Passenger Trains > Here We Go!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/01/18/amtrak-sherrilyn-ifill-seat/

The story says a female conductor made the request / demand.  I guess that eliminates the "sexist" angle.  Now, if the female conductor also happened to be African-American, then a lot of the wind will be removed from Ms. Ifill's sails. 

With social media, and everyone having a smart phone equipped with a video camera, everything a train conductor does these days has the potential to immediately becomes a national, headline-generating story.   

Jeff Bezos wanted a $1 to read his words but Doha Madani and NBC News aren't as greedy. 
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/naacp-official-alleges-amtrak-conductor-asked-her-give-her-seat-n1118556

No matter the persons race or sex, even if seats are not assigned they should not be forced to change seats from the one they selected unless they choose to do so. Another case in point. I had a reserved seat on Delta. First Class. Seated next to an elderly woman. Her husband was in the first row. The lead flight attendant approached me and asked if I would be willing to change seats so the couple could sit together. I answered sure, as long as it's a window seat. It was so I moved. But it was my choice and I wasn't forced to do it. Delta rewarded me with 1,000 miles in my Sky Miles account. I never asked for any compensation. This person should not have been forced to move once their seat was chosen and occupied. But they should also not try to blame it on race, sex or whatever else they felt they were discriminated for. Rather just another uncaring or ignorant Amtrak employee trying to make someones trip less enjoyable.

Lurch_in_ABQ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jeff Bezos wanted a $1 to read his words but Doha
> Madani and NBC News aren't as greedy. 
> https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/naacp-official
> -alleges-amtrak-conductor-asked-her-give-her-seat-
> n1118556

Why is it "greedy" for the Washington Post to charge for reading its content?  Before the internet era, someone desiring to read a newspaper article either had to pay for a subscription or purchase a copy at a newstand or from a newspaper vending box.  I subscribe to two newspapers.

I'm not a fan of Jeff Bezos, but it seems like you are demanding "free stuff" when you infer that the Washington Post management is being "greedy" for doing what many other publications practice (including the Wall Street Journal and Model Railroader magazine).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/20 18:20 by RuleG.

Two comments to share:

I didn't see anything in the article in the Post that stated that Ms Ifill claimed that the request made to her was related to her being an African American. The twitterverse was where the allegations of discrimination were made.

And how many of us Amtrak passengers have been told by various conductors and trainmen that no you can't sit in this car or these seats because:yada yada yada yada. My experience is that in many cases this occurs for the convenience of the crew and to the detriment of the passenger. I don't know all the details about Ifill's situation but had I been in her shoes I would likely want to find out why the seating of someone down the line takes precedence of mine, And I would likely ask very politely "“The conductor has asked me to leave my seat because she has ‘other people coming who she wants to give this seat.’ Can you please explain?” A very reasonable request.

 

https://thegrio.com/2020/01/19/sherrilyn-ifill-naacp-legal-defense-fund-amtrak/
"For reasons still unknown, an Amtrak conductor tried to make Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, give up her seat, just days ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day."

Uppity.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/20 19:43 by Duna.

Amtrak conductors and coach attendant have always felt they can order single passengers around at will as though they're unwanted boarders for whatever flimsy excuse such as emptying out the car, group or families getting on down the line, which are usually hoaxes, and if they are, so what. Two aisle seats can be adjacent and keeps them "together". Amtrak management has always been too incompetent and apathetic to deal with this issue In a professional and customer-oriented manner. This is one area Amtrak should behave like an airline. 

I favor whatever it takes to bring this situation to head in public, and now it has . If it takes a lawyer using the race card, so be it. 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/20 04:45 by joemvcnj.

All the more reason for reserved seating on EVERY train.

These clowns can use programs to analyze the price for every seat
on every train but can't assign a seat.  The local theater can assign 
a seat.

Englewood Wrote:
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> All the more reason for reserved seating on EVERY
> train.
>
> These clowns can use programs to analyze the price
> for every seat
> on every train but can't assign a seat.  The
> local theater can assign 
> a seat.

A theater, like an airplane, "boards" and "deboards" everyone at the same time. Assigning seats is easy that way.

Amtrak has the same challenge that hotels do. There have been many times I've tried to book a 3 week stay and been told that the place is sold out. Gone back and booked two separate stays covering the same time period and gotten in, with the inconvenience of having to switch rooms in the middle of my stay. The hotel reservation software is written such that if they don't have any single room available for the full duration, they'll turn away the business even if there are multiple rooms open for parts of the duration.

What's Amtrak to do? Reserve all seats and turn away longer distance riders if the seats are reserved by shorter distance riders? Write their software in such a way that if there isn't a single seat available for a longer distance trip, offer that rider the option of still taking the trip but having to change seats midway somewhere? It's probably doable, but the software would be complicated.

Not being able to reserve a seat is one of the things that bothers me most about train travel, but I can see the challenges Amtrak would have implementing a reservation system.

Nomad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Englewood Wrote:

>
> Not being able to reserve a seat is one of the
> things that bothers me most about train travel,
> but I can see the challenges Amtrak would have
> implementing a reservation system.

Yet this is one of the things that PEOPLE were able to do before computers.
Many long distance trains were reserved and you received a seat number.
Groups of seats were held for downline sale.  And  there was a call back system
where you would be contacted if a seat you were looking for on a certain date 
was originally not available.

In my days at Amtrak the excuse was the variety of seat capacity in the heritage fleet made
it impossible.

Amtrak doesn't want to do it.  It might make rail travel more desirable. That is the reason it is not done.