# Entire Train Ride Spent Deciding If, When To Use Bathroom



## amtrakwolverine (Apr 24, 2012)

> NEW HAVEN, CT—Commuter Michael Broberg boarded Metro-North Railroad's 8:37 p.m. train on Monday with one objective: to find a vacant bathroom in one of the train's seven cars and relieve himself in it. Unforeseen obstacles, however, forced him to continually revise and reevaluate this plan over the course of the nearly two-hour commute.


http://www.theonion.com/articles/entire-train-ride-spent-deciding-if-when-to-use-ba,1933/


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## NY Penn (Apr 24, 2012)

Sad that the picture shows an Amtrain...


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## SarahZ (Apr 25, 2012)

amtrakwolverine said:


> > NEW HAVEN, CT—Commuter Michael Broberg boarded Metro-North Railroad's 8:37 p.m. train on Monday with one objective: to find a vacant bathroom in one of the train's seven cars and relieve himself in it. Unforeseen obstacles, however, forced him to continually revise and reevaluate this plan over the course of the nearly two-hour commute.
> 
> 
> http://www.theonion....to-use-ba,1933/


Please tell me you realize "The Onion" is a satirical newspaper.


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## Ozark Southern (Apr 25, 2012)

NY Penn said:


> Sad that the picture shows an Amtrain...


Not all that surprising, given that The Onion is based in Madison and favours high-speed buses.


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## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 29, 2012)

This must be a joke. Never heard of The Onion.


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## NY Penn (Apr 29, 2012)

Swadian Hardcore said:


> This must be a joke. Never heard of The Onion.


Wikipedia


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## fairviewroad (May 2, 2012)

Ozark Southern said:


> NY Penn said:
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> > Sad that the picture shows an Amtrain...
> ...


Actually, the Onion moved to New York City more than a decade ago. Time enough to know the difference between Amtrak and Metro-North.

Yeah, it's satire but I don't give them a pass on that. This was just the result of a sloppy web editor not doing his/her homework.


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## Ozark Southern (May 2, 2012)

fairviewroad said:


> Ozark Southern said:
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> > NY Penn said:
> ...


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## Shortline (May 3, 2012)

Swadian Hardcore said:


> This must be a joke. Never heard of The Onion.


Seriously? The Onion is some funny shiznit!


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## Shortline (May 3, 2012)

fairviewroad said:


> Ozark Southern said:
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> > NY Penn said:
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You're really going to hold the news web editor accountable for not putting a picture of the real train on a fake story? Ok....


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## fairviewroad (May 4, 2012)

Shortline said:


> fairviewroad said:
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> > Ozark Southern said:
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Not "the" real train (since obviously there was no actual train) but the correct operating agency would be a close second. Suitable

public domain images of Metro-North can be found with a quickie web search. I'm just saying that satire is better when it has

more "truth" to it. Imagine if the story had the passenger departing from Penn Station instead of Grand Central, for instance.

That's immaterial to the humour elements of the story but they would immediately lose credibility. (And yes, a fake news organization

needs "credibility"...even Jon Stewart needs to get the facts right.)

But no, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.


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## Ozark Southern (May 4, 2012)

fairviewroad said:


> Shortline said:
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> > fairviewroad said:
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Apparently it hasn't occurred to you that they might have _intentionally_ used the wrong photo, in satire of sloppy news editors. Don't put anything past the Onion; they put a lot of effort into their work, as evidenced by the absurdly large group of people who actually believe their jokes are real.


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## fairviewroad (May 4, 2012)

Ozark Southern said:


> Apparently it hasn't occurred to you that they might have _intentionally_ used the wrong photo, in satire of sloppy news editors.


Uh, no that hadn't occurred to me. I suppose that's possible, but it doesn't really strike me as their style, actually.



Ozark Southern said:


> Don't put anything past the Onion; they put a lot of effort into their work, as evidenced by the absurdly large group of people who actually believe their jokes are real.


Ah, but the reason so many people believe their jokes are real is _precisely_ because of the multiple grains of truth. Their deadpan style relies

on some degree of authenticity to make it work.


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## Trogdor (May 4, 2012)

Not only that, but I bet you that photo wasn't actually Michael Broberg either. Never thought I'd see the day people started critiquing the accuracy of the Onion.


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## Devil's Advocate (May 4, 2012)

Trogdor said:


> Not only that, but I bet you that photo wasn't actually Michael Broberg either. Never thought I'd see the day people started critiquing the accuracy of the Onion.


Same here. I'm genuinely speechless, and that's saying something.


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## MikefromCrete (May 6, 2012)

The whole thing is a joke. It's satire, not an actual story about Metro North, Amtrak or any other real life entity. I find the Onion quite amusing. The headlines are the funniest part of the product, the stories run on to absurdity, but that's also part of the joke.


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## Devil's Advocate (May 6, 2012)

Texas Sunset said:


> I'm genuinely speechless, and that's saying something.


I guess nobody got the joke. -_-


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## Shortline (May 7, 2012)

To be fair, they do sometimes get it right, with factual reporting!

See America by Train!

And, Amtrak is even mentioned by an interview they did with Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Again, some truth in reporting!

"He also revealed the terrorist organization had wasted six months planning to take down Amtrak's regional operations before realizing that with its constant delays and malfunctions, the government-owned passenger train service "basically terrorizes itself."


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## Texan Eagle (May 7, 2012)

Among their recent posts, I had a great time reading this one-

*NASA Announces Plans To Put Man On Bus To Cleveland*

Greyhound- The Final Frontier. Going Where No Man Has Gone Before... or maybe not


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