stowaways/fare jumpers

[amamba]

So I was riding the 190 from PVD to BBY this morning, and I noticed a young woman on the platform standing next to me. she boarded right behind me and proceeded straight to the restroom, where she camped out until we got to BBY. Once we pulled up into BBY, she stepped out of the restroom and out onto the platform. I was sitting in the first seats of the car, just back from the restroom and facing forward, so I had a view of the restroom that she stepped into for the entire ride. I am certain that she was avoiding paying for the train.

I almost said something to her when we detrained in BBY, but I didn't know what to say. Plus I didn't want to provoke her. But I probably should have said something to the conductor, right? He did walk through a couple times. I kept thinking that she must have just had to go to the bathroom and didn't realize that she was camping out in there for the whole ride until a bit into the trip. I feel really guilty for not saying anything. What would you do in a situation like this? Would love to hear some ideas so I know what to do next time.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Knock on the door and ask if you could use the bathroom, draw a little attention to the situation. People who won't give up a bathroom raise red flags that get conductor's attentions...

 

[Choo Choo]

Knock on the door and ask if you could use the bathroom, draw a little attention to the situation. People who won't give up a bathroom raise red flags that get conductor's attentions...

This happens on the Long Island Railroad all the time. Start tapping on the door and claim that you have to go.

 

[Guest]

Who knows, perhaps she didnt have the money for the fare, perhaps you could offer to stake her to a ticket depending on her story! If it's obviously a case of stowing away cause you can or to get over I'd just mention it to the conductor and let them handle it, this is a crime in most states, not sure about Fed law? :unsure:

 

[TVRM610]

Just tell the Conductor when they pass through. Then sit back and have your popcorn ready.

 

[darien-l]

This reminds me of the following joke:

Three lawyers and three engineers are traveling by train to the same meeting. At the station, the lawyers each buy a ticket but the engineers buy just one. When asked why, the engineers coyly say "You'll see."

They all board the train, the lawyers take seats, but the three engineers all crowd into the bathroom. After the train leaves, the conductor comes around, takes the lawyers' tickets, then knocks on the bathroom door and says, "ticket, please." An arm stretches out from the bathroom and the conductor takes the proffered ticket. The lawyers are very impressed.

On the return trip, the lawyers propose to emulate the gearheads and buy only one ticket. To their amazement, the engineers buy no tickets at all. When asked why, the engineers again say, "You'll see."

All board the train and the lawyers and engineers cram into separate bathrooms to await the conductor. After a few minutes, one of the gearheads emerges from the bathroom, goes over to the lawyers' bathroom, knocks on the door and says: "Ticket, please."

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Hahaha-- nothing like a good "one on the lawyers" joke!

 

[fredevad]

Knock on the door and ask if you could use the bathroom, draw a little attention to the situation. People who won't give up a bathroom raise red flags that get conductor's attentions...

I would say something to the conductor when collecting tickets. Could be they just had to use the restroom and needed to be in there for a while (I can't cast the first stone there), or could be they're trying to get out of paying. The conductors are trained to deal with this so I'll let them decide what to do.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Hahaha-- nothing like a good "one on the lawyers" joke!

I've heard that joke a hundred times with "lawyer" and "Engineer" substituted with other things.

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

When we pay for something ourselves, naturaly we get annoyed by others who get "a free ride". My take on this is simply to be flexible.. if the young woman was smartly dressed,and seemed afluent, I might draw attention to her actions. If she was a person who looked poor, or maybe with a mental problem, I would ignore her actions.. The fare is $13 and if they really need to not spend this amount, they also don't need trouble brought down on them by me...

(I also am seduced by tales of hobo's riding boxcars, there is a certain "romance" to being down and out, and stealing a free train ride..)

Eddie

 

[spacecadet]

Hi,

When we pay for something ourselves, naturaly we get annoyed by others who get "a free ride". My take on this is simply to be flexible.. if the young woman was smartly dressed,and seemed afluent, I might draw attention to her actions. If she was a person who looked poor, or maybe with a mental problem, I would ignore her actions.. The fare is $13 and if they really need to not spend this amount, they also don't need trouble brought down on them by me...

I disagree. Amtrak is a privilege, not a right, as we've been reminded of time and time again by our government. Amtrak's got enough financial problems without people stealing rides. If we want to keep this system, then everybody needs to pay for their usage of the system.

Amtrak may be a government program, but that doesn't mean anybody gets a free ride. You want to use it, pay for it.

I'm about as liberal as they come, but I've never understood or subscribed to this idea that stealing stuff is fine as long as you can't afford it. It's not Amtrak's fault that you can't afford it, so they shouldn't be the ones to pay the price (and by extension the rest of us who are subsidizing Amtrak).

 

[amamba]

Hi,

When we pay for something ourselves, naturaly we get annoyed by others who get "a free ride". My take on this is simply to be flexible.. if the young woman was smartly dressed,and seemed afluent, I might draw attention to her actions. If she was a person who looked poor, or maybe with a mental problem, I would ignore her actions.. The fare is $13 and if they really need to not spend this amount, they also don't need trouble brought down on them by me...

I disagree. Amtrak is a privilege, not a right, as we've been reminded of time and time again by our government. Amtrak's got enough financial problems without people stealing rides. If we want to keep this system, then everybody needs to pay for their usage of the system.

Amtrak may be a government program, but that doesn't mean anybody gets a free ride. You want to use it, pay for it.

I'm about as liberal as they come, but I've never understood or subscribed to this idea that stealing stuff is fine as long as you can't afford it. It's not Amtrak's fault that you can't afford it, so they shouldn't be the ones to pay the price (and by extension the rest of us who are subsidizing Amtrak).

This is kind of how I felt which is why I brought this up. I don't know that woman's story, maybe she was truly sick for the entire train ride and needed to be in the bathroom. But amtrak needs revenue to succeed, and it needs it from everyone who rides. Even if she had a ticket, her ticket was certainly not pulled on the trip. That means its as good as cash for someone to reuse on that route.

 

[Spokker]

When we pay for something ourselves, naturaly we get annoyed by others who get "a free ride". My take on this is simply to be flexible.. if the young woman was smartly dressed,and seemed afluent, I might draw attention to her actions. If she was a person who looked poor, or maybe with a mental problem, I would ignore her actions.. The fare is $13 and if they really need to not spend this amount, they also don't need trouble brought down on them by me...

Why would you give a poor-looking person a free ride but not the affluent-looking person? The affluent-looking person may actually be poor, but spent her last dime on a nice suit to go to a job interview. Evading the fare may be her last ditch effort to get a job in this hypothetical.

 

[Guest]

There are more important things out there than being a snitch about fare evasion. There is hungry and homeless people all over this country that we should all be more concerned with than a few people hiding out in a restroom. This is petty in the grand scheme of things.

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

Don't you just love the "liberals" who would crack down on those who are so poor they need to bum a ride..

I also love folk who can't differentiate between a wealthy person and someone down and out who needs a free ride..

Is America so full of vigilanties, ready to report to those "in charge"?

Ed

 

[haolerider]

Hi,

Don't you just love the "liberals" who would crack down on those who are so poor they need to bum a ride..

I also love folk who can't differentiate between a wealthy person and someone down and out who needs a free ride..

Is America so full of vigilanties, ready to report to those "in charge"?

Ed

This is really a matter of ethics, not morality or liberal vs. conservative. Amtrak is not the Salvation Army and it is illegal to try to evade the fare. In Atlanta, the fare evasion/turnstile jumpers on MARTA is huge and they are making plans to combat the loss of revenue.

As far as what individual passengers should do, I think nothing, since none of us are really "in-charge", even though we observe the violation, we know nothing of the circumstances and Amtrak/MARTA have people who are paid to deal with these kinds of situations. Many people complain of the apathy of the American public when it comes to homelessness, poverty, crime, etc; but there are as many problems with people sticking their noses into situations where they have no business!

 

[DowneasterPassenger]

The lawyer joke reminds me of a kid I overheard telling his friend how he smokes on the train (a Superliner): "Just go in the bathroom, stick your head in the bowl, and keep flushing the toilet. The vacuum will keep sucking the smoke out." Which made me think of a practical joke to play on the smoker: Tell him the same thing, but put the vacuum in reverse. So he lights up, sticks his head in the bowl, and then has to explain the smoke AND being covered in poop.

 

[gswager]

The lawyer joke reminds me of a kid I overheard telling his friend how he smokes on the train (a Superliner): "Just go in the bathroom, stick your head in the bowl, and keep flushing the toilet. The vacuum will keep sucking the smoke out." Which made me think of a practical joke to play on the smoker: Tell him the same thing, but put the vacuum in reverse. So he lights up, sticks his head in the bowl, and then has to explain the smoke AND being covered in poop.

Or in that case, transform into a blue alien.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

When we pay for something ourselves, naturaly we get annoyed by others who get "a free ride". My take on this is simply to be flexible.. if the young woman was smartly dressed,and seemed afluent, I might draw attention to her actions. If she was a person who looked poor, or maybe with a mental problem, I would ignore her actions.. The fare is $13 and if they really need to not spend this amount, they also don't need trouble brought down on them by me...

I hate to come off odd, but sorry folks, if this lady didn't have the $13 to buy a ticket, I would stepped up and bought one for her.

Possibly I am more influenced by the state of the economy of late, but I have certainly stepped up to help those who don't have a job before. And honestly, if it was just a deception on her part, the $13 will not seriously affect my life.

 

[Guest]

Hi,

Don't you just love the "liberals" who would crack down on those who are so poor they need to bum a ride..

I also love folk who can't differentiate between a wealthy person and someone down and out who needs a free ride..

Is America so full of vigilanties, ready to report to those "in charge"?

Ed

Unfortunately yes, but not everyone is a vigilante! There are countless acts of kindness everyday everywhere that go unnoticed, it's too bad that the Rushbo attitutede of "Ive got mine, to heck with you" is shared by anyone else! I'd offer to buy her a ticket if she wasnt a thrill seeker,ie someone trying to get over!

 

[JayPea]

This same sort of thing occurred when I was on the EB between Portland and Spokane. A stowaway had gotten on the train in Vancouver and had headed to the bathroom and locked himself in. I didn't know this at the time until I went to use that very bathroom. The car attendant (or conductor, I don't remember which), quietly told me to use another bathroom as they didn't want to spook him. All he got for his trouble was a free ride in the bathroom from Vancouver to Bingen-White Salmon and a personal escort from the train at Bingen-White Salmon by some of Klickitat County's finest. I doubt the hassle was worth it in the end.

As for me, I'd probably ignore it, unless I knew for sure that person didn't have a ticket. I'd want to be sure of the facts before I did anything.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

When we pay for something ourselves, naturaly we get annoyed by others who get "a free ride". My take on this is simply to be flexible.. if the young woman was smartly dressed,and seemed afluent, I might draw attention to her actions. If she was a person who looked poor, or maybe with a mental problem, I would ignore her actions.. The fare is $13 and if they really need to not spend this amount, they also don't need trouble brought down on them by me...

This has been an interesting and thought-provoking thread. It's probably impossible to say exactly what I'd do before I actually see it, but I'm tempted to say I'd be inclined to have a similar outlook as yours. I hear the folks who are upset that this person was receiving a free lunch, but unlike all the sob story people discussed in other threads this person might be really hurting if they can't afford the $13.

BTW, thanks for the joke darien-l; I hadn't heard that one before but I think it will be hard to forget.

 

[leemell]

Hi,

Don't you just love the "liberals" who would crack down on those who are so poor they need to bum a ride..

I also love folk who can't differentiate between a wealthy person and someone down and out who needs a free ride..

Is America so full of vigilanties, ready to report to those "in charge"?

Ed

Unfortunately yes, but not everyone is a vigilante! There are countless acts of kindness everyday everywhere that go unnoticed, it's too bad that the Rushbo attitutede of "Ive got mine, to heck with you" is shared by anyone else! I'd offer to buy her a ticket if she wasnt a thrill seeker,ie someone trying to get over!

The behavior you object to is not being a vigilante "A vigilante is someone who illegally punishes someone for actual or perceived offenses, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to such a person." That is --- OUTSIDE the law. What these folks do is referred to a "being a snitch", as if being law abiding and conscientious is some how wrong. Last week, I broke a rule of mine for the first time in nearly 30 years. I was accosted by a middle aged well dressed Asian man for $7 to buy a gas can so he could get the gas for his car and retrieve his wallet he left in an office. He emphasized how hard this was for a person of a Japanese family. I gave him $10. I never give anyone money or even buy because of my experiences with homeless and charity groups and law enforcement and they uniformly recommend against it). Ten minutes later in front of the adjacent store he was being braced for aggressive (physical) panhandling. I was completely taken in, you just cannot tell who is and who is not really in need by appearances or demeanor or who might be a serious threat. If I see it, I will report it for my safety and the safety of others.