TMI from cellphoning train riders? Try a Quiet Car
It was the vomit conversation that really got under A. Wieczorek's skin.
A young woman was on her cellphone regaling a friend and lucky Metra passengers within earshot such as Wieczorek about her hangover. “‘I was so sick ... I vomited everywhere. I vomited five to six times,'” Wieczorek recalled her saying. “I asked her to keep it down. She said ‘no.'”
That's why Wieczorek and a number of other commuters enjoyed the sounds of silence Friday in a Quiet Car on Metra's BNSF Line.
“We've waited a long time for this,” said Wieczorek, who lives in Willowbrook. “I don't like a lot of noise in the morning. I don't want to hear phone calls or computers beeping.”
The rules of the Quiet Car are simple. No cellphone conversations. Ring tones on cellphones must be turned off and electronic devices muted. Headphone volumes must be low.
It's very civilized, and that's why Cecil Porter from Woodridge made a beeline for the Quiet Car.
“I'm here for the peace and quiet. It's time to drink my coffee and read the paper without distractions,” he said.
Likewise Kearney Kilens from Clarendon Hills. “I get annoyed by cellphone conversations ... people talking about private things,” she said. “I don't mind a quick conversation, but it's the prolonged conversations.”
After a successful trial period on its Electric Line, Metra instituted Quiet Cars systemwide June 6. Quiet hours are limited to peak times — on inbound trains it's up to 9 a.m. and on outbound trains it's 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. You'll find them on the second cars from the engine and the rear of most trains.
Thad DiBartelo of Darien planned to use Quiet Cars as much as possible.
“I'm not a morning person. This is a little more sedate. I don't want to hear cellphone conversations about what people did last night,” he explained.
The prevalence of electronic devices creates an anti-social culture, DiBartelo thinks. “Everyone's lost in their own world. No one looks at you.”
Joseph Myers of Downers Grove hadn't intended to sit on a Quiet Car, but “I'm happy to land in it by chance.”
The ride for the most part was blessedly silent. And when a passenger whipped out his cellphone and started yakking, another commuter informed him about the rules and he subsided.
On my way back from Chicago, I sat in a decidedly Non-Quiet Car. Usually I tune out cellphone conversations but this time decided to be a shameless voyeur. Here's a sampling of why we need Quiet Cars.
“By doing the whole China thing we're so exposed. Everyone will know the whole situation which is not good,” a businessman loudly declared.
“Yeah, but 17 years old?” a woman asked someone skeptically.
Now the businessman was getting irate. “I can't do that. As far as I'm concerned, the account is shared.”
“I would get them back in their crates,” the woman continued — I'm assuming she had moved past the subject of the 17-year-olds.
Angry businessman started on another topic. “I understand all that, but it's her choice to work in this field. I'm throwing her a bone as far as the 401 (K) is concerned.”
“In case they start getting wild and crazy,” the woman went on.
Mr. Angry was now talking to his mother. “Cha-Ching, cha-ching. Every second it's cha-ching. Attorneys make it so (expletive) complicated,” he said.
I really wanted to continue the eavesdropping, but at that point — my cellphone rang.
Your voice
In Transit aficionado Judd Hansen doesn't just write; he takes pictures too. And so we're pleased to include his shot of cringe-worthy traffic on Route 120. One morning it took him 45 minutes to travel a mile, he said. Hansen writes: “The intersection of Routes 120 and 83 needs to be widened ... big time. There is only one lane each way going across the tracks. In the morning, the eastbound traffic is heavy. As you get past the improved Alleghany Road intersection, eastbound 120 traffic is backed up from Lake Street to Route 83.
“In the afternoon, westbound traffic backs up as the merge of Route 120 and Alleghany Road heads into Hainesville Road and then the Routes 134/120 split.
“It is maddening to travel Route 120 and there is no reason a bypass has not been built to keep the trucks and commuters from having to crawl past the schools and churches of beautiful Grayslake. It's the worst gridlock in the county as far as this 20-year Route 120 commuter is concerned.”
Do you have a traffic beef? Contact me at mpyke@dailyherald.com.
Gridlock alert
If you drive through Glenview regularly, good luck this summer. Repairs to a Union Pacific Railroad overpass will shut down Shermer Road south of Willow Road from June 27 until Aug. 27. Detours will be posted.
You should know
Losing sleep over your teenage driver? The National Safety Council can help. As part of Teen Driver Safety Week, the organization conducts a webinar with tips for parents on Monday morning. Topics include: banning passengers, what to do if siblings want to ride along and when your teen should call it a night. The one-hour webinar starts at 11 a.m. To register, visit the Website nsc.org.