Chronicles of Dave

Lisa and I have traveled by train several times together and I will say we always, and I mean always run into the most interesting and colorful people on the train. This latest Portland trip was no exception.

On the way to Portland we were in a car with several black folks just behind us. I feel like I got a little education on living in a black neighborhood in east Los Angeles. Despite Virginia, our 10 year old being right with us, they did not hold back on the language or topics of conversation. The “N” word was dropped dropped precipitously as if it were just another adjective. In their context it was. I learned the difference between being  a black person living in Los Angeles vs Seattle. I guess it’s harder to get away with crimes in Seattle, so much so that they call it Sea-tattle in LA.

At one point in the trip you pass by a prison literally out in the middle of nowhere. These folks all jumped up when we passed by to get a better look. Cell phones came out to take pictures and even video. The guy just behind me almost proudly stated that he had “spent time in there”. I’ve never seen a group of people get so excited about a prison. Nothing against them personally. Other than the rough language they were quite nice people and when they did remember Virginia was within earshot they did try to tone the language down.

To get to the diner car you have to walk through several other passenger cars. One of these cars smelled so bad I can’t even describe it. I’m not sure if it was an individual that was producing the smell or something else but suffice to say there is no way I could have survived the trip if that was our car. There was an Amtrak official in the car armed with a can of Fabreeze that he must have been using generously because after awhile that cabin smelled of dirty socks and Fabreeze. It’s was exquisite and painful every time we had to walk through.

Around 12:30am a women got on and sat next to the gentlemen sitting directly in front of me. She than proceeded to have a louder than needed conversation about the Twilight series of books, explaining in excruciating detail every aspect of the story. When I thought that was mercifully done she started in about the New Orleans Saints football team. By now it was past 1am and I just wanted to try to sleep.

The trip back was no less entertaining. There was a large group of young people this time. No less loud but far more obnoxious than the black folks on the ride to Portland. Somewhere early on in the trip there was an announcement that someone had reported the use of marijuana on the train. About an hour later we noticed virtually all the young people were mysteriously gone. I personally don’t care what you smoke, but don’t do it in closed spaces and I pretty happy to be rid of them mostly because they were so damn obnoxious.

The rest of the ride home was taken up by a drama that Lisa was more tuned into than I was but I guess there was a black girl talking pretty loudly on her cell about a situation involving her husband. She needed to find a way to get off the train, rent a car and get back to where ever she came from. It seems her husband had gotten arrested and the kids were at home unattended. For some reason nobody could look after them and so social services was going to take them and put them God knows where. For some reason, she was also not going to be able to get them back for several days even though she was literally on the way to come get them. She spend a good deal of time arguing and pleading with the agency to work with her.

This is life on the train. For some reason, you just get to know a lot of other peoples business, weather you like it or not.