Summer Derailed
May 21st, 2007So this summer I planned to take a thirty day trip around the United States because a) I thought it would be a beautiful way to celebrate my graduation from High School and b) I want to see the United States of America, period. I learned last night that I can’t take my trip. Not because my mother wasn’t on board (she was), or because I’m a diabetic and couldn’t stand to be away as such for so long (I’m not, I can), but because a) Amtrak is an idiot’s organization and b) I am that idiot.
I misread Amtrak’s Thirty Day USA Rail Pass. It reads: US and Canadian citizens are not eligible to purchase USA Rail Passes but I didn’t catch that. I can’t believe I didn’t catch that. It’s a prime example of a person not being able to see the trees because of the forest. But besides the fact that I’ve made a buffoon out of myself by misreading, Amtrak is an idiotic organization because it doesn’t offer any way to travel with an unlimited pass for a certain amount of time.
Oh, they have unlimited month passes, I read, and started to perk up a bit but no! No no no! Those aren’t really unlimited. You can’t take them for “long distances” (NYC to Philadelphia, for instance, is too far) and they don’t work at certain stations. What on Earth is the point of that? Why on Earth would you make a monthlong pass that doesn’t do anything but get you to work? I understand that people buy it because it’s convenient for work but what about vacation? Travel? Isn’t that something that they could make a ton of money off of?
I guess the American citizen, the teenage traveler, are unimportant to Amtrak. I guess that’s way nobody gives a shit in return. What a ridiculous service, or lackthereof. This is why people become loners: because the world’s so uncooperative, but it demands all the cooperation in the world from you.