A woman was kicked off an Amtrak train after talking on a cell phone for 16 hours straight. Here's the story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43078616/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/t/cops-kick-cellphone-blabbermouth-train/?GT1=43001
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
HOW DO YOU DO THAT
HOW CAN YOU EVEN TALK FOR THAT LONG
WHAT WAS SHE TALKING ABOUT?
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Her sentence should be to have to sit for 16 hours next to an F40 with the HEP screaming away in an underground terminal . . .
I bet the microwaves were cooking her brain cells rather nicely (which might explain her actions....).
Who could put up with that aggravation for 16 hours without becoming violent? Especially in a quiet car with signs posted.
Another sign of the approach of the apacolypse.
Throw Mama from the train!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Several years ago, whilst riding the Texas Eagle from Dallas to Chicago, I was awakened in the middle of the night by a guy outside of my roomette shouting into a cell phone. He kept it up for more than an hour. Finally, I asked the train crew to ask him to move. When they did so he became belligerent. As a result of the incident, I can see why the train crews are reluctant to confront unruly passengers. If they do so, they run the risk of being assaulted or charged with discrimination.
You know, sometimes when I read of a story like this, I'm very thankfull. I'm thankfull that this woman does not have my phone number.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
It was all over the News on Fox&Cnn, plus the Newspaper too. Did she not go to Lounge Car or Dining Car or to the Bathroom in that 16 hours?
BaltACD Throw Mama from the train!
Was she recently innoculated with a phonograph needle?
I am reminded of the old joke reputed to be due to Thoma Edisons' response to an admirer's contention to his wife that Edison had invented the 'talking machine'. Edison corrected him by saing, "God invented the talking machine. I invented one that can be turned off."
What was the cell phone brand?. I need one with a 12 hr battery like a hole in the head?!!
In view of the increase use of trains by business men (at least in the Northeast), their use of Laptops and Smart Phones to conduct work while traveling, and the problems that causes, Amtrak has one or more cars on most trains called "Quiet Cars".
If you only want to relax and enjoy your trip, you have a "Quiet Car" where voices are low and no cell phones are blaring away. Some passengers have no respect for their fellow passengers, then it's up to the Train Crew.
Don U. TCA 73-5735
"+1" to NKP guy's post above, and also Don's. The problem would have been obvious after just an hour. Why not put her off before departure - or at least closer to the point of departure - than all the way up in Oregon ?
And could she really have gotten good cell phone signal reception on the Amtrak/ UP (ex-SP) route in the wilderness portions of the northern California Coast Range and Siskiyou Mountains in Oregon ?
If you think about it seriously, she must also be having one or multiple mental/ emotional/ personal/ awareness/ politeness "issues" of some kinds, besides the obvious ones . . .
Unfortunately, this demonstrates a major reason why many people are reluctant to use public transportation - they won't be exposed to this if they drive their own car, or take an airplane where the cell phone rules are enforced more strictly (and passengers are of course screened by TSA before boarding). What if she'd tried that stunt on an airplane ? Yes, they'd have put her off - but after landing first, and then again into the custody of local police.* But if you ride a bus or a train, you're vulnerable to people with all kinds of problems. At least on a train, you might be able to get up and find another car - or at least another seat - further away from the culprit.
More broadly, this is also an often unexamined and unstated reason why people don't want to live closer together in multi-family housing such as townhouses, condominiums, apartments, etc., or even in dense urban areas. The inability and ineffectiveness of society to educate, "socialize" (train), prevent, suppress, or ultimately police against this kind of "quality of life" problem - esp. noise - is what drives people to live in suburbs, sprawled out so as to minimize the risks and effects of these kinds of problems. But what that means is that aggregating enough working people for effective use of mass transit such as trains or light rail becomes far more difficult, and at both ends - the 'origin' at the 'bedroom community', and the 'destination' at the 'urban core', because there isn;t one any more - it too is all spread out.
*(Part of me wonders about the jurisdictional aspects of this kind of event. The 'criminal acts' presumably occurred some miles before = outside the legal jurisdictional limits of the town where she was thrown off - so on what legitimate basis do the local cops have to hold her ? They didn't personally witness the bad behavior, which is sometimes required to prosecute misdemeanor offenses such as this. So presumably they did that on the 'say-so' of the train's conductor and maybe a few bold passengers - but did thos epeople from the train have to sign a formal written complaint, or an affidavit of some kind, etc. ? Where will the hearing be held ? Will they have to come back and testify to provide the necessary evidence in person ? Just curious about the mechanics of it, that's all . . . )
It'll be mildly interesting to see what else comes out about this event - "the rest of the story". If nothing else, a few comedians will have fun with it. I bet it'll show up on this week's edition of "Wait, wait - don't tell me . . . ".
- Paul North.
A few more links on this...nothing much to add likely, but a few more takes on it:
http://gawker.com/5802980/hero-cops-escort-cellphone-loudmouth-off-trainhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110518/us_yblog_thelookout/loud-cell-phone-talker-removed-from-quiet-car-by-policehttp://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/18/the-ridiculist-cell-phone-lady/
45-second video clip of how Mr. Spock and Capt. Kirk dealt with an arrogant punk rocker on a bus with a loud boom box that he refused to turn down when asked - from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) - see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092007/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr82dZpCr48
If only something similar could have been done in this instance . . .
See also the comments at the bottom for the 'back story' on that - it's kind of funny.
Apparently battery life wasn't an issue - she was plugged into an Amtrak-provided charging station.
I don't know that I've ever had a 16 hour conversation with anyone face-to-face. I really doubt I'd be able to do so on the phone.
Still, I'm amazed that people can have a cell-phone conversation that runs the entire time they're in a grocery store. I can only hope that the conversation wasn't carried on as they drove to the store, and when they drove away...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
You are making the assumption that it was a single phone call and not a series of phone calls to different people with small breaks in between over a period of 16 hours.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
A few of these comments remind me of a story that has become a part of our family's folklore
When our two boys were young (and before everyone had their own cellphones!), my dear wife was explaining why we needed to limit their time on the family telephone. In response to their pleas, she said, "No one should ever need to be on a call more than 45 minutes!"
Literally, just then, the phone rang. It was a dear friend of hers, with whom she hadn't spoken for some time. When the call ended, some hour-and-a-half later, she sheepishly returned to the earlier conversation with a somewhat different attitude!
I have no problem with the concept of being able to talk to someone -- or several people -- for as long as 16 hours (if that is what actually happened).
But I do have a problem with doing so in a self-centered manner that disturbs others. Respect for others seems to be a trait which elludes many in our society.
Joe Jones must have known her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBrKDpNAVSU
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
Paul_D_North_Jr "+1" to NKP guy's post above, and also Don's. The problem would have been obvious after just an hour. Why not put her off before departure - or at least closer to the point of departure - than all the way up in Oregon ? And could she really have gotten good cell phone signal reception on the Amtrak/ UP (ex-SP) route in the wilderness portions of the northern California Coast Range and Siskiyou Mountains in Oregon ? If you think about it seriously, she must also be having one or multiple mental/ emotional/ personal/ awareness/ politeness "issues" of some kinds, besides the obvious ones . . . Unfortunately, this demonstrates a major reason why many people are reluctant to use public transportation - they won't be exposed to this if they drive their own car, or take an airplane where the cell phone rules are enforced more strictly (and passengers are of course screened by TSA before boarding). What if she'd tried that stunt on an airplane ? Yes, they'd have put her off - but after landing first, and then again into the custody of local police.* But if you ride a bus or a train, you're vulnerable to people with all kinds of problems. At least on a train, you might be able to get up and find another car - or at least another seat - further away from the culprit. More broadly, this is also an often unexamined and unstated reason why people don't want to live closer together in multi-family housing such as townhouses, condominiums, apartments, etc., or even in dense urban areas. The inability and ineffectiveness of society to educate, "socialize" (train), prevent, suppress, or ultimately police against this kind of "quality of life" problem - esp. noise - is what drives people to live in suburbs, sprawled out so as to minimize the risks and effects of these kinds of problems. But what that means is that aggregating enough working people for effective use of mass transit such as trains or light rail becomes far more difficult, and at both ends - the 'origin' at the 'bedroom community', and the 'destination' at the 'urban core', because there isn;t one any more - it too is all spread out. *(Part of me wonders about the jurisdictional aspects of this kind of event. The 'criminal acts' presumably occurred some miles before = outside the legal jurisdictional limits of the town where she was thrown off - so on what legitimate basis do the local cops have to hold her ? They didn't personally witness the bad behavior, which is sometimes required to prosecute misdemeanor offenses such as this. So presumably they did that on the 'say-so' of the train's conductor and maybe a few bold passengers - but did thos epeople from the train have to sign a formal written complaint, or an affidavit of some kind, etc. ? Where will the hearing be held ? Will they have to come back and testify to provide the necessary evidence in person ? Just curious about the mechanics of it, that's all . . . ) It'll be mildly interesting to see what else comes out about this event - "the rest of the story". If nothing else, a few comedians will have fun with it. I bet it'll show up on this week's edition of "Wait, wait - don't tell me . . . ". - Paul North.
Excellent post, Paul. Your points about bad behavior in public transportation and high-density housing help illustrate why the social-engineer types at various levels of government are having such a tough time selling their agenda.
The Conductor was the one to make the decision to puit that woman off the train--His second mistake was not doing it while the train was at track speed--she'd still be bouncing!
When my cell phone rings in a public place (restaurant,meeting, etc) I leave the room for the duration of the call. That way I am not bothering fellow restaurant patrons and my call is semi private. When someone nearby is so rude as to not leave the area for his call I keep on with my conversation in its previous volume. If the person on the phone complains I tell him that the restaurant is the oddest looking phone booth I have ever seen. That usually sends the message to them.
On a similar tact I enjoy watching people throwing their weight around and generally making a rectum of themselves. A while back I was in line to check in at the airline counter and the person a couple of people in front of me was not getting his way. He started yelling "Do you know who I am?" The counter agent quietly picked up the public address microphone and said "Your attention please. There is a gentleman here who does not know who he is. Does anyone recognize him?" I think the arrogant traveler crawled under the carpet. When my turn came I told the agent great job and gave her a high sign. The agent gave me a free upgrade without me asking.
ccltrains A while back I was in line to check in at the airline counter and the person a couple of people in front of me was not getting his way. He started yelling "Do you know who I am?" The counter agent quietly picked up the public address microphone and said "Your attention please. There is a gentleman here who does not know who he is. Does anyone recognize him?" I think the arrogant traveler crawled under the carpet. When my turn came I told the agent great job and gave her a high sign. The agent gave me a free upgrade without me asking.
A while back I was in line to check in at the airline counter and the person a couple of people in front of me was not getting his way. He started yelling "Do you know who I am?" The counter agent quietly picked up the public address microphone and said "Your attention please. There is a gentleman here who does not know who he is. Does anyone recognize him?" I think the arrogant traveler crawled under the carpet. When my turn came I told the agent great job and gave her a high sign. The agent gave me a free upgrade without me asking.
I might believe you if I had not heard that story years ago.
The problem should have been addressed when she started to talk on her cell phone. At that point she should have been escorted out of the quiet zone into another car. I'm surprised no other passengers intervened earlier... yank the cell phone out of her hands and hand it over to the crew for return to her when she gets off the train.. problem solved.
Ulrich... yank the cell phone out of her hands and hand it over to the crew for return to her when she gets off the train.. problem solved.
Ah, but then she could claim (rightly) that her cell phone was stolen.
Perhaps the better answer would have been to eschew the "quiet car" for a bit, gather around her (in seats) and hold loud, boisterous conversations. When she complained about the noise level, everyone could point to the "no cell phones" sign and continue their chatter.
If she then complained to the train crew, they could inform her that she wasn't supposed to be on her phone and might be better off in another car....
If you elect to not believe me that is your loss. I actually observed it at DFW airport while waiting to board the American Airlines flight to Gatwick. The story may have been reported elsewhere which would lead to its broad coverage.
I heard, many years ago, of a man who asked, "Do you know who I am?" and the response that was immediately broadcast to all, but I had not heard of any succeeding passenger's remark and the response to his remark.
I do not doubt that many passengers are so filled with their own importance that they behave in such a manner as to disgust other passengers; we simply do not hear of all such incidents.
I noticed a question on one of websites, "Is there cell phone reception in hell?" My answer is, "No, that's a part of the agony for those who use a cell phone like a binky."
Johnny
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