Lounge Attendant on the Zephyr

[cpotisch]

Hello! This is a very obscure question, but this is probably the only place to ask it. In August of 2016, I took the Eastbound Zephyr from EMY to CHI. Throughout the ride, the SSL attendant would repeatedly announce/advertise his snack offerings over the train’s PA, which is pretty normal, but there was one unique aspect to it - this guy would always mention his “INFAMOUS Bloody Maries”.

The announcements were always something along the lines of:

“Hello, everybody. This is [i forget the name], you’re lounge car attendant. Come on down to the lounge car! We’ve got ice cold beer, coffee, chips, candy, and of course my INFAMOUS Bloody Maries”

At one point he had a little bit of ‘Big Lebowski’ character trivia:

“And the answer to that piece of trivia is a White Russian. Come on down to the lounge car to get your White Russians, folks.”

And by the end of the ride his infamous Bloody Maries has escalated to “Infamous, INFAMOUS” status. That’s double infamous, just to be clear.

So does anyone know which attendant that was? Or if you forget the name, but remember having him as the lounge attendant on your train at some point? I’m just wondering if he only did this on that one run, or if that was always his schtick.

Thanks for any responses to this weird, obscure question!

 

[caravanman]

I have certainly been on Amtrak trains, and heard this same patter.

I think there has been a thread on A.U. complaining that this particular character's PA emphasis on drinking alcohol could be a bad influence on youngsters?

Ed.

 

[cpotisch]

I have certainly been on Amtrak trains, and heard this same patter.

I think there has been a thread on A.U. complaining that this particular character's PA emphasis on drinking alcohol could be a bad influence on youngsters?

Ed.

Thanks for replying! I did not get the feeling that this guy’s announcements were a bad influence the younger passengers. He mentioned several non-alcoholic offerings and I think was just putting on a little performance over the PA.

 

[Lonestar648]

I remember hearing this announcement, but I didn't pay it any attention. I didn't think anything negative about it. Selling alcohol brings a huge profit so any extra Amtrak earns is good. Just like in the DC when the server asks about wine. It is routine and not pushing. You see a lot worse on line, on TV, in the movies, and in public.

 

[CAMISSY55]

Hello! This is a very obscure question, but this is probably the only place to ask it. In August of 2016, I took the Eastbound Zephyr from EMY to CHI. Throughout the ride, the SSL attendant would repeatedly announce/advertise his snack offerings over the trains PA, which is pretty normal, but there was one unique aspect to it - this guy would always mention his INFAMOUS Bloody Maries.

The announcements were always something along the lines of:

Hello, everybody. This is [i forget the name], youre lounge car attendant. Come on down to the lounge car! Weve got ice cold beer, coffee, chips, candy, and of course my INFAMOUS Bloody Maries

At one point he had a little bit of Big Lebowski character trivia:

And the answer to that piece of trivia is a White Russian. Come on down to the lounge car to get your White Russians, folks.

And by the end of the ride his infamous Bloody Maries has escalated to Infamous, INFAMOUS status. Thats double infamous, just to be clear.

So does anyone know which attendant that was? Or if you forget the name, but remember having him as the lounge attendant on your train at some point? Im just wondering if he only did this on that one run, or if that was always his schtick.

Thanks for any responses to this weird, obscure question!

I don't think it is the same person, but your description of this Lounge attendant and his PA style pleasantly reminded me of the Dining Car LSA on my December 2017 trip on the SWC (LAX-CHI).

His name was Sam. He opened nearly every PA announcement with some very animated variation of of "Good Morning! This Everyone's Favorite Dining Car Steward!" (And yes, he would say "steward".)

He provided all the usual dining car information - dining car proceedures, menu information, reservation times, and even the occasional train history tidbit - in the same animated manner.

He was a uncommonly tall and sort of gangly man of mature years who, refreshingly, seemed to really enjoy his work! His gregariousness was consistent throughout the entire trip. He greeted everyone to the dining car with the same enthusiast welcome, be it 6:30 a.m. or the last seating at dinner.

Yes, he was a bit over the top sometimes... but his dining car was tidy and extremly efficiently run. He was very attentive and pitched in, helping the DC attendants throughout the meal. With the exception of adding up customers' bills, I don't remember ever seeing him sitting down. In addition, there appeared to be significantly less crew loitering in the car on this trip.

So again, while he was a bit too animated and gregarious at times, he was one of the best DC LSAs that I have ever encountered! And if, after boarding the SWC again in a couple of months, I hear -

"Gooood Afternoon! This is Sam... Everyone's Favorite Dining Car Steward!" -

I will be very pleased indeed!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I have certainly been on Amtrak trains, and heard this same patter. I think there has been a thread on A.U. complaining that this particular character's PA emphasis on drinking alcohol could be a bad influence on youngsters?

So a child is "badly influenced" by a public address announcement for a cocktail and then what? It's not like they can buy one and if anyone purchases or gives them alcohol on the sly they're looking at jail time, loss of employment, loss of driving license, and a substantial fine. When I was a kid "Bloody Mary" was something you said in front of a mirror with the lights turned off. It was something to be feared and had no connection to alcohol or any other recreational drugs. There are many legitimate things to worry about when it comes to American children, but this isn't one of them.

 

[JoeBas]

Indeed. We shan't be doing anything about them getting gunned down in the classrooms, but we damned well won't contribute to their delinquency by *horrors* mentioning alcohol in their presence.

Some folks...

 

[caravanman]

Just to reiterate, as a drunk myself, I have no problems with alcohol, except the expense...

I was simply testing my fading powers of recall by mentioning someone else's topic.

Cheers!

Ed.

 

[EmCee Al]

Had an attendant on #6 the Zephyr from 2/15, he had much the same patter, and I believe I heard his name as "Rod Pasco". But it looks like there are enough similarities with other that it may be a common thing.

 

[cpotisch]

Had an attendant on #6 the Zephyr from 2/15, he had much the same patter, and I believe I heard his name as "Rod Pasco". But it looks like there are enough similarities with other that it may be a common thing.

Did he offer infamous Bloody Maries?

 

[EmCee Al]

Had an attendant on #6 the Zephyr from 2/15, he had much the same patter, and I believe I heard his name as "Rod Pasco". But it looks like there are enough similarities with other that it may be a common thing.

Did he offer infamous Bloody Maries?

In fact, he did! Infamous was the key word!

 

[cpotisch]

Had an attendant on #6 the Zephyr from 2/15, he had much the same patter, and I believe I heard his name as "Rod Pasco". But it looks like there are enough similarities with other that it may be a common thing.

Did he offer infamous Bloody Maries?

In fact, he did! Infamous was the key word!

Hmmm... So that may well be the same guy! He basically did his PA announcements like performances, then? I love staff who could just say something like “This is your lounge attendant. We’ve got this, this, and this.” but instead choose to spruce things up with some ‘Big Lebowski’ trivia and ‘infamous, INFAMOUS Bloody Maries’. Makes the experience that much more fun.

 

[Seaboard92]

Name is Ron Pasco. He's on 5 currently.

 

[KmH]

Being a proper noun, is it Bloody Marys?

I checked.

Merriam-Webster thinks so.

I'll be on the #5 train in a month.

I've made a note to check if Ron Pasco is working the Café in the SSL car.

 

[cpotisch]

Being a proper noun, is it Bloody Marys?

I checked.

Merriam-Webster thinks so.

Darn it. Im usually on top of that kind of stuff[emoji853]

I'll be on the #5 train in a month.

I've made a note to check if Ron Pasco is working the Café in the SSL car.

Fingers crossed.

 

[GregL]

A couple of years ago we were on 4 headed for Chicago. Seems like we had the same guy. When he was closing down before Chicago, he said “in the famous words of Porky Pig, that’s all folks!”

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[zephyr17]

Interesting, since 3/4 is crew based out of LA, whereas 5/6 is crew based out of Chicago.

 

[cpotisch]

Interesting, since 3/4 is crew based out of LA, whereas 5/6 is crew based out of Chicago.

It's not that rare for crew to move around a bit, right?

 

[zephyr17]

Don't know about how much they transfer bases, especially cross country. However, someone from Chicago could get subbed in if the LA-based LSA couldn't make the trip back due to emergency, illness, etc. In that case, it would almost certainly be someone from the extra board, not someone holding down a regular assignment.

Also, in my experience quite a few LSAs on the western trains tout their Bloody Marys over the PA in my experience, although I don't recall the "infamous" that appears to be a signature.