The lady in the seat across the aisle from me from New Orleans to Chicago was African American with gray hair and a voice to soft I couldn't hear what she said half the time. She was on her way to Chicago to attend some sort of cancer seminar. She has three sisters, two of who were recovering and one in serious trouble. Her name was Virginia.
In the club car on the Empire Builder I met Jean. She was a former lawyer who was traveling on Amtrak with to of her retired friends, on of whom was her college roommate from the sixties. They had left Chicago on there way to Portland, Oregon to stay with another friend for a few days. Then it was off to southern California and across to New Orleans and back up to Chicago. She was not completely retired. She wrote travel guides, mostly for Europe, particularly Croatia. I expressed some skeptism as to Croatia as a tourist destination, but Jean assured me it was beautiful and had a great deal of historical sites, mostly medieval castles.
Then there was the guy I met in the club car whose son had kayaked the entire length of the Mississippi River from its source at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota all the way down to its mouth south of New Orleans. He himself had been in the army in Vietnam. He worked in finance, making sure the troops were paid in the right script and in the right amount. When he got out of the service he worked as a financial advisor for the Catholic church.
Then there was Mary. I met Mary in the line of people about to board the Empire Builder in Chicago. She was from Puerto Rico and spoke very little English. She was concerned about getting on the right train. I asked her where she was going and she said Minneapolis and then Bismarck. I explained there was no train from Minneapolis to Bismarck. She indicated she was going to fly. Under stand this communication involve a great deal of repeating and gesturing. Soon a couple other women were involved. One woman ased Mary if she knew how to get from the train depot in St. Paul to the airport in Bloomington. Mary shook her head.
I explained it to her. "Walk six blocks to where you can get onto the light rail blue line. Ride that to down town Minneapolis. Then get on the light rail green line and take that out to the airport." We then learned she did not have a plane ticket to Bismarck. More complications. One of the other women had learned that she had to get to Bismarck to see her son who was in the hospital (Sanford) in serious condition with cystic fibrosis and kidney failure.
I could not imagine this poor woman trying to get all this figured out and accomplished without help. I decided to be the help. With the other women listening in, I suggested that she just extend her trsinnticket to Minot and I would drive her down to Bismarck. She wasn't so sure, but finally agreed. I noticed one of the other women lookimgbat me kind if squinty eyed.
We boarded the train and found seats together. When the conductor came around I told her the plan. She said I would have to call Amtrak and get Mary's ticket changed. I called the number and got the robot. Talking to a robot is one if the most frustrating experiences imaginable. After a lot of failed communication, The robot decided I was too stupid to work with so she called an agent. I explained to the agent what I was trying to do. He was very helpful. In fact, he charged $37 less than the robot was going to.
Mary later reimbursed me the $80 and we were set. That is except for the woman giving me the eye. I was sitting down at a table in the lower floor of the club car when she found me. She started grilling me down. Why would I do this? What's in it for me? She wasn't rude, but she was thorough. She suspected I was some lowlife who was going to take advantage of a vulnerable woman. I must have passed her test because when she got off the train in Columbus, Wisconsin, she smiled and wished me well.
I kept an eye on the weather. It didn't look good for a while, but the roads were not too bad. Mary had a couple of quirks. While on the Train, l seldom stay in one place for very long. I spend some time in the club car dividing with people. I can't sleep in one seat, so I look for an empty double, even if I have to go to another car. This upsets the conductorsm especially at night, because they
Want to know when to wake you upat your stop. If you are not in your designated seat they don't know where to find you. Anyway, when I would be out and about, Mary would be concerned that I had left her.
Her other quirk was her sense of humor. I never knew when to take her seriously. She didn't have winter clothes so I told her I would bring one of Ruth's coats and a pair of her boots along. Mary kept suggesting that I had given her the coat and boots. I would explain that I brought them along just in case of an emergency. She kept thanking me for giving them to her. When we got to the hospital, she didn't takebthem. She had been pullimg my leg.
Early on she asked if I was going to take her all the way to the hospital once we got to Bismarck. When I told her I was going to take her right to her son's room, she started to cry. Her son, whose name is Alexander, was on the fourth floor. I led her to his room and she went in. Very emotional reunion. I stayed for less than a minute. Alexander was obviously very sick. He was thin and weak. He needed his mother.
In the club car on the Empire Builder I met Jean. She was a former lawyer who was traveling on Amtrak with to of her retired friends, on of whom was her college roommate from the sixties. They had left Chicago on there way to Portland, Oregon to stay with another friend for a few days. Then it was off to southern California and across to New Orleans and back up to Chicago. She was not completely retired. She wrote travel guides, mostly for Europe, particularly Croatia. I expressed some skeptism as to Croatia as a tourist destination, but Jean assured me it was beautiful and had a great deal of historical sites, mostly medieval castles.
Then there was the guy I met in the club car whose son had kayaked the entire length of the Mississippi River from its source at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota all the way down to its mouth south of New Orleans. He himself had been in the army in Vietnam. He worked in finance, making sure the troops were paid in the right script and in the right amount. When he got out of the service he worked as a financial advisor for the Catholic church.
Then there was Mary. I met Mary in the line of people about to board the Empire Builder in Chicago. She was from Puerto Rico and spoke very little English. She was concerned about getting on the right train. I asked her where she was going and she said Minneapolis and then Bismarck. I explained there was no train from Minneapolis to Bismarck. She indicated she was going to fly. Under stand this communication involve a great deal of repeating and gesturing. Soon a couple other women were involved. One woman ased Mary if she knew how to get from the train depot in St. Paul to the airport in Bloomington. Mary shook her head.
I explained it to her. "Walk six blocks to where you can get onto the light rail blue line. Ride that to down town Minneapolis. Then get on the light rail green line and take that out to the airport." We then learned she did not have a plane ticket to Bismarck. More complications. One of the other women had learned that she had to get to Bismarck to see her son who was in the hospital (Sanford) in serious condition with cystic fibrosis and kidney failure.
I could not imagine this poor woman trying to get all this figured out and accomplished without help. I decided to be the help. With the other women listening in, I suggested that she just extend her trsinnticket to Minot and I would drive her down to Bismarck. She wasn't so sure, but finally agreed. I noticed one of the other women lookimgbat me kind if squinty eyed.
We boarded the train and found seats together. When the conductor came around I told her the plan. She said I would have to call Amtrak and get Mary's ticket changed. I called the number and got the robot. Talking to a robot is one if the most frustrating experiences imaginable. After a lot of failed communication, The robot decided I was too stupid to work with so she called an agent. I explained to the agent what I was trying to do. He was very helpful. In fact, he charged $37 less than the robot was going to.
Mary later reimbursed me the $80 and we were set. That is except for the woman giving me the eye. I was sitting down at a table in the lower floor of the club car when she found me. She started grilling me down. Why would I do this? What's in it for me? She wasn't rude, but she was thorough. She suspected I was some lowlife who was going to take advantage of a vulnerable woman. I must have passed her test because when she got off the train in Columbus, Wisconsin, she smiled and wished me well.
I kept an eye on the weather. It didn't look good for a while, but the roads were not too bad. Mary had a couple of quirks. While on the Train, l seldom stay in one place for very long. I spend some time in the club car dividing with people. I can't sleep in one seat, so I look for an empty double, even if I have to go to another car. This upsets the conductorsm especially at night, because they
Want to know when to wake you upat your stop. If you are not in your designated seat they don't know where to find you. Anyway, when I would be out and about, Mary would be concerned that I had left her.
Her other quirk was her sense of humor. I never knew when to take her seriously. She didn't have winter clothes so I told her I would bring one of Ruth's coats and a pair of her boots along. Mary kept suggesting that I had given her the coat and boots. I would explain that I brought them along just in case of an emergency. She kept thanking me for giving them to her. When we got to the hospital, she didn't takebthem. She had been pullimg my leg.
Early on she asked if I was going to take her all the way to the hospital once we got to Bismarck. When I told her I was going to take her right to her son's room, she started to cry. Her son, whose name is Alexander, was on the fourth floor. I led her to his room and she went in. Very emotional reunion. I stayed for less than a minute. Alexander was obviously very sick. He was thin and weak. He needed his mother.
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