in to the rental counters.
Several other passengers went in to shout and scream at the Amtrak staff, rather than seek a solution. One giant, besuited (is that a word?) man in particular had cornered a station agent and was demanding an explanation:
“I want to know why this happened. Where are the busses. They promised bus service to our destination. I HAVE to get to Washington.” and blah, blah, blah.
We passed him on the way to the Avis counter. Waited behind 4 other people. Rented the car. People from the Enterprise counter had moved over to the Avis counter as Enterprise was out of cars.
The Avis agent greeted the person who had been behind us. “Lucky you, you’re getting my last car!”
A few people back, the besuited man stepped out of line and lumbered to the counter, interrupting the transaction in process: “What, no cars left? You must have SOMETHING!” I suspect there was a rerun of the same conversation that happened with the Amtrak agent, rather than calmly walking over to Hertz, the only other car company in the building, or perhaps arranging alternative transportation.
What a waste of time. Meanwhile as he demanded to understand why he was in the plight he was in, his options dwindled.
As for us, we went to our comfy rental car. I started the engine and told the other two:
“Three rules: 1) No movie quotes about road trips; 2) We don’t discuss the circumstances that put us in this car together 3) If we listen to the radio, it must be talk radio, and if talk radio, then the most conspiracy-filled, whack-o fest on the dial.”