The Announcer
No matter when I leave for work, I always get stuck on the Announcer's morning Red Line run. This is the train operator who feels it necessary to inform his passengers, at length and sometimes in utterly nonsensical terms, about everything they may need to know about the train's function, the stop, the connections, the weather, safety tips, what-have-you. The Announcer is probably a cousin to the Blessed Train operator.
Some general Announcer announcements include telling us exactly how long we will be standing at a station due to some other delay ("one and a half minutes") to problems with a particular car ("The door closest to the cab in Car 2467 will not open. Please do not stand in front of that door.") to connection times ("Brown Line elevated Loop train will be arriving on the outside track in 10 seconds."). During a run, he will at least once remind you to check for all of your belongings before exiting the train. He occasionally will veer off into Burroughs-like cut-ups, saying things like, "This train will run express to Sheridan. Passengers. Good morning. This is a delayed Red Line train. Thank you. We had door troubles at Thorndale. Your attention." Ending speeches with "Your attention" seems to be a particular verbal tic of his.
But his moment of glory occurs as we pull into Lake each morning.
As soon as we leave Grand, he begins his patter. It takes that long to get it all out. He informs us first that "Lake is next." Perfectly reasonable, although the automated guy tells us the same. Then he elaborates: "Transfer here for city, state, and county government buildings. Also connect to regional transit, Metra Electric and South Shore rail lines. Blue Line passengers, passengers connecting to the Forest Park/O'Hare Blue Line, we want you to transfer at Jackson. Washington is closed. We will not stop at Washington. Forest Park/O'Hare Blue Line riders, please transfer at Jackson."
He can talk about Washington being closed for a good 4, 5 hours, I bet. Every morning. Although it's a commuter train, full of people who ride the same route every day. And Washington's been closed for a good year, year and a half now. Same deal with the government buildings. If you're going to a government building at 7:30 in the morning, it's a safe bet you work there. You probably know where it's at. But just in case, the Announcer is there to let you know.
Thing is, he's got a very rich, lovely voice. Probably could have been in radio. And I suppose I prefer an overinformative CTA employee to the usual garbled, "Thank you for your patience." (Or, as I heard once, "Thank you for your inconvenience.") I just wish he'd come up with some new lines.
Some general Announcer announcements include telling us exactly how long we will be standing at a station due to some other delay ("one and a half minutes") to problems with a particular car ("The door closest to the cab in Car 2467 will not open. Please do not stand in front of that door.") to connection times ("Brown Line elevated Loop train will be arriving on the outside track in 10 seconds."). During a run, he will at least once remind you to check for all of your belongings before exiting the train. He occasionally will veer off into Burroughs-like cut-ups, saying things like, "This train will run express to Sheridan. Passengers. Good morning. This is a delayed Red Line train. Thank you. We had door troubles at Thorndale. Your attention." Ending speeches with "Your attention" seems to be a particular verbal tic of his.
But his moment of glory occurs as we pull into Lake each morning.
As soon as we leave Grand, he begins his patter. It takes that long to get it all out. He informs us first that "Lake is next." Perfectly reasonable, although the automated guy tells us the same. Then he elaborates: "Transfer here for city, state, and county government buildings. Also connect to regional transit, Metra Electric and South Shore rail lines. Blue Line passengers, passengers connecting to the Forest Park/O'Hare Blue Line, we want you to transfer at Jackson. Washington is closed. We will not stop at Washington. Forest Park/O'Hare Blue Line riders, please transfer at Jackson."
He can talk about Washington being closed for a good 4, 5 hours, I bet. Every morning. Although it's a commuter train, full of people who ride the same route every day. And Washington's been closed for a good year, year and a half now. Same deal with the government buildings. If you're going to a government building at 7:30 in the morning, it's a safe bet you work there. You probably know where it's at. But just in case, the Announcer is there to let you know.
Thing is, he's got a very rich, lovely voice. Probably could have been in radio. And I suppose I prefer an overinformative CTA employee to the usual garbled, "Thank you for your patience." (Or, as I heard once, "Thank you for your inconvenience.") I just wish he'd come up with some new lines.
posted by Tangent at 7:39 AM
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