Cell Phone Headache

[DET63]

From the KATU report:

Lakeysha Beard of Tigard was charged with disorderly conduct after police said she got into a “verbal altercation” with passengers on the train. The other passengers complained she refused to put down her cell phone, even after train staff made repeated announcements for passengers to not use cell phones, according to police.
...

Beard was taken into custody until a family member could come and pick her up.

...

KATU tried to contact Beard for comment but could not reach her.

While she was in custody, was she allowed to make a phone call?

When KATU tried to contact her, did they get a busy signal (or get re-routed to her voice mail)?

 

[busboy]

Once again I was not scheduled to be on call till after I got off !!!! .

I was asked to Fill in for some one else as they got sick.

I told My CO that I was on a train and I was not the best pick to fill In . He said he had no one else who would fill in . would YOU back talk YOUR boss . No .

I wouldn't "talk back" to my boss, but I would politely say something like... "Currently I'm on a train which is traveling thru many areas with limited or no cell signal. Any other time I would be happy to take your shift, but right now it simply isn't possible. To accept such an assignment would be irresponsible on my part because I may not be able to fulfill my duty."

something like that.

Or, if it's really that important to have constant cell phone connectivity, and lives were at stake, and you simply cannot say no to your boss, I'd get off at the next stop and sit there with my phone, ready to take the next call, and figure out how to reach my destination after my critical shift was over.

Anyway, lets just drop this, it really doesn't have anything to do with Amtrak or trains.

 

[tp49]

Glad she got kicked off, but Amtrak should have done it sooner. I was on a city bus(an express bus) going home to Katy from downtown Houston and experienced the same thing. This women was talking on her phone before the bus arrive, continued to talk all the way out to Katy, a 45 min trip, and when I left the park and ride in my car I noticed she was sitting on the bench still talking. The bus driver got so rattled that he missed his exit and had to circle back. They don't say in the article what language she was using, but the one I experienced was dropping the F and MF bomb with every other word and talking all about her sexual relations and who had what std and on and on. To experience that for 16 hours non stop would be excruciating to say the least. Probably the best solution would be to accidently just spill your drink on her as you made your way down the aisle. :lol:

In most places that would be grounds for justifiable homicide :lol:

 

[singwith]

News reported she was on "quiet car". Is there "quiet car" on Coast Starlight?

 

[zepherdude]

News reported she was on "quiet car". Is there "quiet car" on Coast Starlight?

No Quiet Car on CS

I have wondered about the request for all passengers to shut off phones. Maybe this was announced just for her benefit. Someone above mentioned no use of cell phones in the dining car. While a courtesy not to use them at dinner, I have never seen a hard fast rule not to use them that location. Just wondering.

 

[frugalist]

Isn't there a quiet-time rule during the overnight hours? Starting at something like 10pm?

 

[chandj]

Someone mentioned rude people will be rude with or with cell phones. True. But meanwhile, we only aid and abet the problem by sitting silently and passively on the side.

I don't support the passive aggressive stuff like jamming transmissions, but neither do I think anyone should simply sit back and take it. It's up to all of us to speak up if our rights are being infringed upon. If the offending person or group looks too threatening to you then go get a car attendant or conductor to do the talking for you. If the perpetrator(s) still won't stop then find some other passengers who will back you up and ask the conductor to kick them off. There are lots of things you can to do to turn this tide without having to ban or jam every phone and without having to suffer in silence. The OP story itself would appear to be proof of that. If anyone chooses to suffer in silence that's their decision and nobody else's.

Sounds like some pretty long-suffering, patient people on that train--sixteen HOURS!! Your advice about how to speak up safely is good. You never know when a person that rude could get violent.

 

[George B]

Once again I was not scheduled to be on call till after I got off !!!! .

I was asked to Fill in for some one else as they got sick.

I told My CO that I was on a train and I was not the best pick to fill In . He said he had no one else who would fill in . would YOU back talk YOUR boss . No .

I wouldn't "talk back" to my boss, but I would politely say something like... "Currently I'm on a train which is traveling thru many areas with limited or no cell signal. Any other time I would be happy to take your shift, but right now it simply isn't possible. To accept such an assignment would be irresponsible on my part because I may not be able to fulfill my duty."

something like that.

Or, if it's really that important to have constant cell phone connectivity, and lives were at stake, and you simply cannot say no to your boss, I'd get off at the next stop and sit there with my phone, ready to take the next call, and figure out how to reach my destination after my critical shift was over.

Anyway, lets just drop this, it really doesn't have anything to do with Amtrak or trains.

His role of holding lives in his hands seems to be diminished the more he has to explain it, so let’s just let it all speak for itself.

There would be no need for him to talk back to your boss on this anyway because an organization that holds lives in their hands would not keep California’s Emergency Response organizations tied to a single person with a cell phone….especially one on a train.

I like his comparison of his job to a 9-1-1 operator. Hmmmm……can’t think of the last time I saw a 9-1-1 operator on duty using a cell phone on a train. Things must be different in California. Perhaps the gal that got kicked off the Coast Starlight the other day was working her shift for Oakland PD’s 9-1-1 from her seat. I’d be pretty upset with the crew, too, if I was trying to take 9-1-1 calls all night and the people around me ratted me out. I wonder if she dispatched Salem PD herself from her phone.

 

[fairviewroad]

News reported she was on "quiet car". Is there "quiet car" on Coast Starlight?

Yeah, I noticed that too. Weird. This article even goes as far to detail the history of "quiet cars"

and accepts as fact that the yakker was riding in a designated "quiet car." And yet the CS does

not have designated Quiet Cars, both in my recent on-board experience and as noted in the

current timetable. (In fact, I'm not aware of any LD trains with "quiet cars")

Probably Amtrak doesn't want to come out and correct this kind of thing because they would

have to explain why:

1. They don't offer "quiet cars" on more routes.

and

2. And why, Amtrak policy notwithstanding, the on-board crew felt the need to unilaterally prohibit

cell phone use (assuming that's even true, which I'm starting to doubt.)

 

[AlanB]

News reported she was on "quiet car". Is there "quiet car" on Coast Starlight?

No Quiet Car on CS

I have wondered about the request for all passengers to shut off phones. Maybe this was announced just for her benefit. Someone above mentioned no use of cell phones in the dining car. While a courtesy not to use them at dinner, I have never seen a hard fast rule not to use them that location. Just wondering.

While there have been a few reports of dining car crews making up rules that do not exist, there is no rule against cell phones in the dining car. I can see, support, and understand a crew asking someone who is just yaking away with no end in sight to either hang up or leave the car for the moment, but they have no authority to tell people that they cannot bring their phones with them into the car.

Like wise, there are no rules against cell phone useage in the coaches, unless you are on a train with a quiet car and then only in that specific & well marked car are you forbidden to use your phone to talk. That said, I can see a crew asking people to refrain from using their phones after 10 PM and to either turn them off or set them to vibrate.

All that said, if someone's language and/or the conversation is not appropriate, that would also be cause for a conductor to step in and ask for the conversation to cease. And failure to comply would be grounds for the conductor to kick you off the train.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Here's an idea....there should be a "penalty box" car for trouble makers......

 

[HotlantaAl]

Here's an idea....there should be a "penalty box" car for trouble makers......

Hmmm...How about a sound proof booth?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Yahoo Home Page has the Video from "Good Morning America' Showing her being escorted off the Train Under Arrest after Talking 16 Hours Non-Stop in a Quiet Car from Oakland to Salem,OR. She became Belligerent with fellow Passengers and OBS and the Conductor, hence "Say Good NIght Gracie"! Next Train is after Making Bail! About Time, Americans have become Cell Phone and I-Pad Junkies! :help:

 

[Trogdor]

http://www.pleaseshutup.com/hidden-videos/#/video/train

 

[singwith]

Reading all your comments, I guess there's no "Quiet Car" on #14 & #11. (also no on #5 & 6?)

When I was on train #6(from Omaha to SAC), a lady front of me using her celphone every 10 mins or ringing her celphone every 10 mins. Thanks God she got off the train somewhere in NE but I just hate celphone ringing!

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Clip from the HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm:" Larry isn't impressed by the guy sitting next to him at the restaurant talking on the hands free so he decides to play him at his own game...

 

[WhoozOn1st]

This Los Angeles Times editorial begins with the intransigent talker on the Coast Starlight, then widens the issue to public cell phone use as a general nuisance.

Quit your yakking (print edition headline)

"The question of how to cope with cellphones in public has been a thorny issue for more than a decade. But what's heartening here is that Amtrak officials did something assertive on behalf of the suffering passengers after the woman broke the rule forbidding cellphone use in coach cars at night."

 

[PaulM]

The incident even triggered an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. The gist of the article was that going out into public nowadays and expecting not to be subjected to a lot of noise is the new rude.

The author also mentioned the quiet car. Do you think the crew took it upon themselves to declare a quiet car?

 

[PRR 60]

The incident even triggered an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. The gist of the article was that going out into public nowadays and expecting not to be subjected to a lot of noise is the new rude.

The author also mentioned the quiet car. Do you think the crew took it upon themselves to declare a quiet car?

She was not thrown off the train simply for talking on a cell phone. The woman was disturbing passengers with loud conversation much (but not all) of which was on a cell phone. When the crew told her to tone it down, she became combative, belligerent and threatening toward the crew. That is a bad idea. Her behavior toward the crew is what got her tossed from the train into the arms of the police, not just talking on the phone.

Throwing passengers off a train for bad behavior is not unusual. The cell phone connection made it more interesting to the media than the normal drunk passenger expulsion.

 

[PaulM]

She was not thrown off the train simply for talking on a cell phone. The woman was disturbing passengers with loud conversation much (but not all) of which was on a cell phone. When the crew told her to tone it down, she became combative, belligerent and threatening toward the crew.

I'm not sure whether the author of the WSJ article was being serious or just trying to be funny. But the point was that, according to the new morality, it was the crew that was rude when it told her to tone it down. Another words, if the passengers were disturbed by loud cell phone conversation, they should have stayed home.

Next thing you know, cell phone users will start claiming a right to privacy.

 

[dlagrua]

Discourtesy seems to be getting more prevalent these days. How about the person who boards the sleeper at 12:30 AM and starts a loud discussion in the hall or the people that choose to have a discussion by the coffee machine at 5 AM? In coach there are those that believe that speaking on a cell phone or playing the radio at 3AM is OK? Amtrak should get the "QUIET in this car, while passengers are sleeping" signs that were once used on overnight trains back in the day put back up.

In the case of the woman taken off Amtrak I guess her life is completely about her and that she cares about no one other than herself.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I'm not sure whether the author of the WSJ article was being serious or just trying to be funny. But the point was that, according to the new morality, it was the crew that was rude when it told her to tone it down. Another words, if the passengers were disturbed by loud cell phone conversation, they should have stayed home. Next thing you know, cell phone users will start claiming a right to privacy.

Sounds like the Wall Street Journal is just following their traditional view that singling out and blaming the victims is the best editorial policy.

My job expects me to be reachable pretty much around the clock. Vacations, holidays, and sick time are all fair game if a given problem is considered to be serious enough. I don't get calls all the time and nobody is going to die if for some reason I can't be reached, but if I want my paychecks to continue I have to be easily reachable. However, I still do my best to take reasonable precautions against unnecessary noise pollution. I assume that most folks don't want to hear my own phone conversations any more than I want to hear theirs. I'm not aware of any quiet cars on the LD network but when I was on the NEC as part of my NTD trip I sat in the quiet car by choice but made sure to keep my phone on vibrate. When I had to make or take a call I didn't start talking immediately. Instead I waited until I had made my way to the cafe car. The cafe car turned out to be so noisy that I couldn't easily hear folks on the other end so I ended up talking in the vestibule between the cafe car and one of the non-quiet cars next to it. In my view that's a reasonable attitude toward mobile phone use and it's exactly how things should work in a civilized society. Not surprisingly the WSJ disagrees completely.

 

[Mackensen]

Just to throw my two cents in, I was on the previous day's Coast Starlight and the only mentions of cell phones that I recall were (a) a request that passengers take calls in the lounge car and (b) the general request to silence electronics after 10 pm (which is also when they usually stop making onboard announcements until the following morning). I haven't read anything which suggests that the CS crew went any further than that. There may have been a request to not bring electronics into the dining car, but I might have heard that a few days ago on the Builder. It's not an unreasonable request, regardless.

 

[George B]

Just to throw my two cents in, I was on the previous day's Coast Starlight and the only mentions of cell phones that I recall were (a) a request that passengers take calls in the lounge car and (b) the general request to silence electronics after 10 pm (which is also when they usually stop making onboard announcements until the following morning). I haven't read anything which suggests that the CS crew went any further than that. There may have been a request to not bring electronics into the dining car, but I might have heard that a few days ago on the Builder. It's not an unreasonable request, regardless.

This is similar to what I always experience on the CS. The conductors on the CS have always made some type of announcement regarding phone calls when I have been on board. Some conductors have announced that phone calls are not allowed in Coach. Now, the language they have used for this is “cell phone conversations should not be done in Coach”, which can be interpreted either as a requirement, or a suggestion.

All Dining Cars on all of the LD trains I have been on have been announced as prohibiting cell phone calls, or all electronic devices. Sometimes the conductor announces it, sometimes the LSA does it when reservations are being called. I have always interpreted this as not necessarily being for the comfort and convenience of other passengers, but as a courtesy to Dining Car staff who do not want to compete with your cell phone or iPad for your attention. It makes sense, in that if they can get your full attention when they talk to you, they can get you served and out of there quicker.

The Parlor Car is an interesting topic, as you obviously are encouraged to sit in there and use electronic devices and make use of their top-notch always-reliable WiFi (Pause here for laughter to subside). But when being seated for food service, the attendant usually will give you a “look” if you have your cell phone out and taking pictures, or sending text messages. This might be a carry-over from the attendants rotating in from the Dining Car. Oddly enough, I have never seen anybody talk on a cell phone in the Parlor Car. That seems strange, but is another thing that makes the car so enjoyable.

 

[leemell]

I'm not sure whether the author of the WSJ article was being serious or just trying to be funny. But the point was that, according to the new morality, it was the crew that was rude when it told her to tone it down. Another words, if the passengers were disturbed by loud cell phone conversation, they should have stayed home. Next thing you know, cell phone users will start claiming a right to privacy.

Sounds like the Wall Street Journal is just following their traditional view that singling out and blaming the victims is the best editorial policy.

[snip]

Actually, I believe thay had their tongue planted firmly in their cheek. " It's clear that everything we once assumed about the workings of manners has shifted. Lakeysha Beard is the brave herald of an emerging renaissance of rudeness." You should read the whole article.