Different, yet the same!

 

Different, yet the same!

By Debra L. Karplus

Recently, on a roundtrip Amtrak trip to California, we splurged, enjoying the first class treatment for roomettes passengers.  Roomettes are compact, no bigger than the interior of my Honda Fit; we each bought our own, especially since neither of us opted to sleep in the upper bunk.

Taking the train cross-country is slow, taking a few days, considerably slower than flying, and though coach seats on Amtrak are a bargain, sleeper car accommodations on Amtrak are pricey, adding over $1500 for round-trip.

But that extra price includes meals, five or six going each direction.  It’s beyond my comprehension how a tiny kitchen on a train on the lower level of the dining car, with only two cooks can produce some amazing meals, ample portions, nutritious, and beautifully displayed including entrees such as Atlantic salmon, with side dishes like quinoa and edamame.  You won’t be disappointed with mealtime on the train!

Amtrak’s very efficient with the onboard dining experience.  Community dining is what you can expect on their long-distance trains.  Not being particularly social, and not looking for friendships with random train passengers, I was initially somewhat uncomfortable by the concept of community dining.  All Amtrak meal seating is at tables for four people; if you arrive as a single or couple you’re seated with strangers, to fill the seats.  If you’re a group larger than four, maybe a family with several kids, they split you up so you’re still at a table for four.

Admittedly, I’m somewhat shallow, my world is rather small.  Most of the people I interact with here at home are demographically just like me, similar age, race, education level not unlike mine, share my politics and have backgrounds more or less like mine.  That was never a choice, that’s just how life has played out. So the idea of being thrown together with strangers over breakfast, lunch, or dinner on a train was well out of my comfort zone.

For our first meal headed west, we were seated with a couple who were Amish.  Their appearance sets them apart from people like me garbed in Goodwill-style apparel.  It occurred to me that I’d never really interacted with an Amish person except when I’ve shopped at Beachy’s in Arthur or been at the Savoy Farmer’s Market on Wednesday or Saturday morning.

Though we never exchanged names, we weren’t at a loss for discussion topics.  These people were much taller than me, as are most people, and claimed the roomette was quite comfortable for two and claimed they slept well.  They were travelling with various family members, who just hadn’t crawled out of bed yet for the early breakfast.  They told us that they were coming from Pennsylvania; their grandson who was onboard was celebrating his birthday.  Near the end of the meal, a round of “Happy Birthday” came over the speaker for all passengers to hear while singing along.

We shared one meal with someone who had recently adopted a vegan diet; they were quite pleased with Amtrak’s vegan options at each meal.

Another dining companion was an EMT turned bus driver. 

We dined with a truck driver who loved his work and divulged details of driving a big rig.

We also dined with a veterinarian.

There was a couple of newlyweds, middle-aged, at one of the shared meals.

Especially interesting was the urban planner; he did most of the talking at that meal, which was informative.  He was with his stunning very young wife, I assumed.  During the meal we learned she was his daughter.  Glad I didn’t put my foot in my mouth on that!

One of the few meal pals who actually told us his name was Jim, a bookkeeper, also very engaging.

Coincidentally, there was one couple who was on both our westbound and eastbound journeys.  We chatted with them briefly in the Los Angeles Metropolitan lounge while waiting to board the Southwest Chief.  We learned from other passengers, he had fourth stage cancer and this was to be the last of their many long train trips.  I was disappointed to not have been seated with them for any of our twelve meals.

Divisive.  It’s a word that’s used way too often these days.  I looked it up to confirm that yes, it means “splits people into opposing groups.”  But community dining on the train is a fantastic way to appreciate how alike we all really are.  Community dining provides the opportunity to open our minds and our hearts to people unlike ourselves.