divine angst

If someone could please help me (a) not hate Federal Jurisdiction,^[1] (b) be actually interested in Federal Jurisdiction,^[2] or (c) make my Federal Jurisdiction exam just Not Happen,^[3] I’d be eternally grateful.

1. I don’t actually hate Federal Jurisdiction. ↩
2. I do actually find the concepts of Federal Jurisdiction interesting, it’s just the way the class was taught that makes me want to cry. ↩
3. This I actually would love. ↩

Mr. Angst tried to take the Amtrak today, on an unexpected trip out of town. Unfortunately, all that winter weather interfered and he got stuck 3/5 of the way to his destination, and was stuck there for more than six hours. Now, he tells me, the train is going backwards, to the last stop, where passengers can board buses to take them to their destination, 2 and a half hours down the highway.

I understand the vagaries of transportation when the weather is bad–certainly it’s no shock that his train was delayed some. But the more I think about it, the angrier I get–why couldn’t Amtrak figure out five hours ago–when the train had been sitting for two hours–that the tracks really were going to be impassable? Why did it take close to eight hours for them to decide that whatever was blocking the tracks really couldn’t be moved? Why did it take them so long to decide to look at alternatives for getting the passengers to their destionations? Mr. Angst’s trip, which he decided to take at the last minute and for family reasons, is now shortened by at least several hours and possibly by a full day. What guarantee will Amtrak give him that this problem won’t recur on Sunday, when he’s trying to come home?

As you can see, I’m a bit preoccupied with this. So I looked up Amtrak’s various legal statements on their website. And I am APPALLED. Amtrak basically disclaims ALL liabilities arising from their failure to keep to a timetable or for equipment failure and the like, so long as a given state doesn’t disallow such disclaimers. Snort. So when Mr. Angst’s 5 hour train trip ends up taking him three times that, what happens to Amtrak? Nothing. There’s no legal recourse, no way to get refunds, nothing. We just have to suck it up.

Every six months or so, there’s a news item about how Amtrak is hemorrhaging money, how it can’t turn a profit, how it’s being propped up by subsidizes in all but the DC-to-New York market. And no wonder! There are no negative incentives! If Amtrak screws up, what do they have to lose? Not reputation, certainly. And they won’t lose any money, since there’s no way to impose such penalties on them.

Maybe the ten hour delay is an extreme (it will be a ten hour delay by the time the buses get there). But I know Amtrak delays aren’t rare, and hearing about the way this particular situation has been handled makes me want to avoid the train in the future. Even if it is less expensive than renting a car.

Update: A five-and-a-half hour train trip turned into almost 20 hours for Mr. Angst. Even worse? Amtrak apparently intended to leave them on the train even longer, but some passengers began calling 911 and complaining that they were stranded. Only then, it seems, did Amtrak make the “radical” decision to back the train up 20 miles to the last stop and allow passengers to debark. And then it took them over three hours to provide buses to transport everyone to their destinations. Even better? There were no trains today, nor likely tomorrow. In the end, Mr. Angst will have to take a bus back home.

Now here’s the crux of my irritation. Amtrak, yesterday, was unable to provide information to passengers who called asking for information. Why? Because the channels of communication aren’t really set up to allow for that. Amtrak, at least in this part of the country, leases rail lines from freight companies, so when problems arise with the rail lines, Amtrak can’t really do anything about it–they have to call the freight companies. And, as I understand it, they are at the whim of the freight companies for rail maintenance–Amtrak doesn’t budget for maintenance. They just pay their rent, as it were.

Surely it would be better to establish some sort of centralized communication system, even if it’s just a more sophisticated version of a phone tree, right? I mean, people at all levels of government have been calling for Amtrak to overhaul how they do business–but aren’t there less expensive measures that could be taken to at least improve the customer experience?

Finally, I know there are so few people that take the train that the media doesn’t care. But I had no end of frustration last night trying to see if there was any information on the news about the rail lines. And there wasn’t. Consequently, the only way I was able to find out that tomorrow’s trains won’t be running was to call the train company–there were no news items, nothing on the TV. And I live in a state which sends a fair chunk of money to Amtrak! Egads.

Update 2: Well, Amtrak did call Mr. Angst this morning to tell him his train would not run. I’m glad they did. He’ll be on a late bus into town, and hopefully there won’t be any problems on the highway.

Please, people, for the LOVE OF GOD, keep your animal on a leash when you are outside with him or her. Your dog may be the most obedient little ball of fluff in town, but if he or she gets curious and approaches my dog, who doesn’t really like other dogs, there’s no way for you to get your dog back before my dog reacts and tries to establish his dominance.

(On that note, my dog really needs some training in this area, and we are aware of it and looking into it. But when he’s on a leash and other dogs are on their leashes, I NEVER have problems just scooting past trouble. Which is to say that, other, better trained or more submissive dogs shouldn’t get a free pass just because they are better trained and submissive. Or, rather, their OWNERS should not get a free pass.)