Irritating Passengers

[Acela150]

What I love are the people on #5 who 'reserve' seats in the SSL with books, etc. and then go have breakfast. :angry2: :angry2: :angry2:

I've moved their stuff before. :giggle:

I had a guy tell me he was saving a seat in the SSL for his daughter, who went to the room to take a nap!!!! :angry:

I would have said "So no ones sitting here?" After that reply and just sit there. If he has a problem with then he can move.

It would be nice if Amtrak could somehow limit a riders time in the lounge so everyone can have a chance to use it during the day. But I'm dreaming here. People just plop themselves in a seat from Sunrise to Sunset. They'll send someone to get food for em and all! I've seen it!

 

[TimePeace]

One thing I've noticed about so many of the rude and obnoxious people I've seen on the trains - hardly ANY of them smiled, or seemed happy, or content with their lives. Most of them have a permanent frown/snarl imprinted on their faces.

And the ones that are nice, and make room for you next to them, are the ones that smile and say good afternoon and tell you they hope you have a good day.

There's a lesson there - maybe.

 

[hmy1]

On the Surfliner route, the announcements reminding passengers depends on the crew. Some crews don't say anything. Other crews announce only if the train is getting full. Other crews always announce. The best announcement was from a conductor who tried to spin it in a positive way: "You will meet a new friend today" or "You may meet your future spouse today."

Regardless, if the train is getting full or if there are any standing passengers, I've never seen a crew not enforce this rule. (Sorry about the double negative.)

 

[saxman]

Loud talkers is one thing, but loud talkers at 2 am is another. I was pretty peeved at the guy behind me when traveling in Australia on an overnight train, pretty much had a potty mouth and insulting his wife. Don't know why I didn't ask them to shut up. If I were on Amtrak, I certainly would have.

The other is those that listen to music or watch movies without headphones. They think it's not bothering others, even when it's not all that loud. The occasional gun shots, car chases, and explosions gets pretty annoying.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

Loud talkers is one thing, but loud talkers at 2 am is another. I was pretty peeved at the guy behind me when traveling in Australia on an overnight train, pretty much had a potty mouth and insulting his wife. Don't know why I didn't ask them to shut up. If I were on Amtrak, I certainly would have.

The other is those that listen to music or watch movies without headphones. They think it's not bothering others, even when it's not all that loud. The occasional gun shots, car chases, and explosions gets pretty annoying.

In general, I agree that the movies-w/o-headphones thing is pretty annoying, and can become very annoying if you are close. However, sometimes I enjoy hearing music. When someone blasts Party Rock Anthem in a younger-looking train on a crowded weekend run, nobody minds, and it seems to take a little bit of tension away if I'm ever feeling any. Fun music is not so bad for me

 

[The Davy Crockett]

The other is those that listen to music or watch movies without headphones. They think it's not bothering others, even when it's not all that loud. The occasional gun shots, car chases, and explosions gets pretty annoying.

I talked to a pax in coach on #3 last fall who told me about someone doing this at 2:00AM. He said he complained to the CA, and the response he got was: "Its not bothering me." :excl: :wacko: :wacko: :wacko:

 

[fillyjonk]

Loud talkers is one thing, but loud talkers at 2 am is another. I was pretty peeved at the guy behind me when traveling in Australia on an overnight train, pretty much had a potty mouth and insulting his wife. Don't know why I didn't ask them to shut up. If I were on Amtrak, I certainly would have.

The other is those that listen to music or watch movies without headphones. They think it's not bothering others, even when it's not all that loud. The occasional gun shots, car chases, and explosions gets pretty annoying.

Often on the TE, they make announcements to the effect of, "If you are going to listen to music, watch movies, work on your computer with sound....please wear earphones and keep the sound level low enough not to bother others." While I suppose someone who doesn't care will just go ahead and do what they want...at least some of Amtrak's crews are aware it's a problem.

Likewise, they regularly make "please don't cuss, this is a family train" announcements. Recently when I was traveling I even heard them threaten to put anyone using large amounts of profanity off the train. I don't know if it was a car attendant being super pro-active, or if they were having a problem with someone and felt they needed to make a threat.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Loud talkers is one thing, but loud talkers at 2 am is another. I was pretty peeved at the guy behind me when traveling in Australia on an overnight train, pretty much had a potty mouth and insulting his wife. Don't know why I didn't ask them to shut up. If I were on Amtrak, I certainly would have.

The other is those that listen to music or watch movies without headphones. They think it's not bothering others, even when it's not all that loud. The occasional gun shots, car chases, and explosions gets pretty annoying.

Often on the TE, they make announcements to the effect of, "If you are going to listen to music, watch movies, work on your computer with sound....please wear earphones and keep the sound level low enough not to bother others." While I suppose someone who doesn't care will just go ahead and do what they want...at least some of Amtrak's crews are aware it's a problem.

Likewise, they regularly make "please don't cuss, this is a family train" announcements. Recently when I was traveling I even heard them threaten to put anyone using large amounts of profanity off the train. I don't know if it was a car attendant being super pro-active, or if they were having a problem with someone and felt they needed to make a threat.

More likely they didn't hear the announcement because they had music blaring in their ears. :angry: :giggle:

 

[fillyjonk]

Often on the TE, they make announcements to the effect of, "If you are going to listen to music, watch movies, work on your computer with sound....please wear earphones and keep the sound level low enough not to bother others." While I suppose someone who doesn't care will just go ahead and do what they want...at least some of Amtrak's crews are aware it's a problem.

More likely they didn't hear the announcement because they had music blaring in their ears. :angry: :giggle:

Or they've already made themselves go deaf....I often commented, in my younger days, that I should invest in hearing-aid companies, based on the number of my age cohort who seemed to listen to music REALLY LOUDLY over earphones.

 

[WinNix]

The only 2am trains I've taken are commuter, rather than Amtrak. I am hoping the people on an amtrak train at 2am are nicer than the drunk irritating people on a 2am commuter. Invariably, they have irritating people on them who are also drunk and love the sound of their own voice. If you've ever seen the episode "Drunk Train" of the show How I Met Your Mother, they nailed the drunk factor, but notably skipped over the prolific cantankerousness.

As for taking up two seats / irritating people on the 2am commuters.... I am sure many of you have experienced this as well and have more interesting stories than I do. I've seen drunk people taking up each seat of a 6 seater and being proud of it. I suppose it is expected on the last trains out of NYC for the night, but it is still bad. Half a dozen times I've even gotten into physical altercations on the trains due to being harassed (I was sober). I've seen conductors getting harassed, and gotten shoved out the doors (thankfully at my stop). I suppose that's why I don't feel bad by (nicely) stating I'd like to sit in a seat taken up by papers on a normal middle-of-the-day train.

As for the irritating loud cell phone talkers... I'd bet everyone has experienced that! Anyone ever say anything? If so, what response(s) did/have you gotten?

 

[Steve P.]

While traveling in Europe my 80 year old mother just had to step on a train streetcar or bus and some kind young man would offer her a seat.

It seems to be an Anglo/American thing...I travel regularly in continental Europe, and such behavior is quite rare there.

The 'seat piggies' on #5 who tried to 'reserve' seats both mornings in the SSL on #5 were British, so possibly...

 

[zephyr17]

The other is those that listen to music or watch movies without headphones. They think it's not bothering others, even when it's not all that loud. The occasional gun shots, car chases, and explosions gets pretty annoying.

I talked to a pax in coach on #3 last fall who told me about someone doing this at 2:00AM. He said he complained to the CA, and the response he got was: "Its not bothering me." :excl: :wacko: :wacko: :wacko:

The Coach Potato (CA) was available in the car at 2 am and not in the dorm?! That's a miracle in itself! :lol:

 

[AutoTrDvr]

Nothing irritates me more than those passengers who think they are entitled to two seats on crowded trains, like the Pacific Surfliners leaving Solana Beach in the a.m. and from LA in the p.m. rush.

I wish I had a dollar for every glare or mean look that you get as you walk down the aisle looking for a seat, every window seat long gone and every aisle seat cluttered with papers or computers or bags of window passengers who don't want anyone sitting next to them.

Is this only a West Coast commuter phenomenon? Does it happen on other trains? Is it a legacy of the days when far fewer people rode Amtrak?

Whatever it is, it is incredibly rude behavior considering everyone only bought a single ticket!!!

As others have said, it's an issue wherever there is "open seating." I guess people just want to have "their space" for as long as they can. Sometimes, they'll do things like pretend they're sleeping, in order to avoid being asked for the seat or, at least, be the very last to be asked. I rode NJ Transit trains for 8 years, and always gave up my other seat if asked or if it appeared the train was getting full. But I always ensured I got the aisle seat so I could move if I wanted to, later on. Talk about "glares" (for abandoning your seat mate)... <_<

As for "irritating passengers," the only ones that bother me now are (as you may have guessed) one of the AT's primary constituencies. Families with young (unruly) children (same issue on airplanes). That is, the one's that usually get put in the adjoining bedroom (i.e. with only the partition between us)... Don't get me wrong... I don't blame the kids at all. I was one once myself. I blame the parents for either not being able to, or just simply refusing to take control of their kids. I like the kids' enthusiasm for train travel, etc. But parents need to take control and teach them how to respect the their neighbors' right to a little peace and quiet. I wonder if they even realize how the sound carries through those flimsy little partition doors. In fact, I really feel sorry for some of those kids... because you can also hear how the parents choose to (or choose not to) discipline them.

Speaking of "sound carries," I've often wondered about couples, not realizing how easily the sound does carry, attempting to fulfill one of those "Cialis moments" only to discover they had an audience... talk about "embarrassing," especially when your neighbors leave signs on your door... "5.9...5.8... 5.9...5.6 (Russian Judge)... 5.9"

I have just returned from my most recent AT trip. I am pleased to report that it was one of the best, even with all the rain we got enroute. Mostly, since my SC neighbors were a wonderful pair of "snowbirds" that were extremely quiet. The absolute best sleep I've had on the AT! Thanks neighbors!!!

Next round: October... I guess the snowbirds will be heading south again.