Train Stories
The thing about using the public transportation vehicles is quite a funny one. Sometimes you are bored, sometimes you meet the most interesting people there. Starting from boys with knives, nuns, psychos, neurotic housewifes, and giggly schoolgirls to depressed young people, elderly wise men.
When i came back from Ireland my mother and i decided not to use the CAT train. Its unbelievable expensive, and there is no frigging way to use it without a ticket. no criminals allowed there, you know. Anyways, i was definetely not in the mood to buy another ticket. Seriously, 8 euros for one person is a tad too expensive if you ask me. Sure the train is totally stylish and trendy and green, but hey, i am not that rich. Especially not after i return from my vacation. Besides of that, you can use the normal train, which is cheaper and funnier. Just imagine you have a shitload of huge and heavy bags, and you gotta throw them into the train cause there is no way to climb up the stairs if you have 4 bags attached to you. It sure was an adventure! From the airport to Landstrasse, you only pay 3,00 eur if i am correct. 1 for the zones outside of vienna, and one for the couple of stations inside of Vienna.
Anyways, my mother and i got on the train, got comfy covered in bags when the conductor came. The nice man that checks if you have a valid ticket. We had our tickets, but obviously an old lady didnt have. When i saw her, i immediately thought of a russian grandmother. Dont ask why, i probably saw too many movies on ARTE. She was rather huge, strong, and got mad at the condcutor. She had a ticket that was already marked as used, and that was one week ago. The conductor told her she has to pay for a new valid ticket or get out of the train. Oh my. I still have nightmares about her yelling. Everyone in the train shushed. The Conductor shushed. Even i did, which is not very common. The old woman screamed, yelled, cursed (i guess she cursed) in her language and waved her arms around and pointed at the scared young man with her fingers, while making one of those terrifiying “i curse you!” faces. The scared man quickly opened the door and vanished, moving backwards. I thought the matter is cleared now, the lady can continue traveling, and i can continue talking to my mother. Ha, boy was i wrong. The lady kept screaming and yelling for the next 5 stations. I shit you not, she was loud enough to scare everyone on the train. I never thought that an old lady can get so very loud. And so very angry. VERY ANGRY. When she left the train at her station, she continued to knock her walking stick onto the floor like she is calling for a disaster to kill us all. Noone said a word. Bascially, everyone of us tried not to stare at her, and we continued trying to stare out of the window instead.
I still wonder if the conductor is now cursed. Maybe she turned him into a frog, or a bug, or … something else.
Those moments are priceless.
….Trying to ignor the crazy people on the Train, a Vienease tradition! lol
if you let people get away with something, sooner or later someone will do it …
Nex, i fully understand your stance. but how on earth should the conductor make her pay or get out of the train? i for myself wouldnt like to mess with an old lady twice as tall and big as i am, cursing me. thats a question i keep asking myself rather often. just imagine the condcutor grabs your arm. you could easily scream for help and tell people he tried to hurt you and everything.
most people wouldn’t fancy wrestling with someone twice as big and strong as them, but some are trained to do that. silly, idealistic nex thought you’d learn that in conductor school.
but that’s beside the point. you said everyone in the train was annoyed by the woman. yet not only did they let her get away with being an asshole, they also let the conductor get away with not doing his job — instead of helping him. i don’t find fault with him just buggering off at all.
i have never been to condcutor school, so i cant say if they learn kung fu or not. you called yourself silly, not me.
i wasnt annoyed by the woman. are you annoyed by mad or insane people? besides of having my mother with me, and being rather tired after a flight i wasnt really in the mood to play the hero. next time i witness such a situation ill call you and you can come over and save the day!
Hi Daniella, I’d thought about trying the CAT when I return to Vienna in March 06…After your experience with the wailing old woman, I think I’ll stick to using the Airport Bus that drops me off at Schwedenplatz. By the way are you going to download any photos of your trip to Dublin?
kazmac, it was funny! if you have enough cash go use the CAT, if you want to travel oldstyle take the normal train (i attract strange situations, the chance you encounter psychos on the train are well.. not that high, i guess.). i used the airport bus once, but i cant recall if it dropped me off at schwedenplatz. buses have the bad side affect of having your bags not near you, but in the storage room somewhere outside of your sight. thats what always bothered me. i am paranoid when it comes to my bags.
there are a few on deviantart and flickr.
links: http://www.flickr.com/photos/93714303@N00/
for higher resolution: http://adaveeen.deviantart.com/ (the latest 9 or 10 photos are dublin pictures)
daniela, i wasn’t there. i tried to imagine what the situation could have been like, considering how you described it and that i should probably compensate for funny embellishments and ironic hyperbole. so when you say, “the conductor was scared. she scared everyone. i still have nightmares,” i would assume the people were a bit annoyed.
i would be annoyed. i would have fantasies about opening a window, sticking her head out and slamming the window shut against her neck, hard. i would think to myself that the tolerant, non-violent ’shit happens’ attitude in big cities is actually rather nice. (save for all that dog shit on the sidewalks and the idiots on the subway taking out their cell phones when they ring at starting jumbo jet volume, having a look who’s calling, putting it back in the bag/pocket and pretending not to hear it.) i would think, please mr. conductor, do something! as i said, it’s silly.
as for saving the day … i’m afraid i couldn’t come over quickly enough, so i thought of something else; hope you like it.