I Choo Choo Choose You...

Amtrak sucks... at least 75% of the time. I was headed down to Chicago this past weekend for my interviews (which went well, but now i know i don't want the positions) and I was taking the good ol' train. Now, some of you may know my history with trains. It seems that the trips I plan using Amtrak never quite work out. Take for example spring break of 2003: I was heading to Chicago for a weekend of food and fun in Chicago. But I get a call the day before my trip to inform me that the train has been "slightly delayed" due to an avalanche and mudslide in Montana. No problem...slightly delayed? I can wait a couple hours. But no. Apparently Amtrak's definition of "slightly delayed" is 2 days! Well, it's good to know that your monopoly on train travel has given you the right to create new definitions Mr. Amtrak! But, on to the latest trip...

I get to the station at 7:10 in the morning bright eyed and bushy tailed (what does that even mean???) after a delightful evening with Lance and Tony Sims. The second I get in the station I hear the hubbub: "There's been a derailment", "running late", "delayed a few hours", sending a bus", "no I will not have sex with you". So I get up the funny looking little Amtrak employee and he tells me that there has been a freight train derailment in St. Cloud and the Amtrak train is stuck behind it. There, of course, is no estimted time of arrival. Sit tight. What??? You want me to sit in this station for what could be an entire day in hopes of the train showing up??? I don't think so. But 1/2 hour later we find out that they have chartered buses to drive us to Chicago. Great... 9 hours on coach bus sitting next to some smelly old man...just what I wanted. But Isuppose I was pleasantly surprised. I cleverly found a way to sit next to a fairly attractive young man who I noticed had carried a guitar onto the bus (which made him even more attractive). We actually spent the whole trip talking and while there weren't any sparks, at least it made the trip go by more quickly. Should I have been concerned that he was reading anarchy literature???? Nah. Being the shy boy that he was he didn't ask for my number and I didn't want to freak him out by asking for his. But he told me a few clubs that he hangs out at, so maybe we'll run into each other some time.

So lesson learned...prepare for the worst when taking Amtrak, but you may be pleasantly surprised.