Getting in a Holiday Spirit, “Train-Style”

The time of year has again come and gone, a bright spot in this life, where I get to directly serve the natural constituency of NARP—the passengers.

For about 17 years now, I have been privileged to serve as a Washington Union Station volunteer guide during the Thanksgiving travel weekend.  I select the busiest shifts, 6:00-9:00 p.m. Wednesday and 12:00-3:00 p.m. Sunday. This is a chance to put our “inherent” knowledge to work for the good of people; both passengers and their loved ones.

Americans are a little spoiled, you know, as in the ice cream store, ignoring the flavors list while asking the attendant to recite the list and then ordering vanilla.  They are also accustomed to indifferent service in even upscale venues.

That makes it all the more enjoyable to receive multiple heartfelt thanks when you help a parent unite with their homecoming student or direct a teenager to their grandmother who was coming from Philadelpia but “the trains are only coming from Boston and New York.”  Yes, this is hard on the feet, but strengthening to the heart.

Happy holidays to all rail advocates and passengers worldwide.

—Jim Churchill, NARP Vice President

Ed Note—This year, for the first time in over ten years of living in Washington, I stayed in town until Thursday morning and joined Jim at Union Station on Wednesday evening.  I echo his sediments 100%—Dave Johnson