Amtrak

Amtrak...this is our first train ride from El Paso to San Antonio n back.  Th track follows th Mexican border.  I should say first that it was late 8 hours.  Not their fault...th floods, rock slides, in CA n AZ were th cause.   So th ride was at night n not much could b seen.

We were in coach or what is normally referred to as second class.  First class passengers get a room n this comes with free meals.  Wake up coffee, a newspaper.  Amtrak is a public train, paid for by taxpayers, so I see this as taxation without representation.  Th poor smuck pays his taxes, then he gets on a train, pays more taxes, so that th other smuck gets a free meal, n private quarters, a bed.  God I love this country.

But lets talk about th train....I dont know how old th trains r, but they still have th original seats.  I suppose a million butts have sat down over th life of Amtrak is not an xaggeration.   Which means your own butt will soon b a source of pain.  Th seats need new cushions...new covers!  Th carpetin....needs change, as do th drapes.  Th damn thing is dirty....any more n it could b filthy....so it is just one letter away from a health hazard.  

I know th trains operate 24/7 but they have to stop for cleanin.  Mayb just back them up into Mexico n have th kids wash them.  Hell u could turn it into a water park n let th kids shoot water at them, a quater machine for 10 minutes of  fun, (thats why we should insist people read Tom Sawyer) wouldnt even have to hire new crew.  

This train is a national embarrassment....we r Americans n we should xpect n dserve th best.  Certainly, at least th cleanest.  

Anyway if they wont put in new seats why not sell them, some of that space age technology memory foam!!!  Th seats r roomy, better than a plane, if u r over 5ft 5 in. It may b a tight fit.  U see families with kids, on two seats, now th seats turn to face each other which would quadrant off th area for mom n give th kids a little room to wiggle.  But those conductors, n ticket people dont seem to know their equipment.   Mayb they should b forced to ride th train on an annual basis as part of their evaluation.

Ours was a twelve hour trip, No Music, no TV, no close circuit education, No WiFi.  By now u would think that one could talk to a person in another part of th country goin th opposite way n talkin about his xperience.
Or somebody in France or Germany, or Japan.  Th first thing they would say is, 'ours is a real train, it goes 200 miles an hour'.   'We got rid of all our 40 mph trains last century'.   Of course they would try to keep from laughin at our definition of a train. 

China has a train that goes across th country to Tibet.  It goes so high in elevation that Oxygen masks drop!!! oxygen masks. 

They have those little pillows....they probably have cooties.  U see them all over th floor.

Th restrooms....dplorable!!!   They need a lot of work....mayb automated ones that self clean. Urine all over th floor, hell u think twice about washin your hands.  Th stairs, dsigned by someone in th last century.  U could have two elevators with counter weights.   Now these cars r not handicap accessible, so th government is breakin th law.   Th ADA probably doesnt apply to trains.

Th meals were third class, th airline meals were better.  Mayb we could out source th meals to th Airlines.  Th price of th meals was first class.  Cruel n inhumane treatment.....a train ride should not b a punitive xperience.

Th security was old American....no groping, my ID was not checked, they didnt check my luggage....it was like being an American again....like in th good old days.  

Th price of th round trip....a mere $302.00 dollars. 

Joe I know u ride th train often, I hope th one u ride is better.....wait a minute Joe ur ride should b as uncomfortable as mine.  Why dont we get Obama n th family to ride Amtrak?  Shake a few hands, get a few votes.  N hurry bfore Sarah dcides to make it her cause.  So lets get NASA, MIT, California Polytechnical Institute, th Japanese.  Lets make a train we can b proud of, paint th darn thing red, white n blue.