Amtrak: Worse than the Chinatown Bus

Apologies for the lapse in posts. I had planned on a glorious post-Thanksgiving recap about sleeping twelve hours each night, hanging with the fam, drinking limitless supplies of Arizona Green Tea, and indulging in an endless supply of music, tv shows, and movies.

I had a blast... until I took a spill on Monday morning on the Amtrak train. I popped up like it was nothing. "Are you okay???" the guy behind me asked. "Yeah, yeah... I'm fine. I'm fine." When I finally found a seat on the packed train to DC, I knew I probably wouldn't be able to stand up in four hours. So I confessed my embarrassing fall to the ticket taker. "I fell down and hurt my leg." I asked for some ice or a first aid kit. He kindly told me to walk my ass to the cafe car.

Amtrak customer service continued to degrade from there. The ticket taker found me in the cafe car again and told me that an 80-year-old woman had fallen between the platform and the train. She didn't cry though. Thanks, asshole. Later when I got up to get some fresh ice, a different Amtrak employee looked at my shoes (my Vans...) and said, "No wonder why you fell. Those shoes don't look like they have much grip." Fuck you too, pal.

There were, however, two nice people on the train. I sat across a Pace University professor who was so kind to me that I mistook her for a Kindergarten teacher. She gave me her magazines to read when she got off the train and talked to me while I sat across from her. Sigh. Then there was one Amtrak lady who got my bags and moved them to where I was sitting with my leg propped up.

All I got was a bone bruise on my shin, but it hurt, man! Maybe I would've been better off on the Chinatown bus. Alright, back to the studying routine. More posts for procrastinating later...

Sr. Helen Prejean at Georgetown

I just saw a reading of The Death of Innocents by Sister Helen Prejean in Gaston Hall at Georgetown University, and it was arguably better than a full-on stage production. Sister Helen Prejean read her own part, and Georgetown undergrads and professional actors served as the ensemble cast.

I had read Dead Man Walking (and seen the play and the movie) in high school, so I wondered what else Prejean could say about the death penalty. She said a whole lot more. The Death of Innocents focuses on two men whom she believes to be innocent and in two emotional acts, she convincingly flaunts the faults of the U.S. justice system. I cried twice, which is actually a first for me with plays.

I still really, really dislike Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Do you remember my post last year after his lecture at LSE? If you happen to read the book or see a performance like this, you'll see why. Read this CNN article on one inmate who was profiled in Act II of The Death of Innocents. Really alarming stuff.

I'll be writing a review of the performance for a class, so I'll cut this post short. Happy Monday.