Drama on the Rails!

On the train from Chicago to St. Louis I experienced my first train drama. Allow me to set the scene: On long-distance train trips, the seats are on the upper level of the railcars. In the lounge car, the lounge is upstairs, and you take a staircase down to the lower level to find the cafe. I was in the cafe in a booth directly at the bottom of the stairs.

A big guy comes down the stairs, slides right into the booth next to me, and gives me a nudge with his shoulder. I honestly thought that he mistook me for someone else. I looked at him and asked, "May I help you?" He looked right at me, stayed where he was, and then -- I am not making this up -- sniffed me. And sniffed me again. I was trying to figure out what to do (since I was pinned next to the windows), when I heard the cafe employee call for the conductor. This is your official thanks, cafe employee! Then the guy got up, started banging on the walls, and tried to open a bunch of cabinets.

This is when I started to suspect he was drunk or high. But I hadn't smelled anything on him at all, and he was definitely sitting close to me. The conductor came down and tried to talk to this guy, but the guy was making no sense, getting belligerent, and not following any instructions. At this point, I thought it prudent to go upstairs. Of course, I sat right there in the lounge car because I wanted to see what would happen. I've never had any drama on the train!

More railroad employees were called on the PA until I counted six down there, and they evacuated the cafe. And then things got interesting. We stopped at a little town. This town was NOT a train stop. The entire lounge was looking out the window, of course, and gossiping. Apparently this guy had been harassing a lot of people. He followed one other passenger complaining that there wasn't enough alcohol, and he stopped and bothered people in almost every car. It seemed almost every person in the lounge had encountered him.

There must be a secret door from the cafe that leads outside, because next thing we know, all of the six Amtrak employees are outside with the guy who is jumping around, bumping chests with some employees, and generally being, well, drunk. Then a Sheriff's car drove up, and all of a sudden, the guy is on the ground with the Sheriff's knee in his back, getting his hands cuffed behind his back! Holy cow! The Sheriff hauled him off, and we continued on our way.

At this point I had questions, which mainly consisted of wondering what would happen to this guy. My guess, based on nothing but my own thoughts, is that he will dry out in a holding cell overnight. But then what? Will they stick him on a train the next day? Will he go to jail? Will he have to hitch a ride home? I'm just so curious!

With the drama over, I headed back to my seat, which took me through about four cars. People were asking me what had happened. When I explained, many people described the guy and asked if that was him. Yet more proof that he was all over the place. But then a situation I thought was actually kind of funny got sad. I talked to one passenger who said that the guy told her he was an Iraq vet with PTSD, and he had just started a new medicine for it. And then he drank heavily after that. That's not funny at all. If the story is true, then you have a guy who fought for our country and came home so mentally injured that it takes both meds and alcohol to allow him to forget, or at least stop reliving the war. So best wishes, Amtrak-riding guy. Get the help you need, and get well.

I do want to finish with another reason I love the train, though. If you have an unruly passenger, you can just stop and kick him off the train! You can't do that on an airplane.