Dealing with Loud Mouths

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user 683

Lead Service Attendant
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Feb 1, 2006
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Greetings all..

So it has been a while since I posted anything here. I thought this topic may be of interest to others. I'm currently on Auto Train 52 heading north. Of course I am really looking forward to the ride. But then, passenger in the adjacent seat gets on his cell phone and starts speaking very loudly. Many other passengers are looking around... I decide to make a polite jesture and motion for him to speak more quietly. That didn't work..and the passenger tells me .. I've been in this country many years and I know my rights....I can speak any way I like....don't tell me..... So I try to explain...please speak more softly since you are disturbing the others. Long stoy short, it was clear that the conversation would go no where...so I dropped it. I hope he gets a clue since everyone else is sitting back, speaking quietly, etc. Will seee. I let the car attendent handle any thing from this point.

Sorry...just had to vent.

Any words of advice?

Cheers!
 
Greetings all..

So it has been a while since I posted anything here. I thought this topic may be of interest to others. I'm currently on Auto Train 52 heading north. Of course I am really looking forward to the ride. But then, passenger in the adjacent seat gets on his cell phone and starts speaking very loudly. Many other passengers are looking around... I decide to make a polite jesture and motion for him to speak more quietly. That didn't work..and the passenger tells me .. I've been in this country many years and I know my rights....I can speak any way I like....don't tell me..... So I try to explain...please speak more softly since you are disturbing the others. Long stoy short, it was clear that the conversation would go no where...so I dropped it. I hope he gets a clue since everyone else is sitting back, speaking quietly, etc. Will seee. I let the car attendent handle any thing from this point.

Sorry...just had to vent.

Any words of advice?

Cheers!
If the car Attendants (who are very experienced and Professional on the AT as you know) can't handle it and it continues to be a Problem Speak with a Conductor!!!
 
Tell the conductor.Remember the lady tossed off the Coast Starlight somewhere outside of Salem Oregon? She knew her rights too, she was pulled off in the middle of nowhere and arrested. Cops were waiting. They did not even put the steps out for her to get off.

Sorry this person is such an ass. Why must people talk so loud? They are so self important.
 
Thanks everyone!! I really appreciate your thoughts and advice. I will mention to the attendant if the passenger in question starts up again.

Thanks!!
 
And clearly in fact he does not know "his rights." The only right he in fact has, a la freedom of speech, is not to be silenced by the government - he has no legal right beyond that. eg, if he wants to talk loudly in a restaurant, and the owner feels he/she/it is disturbing the rest of the customers, the owner has every right to toss him/her/it out; if he/she/it is in a theater and tries the same, the owner can do exactly the same etc etc etc. I believe this form of behavior is nominally referred to/called: sociopathic.
 
And 'Freedom of Speech' has its limits.

As the late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes said:

Freedom of speech does not give a person the right to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

Hopefully the crew on your train will care enough to shut up the jerk if it comes to that. I liked what one LSA I had this Fall said:

Amtrak policy says we must let... [rule breakers] ...off in a populated area, but it does not say populated by what!
 
Hopefully the crew on your train will care enough to shut up the jerk if it comes to that. I liked what one LSA I had this Fall said:

Amtrak policy says we must let... [rule breakers] ...off in a populated area, but it does not say populated by what!
That sounds like the Welcome Aboard Announcement the Conductor made on one of my Starlight runs out of SEA. Only when he added that even if that area is populated with Conservatives everyone in the PPC hissed and roared. That almost warranted a complaint call to Customer Service but I never got around to it; other than that he was a good Conductor.
 
I saw a lot of troublemakers on Amtrak in last trips in 2012. I haven't taken Amtrak after that (for other reasons) but I see things have not improved. Even worse, the car attendents on the CZ either ignored or couldn't stop the issues.
 
I would have told him to go down into the lower level, if that had failed I would have gone to the lounge car and played it passive-aggressively for the rest of the trip... giving him stone-faced looks, bumping into his seats when I go to the bathroom, gently reminding him that inconsiderateness is another wheel of karma.
 
I don't recommend bumping seats, and continuous verbal interaction. These actions could lead to an altercation that could lead to both participants being put off the train.

Notify the train crew. If they do nothing, then you may have to grin and bear it. My girlfriend and I experienced this on 302 1 week ago with a family of adult drunks in the dinette end of the food service car. We were sitting at a table because the heat was not working in the bc end of the car. The lsa ignored the noise until my gf asked about Amtrak's noise policy. The noise continued and I finally made a few remarks. They finally got the point when one of the idiots who had been pestering the crew for a smoke stop since bnl asked the entire car if carlinville was one. I said yes. His dumb butt jumped up, but had to return and sit when the train started moving before he could get to the door at the end of the car.
 
In this case it sounds like the crew should ask the impolite phoner to go phone. At least there is no expectation of silence in there. Better yet, downstairs in the lounge car.

Sorry - First Amendment is to protect retaliation from the government for speaking against it - which makes the Fox News comment pretty inaccurate and inappropriate.
 
Please avoid political comments. Thanks.
 
I don't recommend bumping seats, and continuous verbal interaction. These actions could lead to an altercation that could lead to both participants being put off the train.
A casual bump against the seats once or twice as you get up and go to a restroom isn't going to provoke an altercation. If that were the case then fights would break out on every Amtrak train every day... If it did I don't suspect you want that person on the train either way.

I also don't see how "continuous verbal interaction" leads to a dreaded "altercation".
 
I was in a restaurant where somebody very rudely was on their phone and a business associated start to discuss with me what he was talking about. I think it had something to do with real estate investments and the guy in the booth over got the hint.
 
My dad had a fun way of dealing with loud talkers. He would just turn to the guy and join in the conversation. He figured if someone was talking that loudlly, either on the phone or in person, they must want the public to be involved.
 
I would have told him to go down into the lower level, if that had failed I would have gone to the lounge car and played it passive-aggressively for the rest of the trip... giving him stone-faced looks, bumping into his seats when I go to the bathroom, gently reminding him that inconsiderateness is another wheel of karma.
Two wrongs do not make a right, I would not lower myself to his level by bumping his seat. I would find the conductor and tell them about him. The conductor is there to ensure a pleasant trip for everyone. When there was a gentleman swearing on his phone, we called the conductor and told him about it, he listened for a few minutes himself from behind the gentleman and then took the gentleman to the front of the car to speak with him. We never heard another unpleasant peep out of him the rest of the two day trip.
 
I always make it a point to extend all politeness and courtesy to everyone on the train but I am also not a pacifist. If all else fails I just tell them "keep it down over there". Uncivilized behavior on Amtrak is rare but when it happens, it hurts everyone. It must be stamped out!
 
Well...sarcasm has always been my strong suit. After judging the size of the person and whether or not I would provoke a fight, which I wouldn't want to do; when he was on the phone, I'd take out my phone and fake a call, and keep asking the non-existent person on the other phone to speak up, as I was in a very noisy car with someone speaking so loudly on a cell phone that everyone else in the coach was annoyed, but that the person was oblivious.

I've done this in a row of public phones and it worked quite well.

Some folks (myself included) are hard of hearing and somehow think that speaking loudly helps.

Of course, the conductor route is the best way to go, but perhaps not as much fun. Best solution is just go to the cafe car and buy as many beers as you can.

penfrydd
 
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