I thought this was a funny idea. Sometimes, the finished strip just doesn’t work despite the best intentions…
- Engineer: HA HA HA HA!
- Card: Starting the day with a laugh! – NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD COMPANY – Punctual! Honest! Fast!
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![[1078] Punctual! Honest! Fast!](/comics/2019-04-30-1078-punctual-honest-fast.png "[1078] Punctual! Honest! Fast!")
[1078] Punctual! Honest! Fast!
└ posted on Tuesday, 30 April 2019, by Novil
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I thought it was hilarious, actually.
Can’t blame them for false advertising.
Firconrd
First! *looks at new comment*
Second *looks at new comment*
Third!
Frickin’ Germans making fun of our trains (when we actually have them, that is)
This exact stunt happens on the commuter rail in California, without the cute card, and the brakeman just waving out the window at you as they pull out.
Punctual! Honest! Fast!
Choose none.
Mr. Knörzer, the credits are in German!
The actual joke being the state of mass transit in the US, amirite? Come on Elon, where’s our Hyperloop…
Did he just casually give her the two-fingered salute while handing her the sign?
MidoriLuna wrote:
Blame early car manufacturers. They did everything they could to outlaw passenger rail entirely, settling for leaving us with a pathetic few lines in the entire country…
@ MidoriLuna:
Extremely impractical at best, completely wnworkable at worst.
And yeah, I’ve seen bus drivers pull away and shake their head no or mouth no at someone who was just barely too late (as in, right there when the bus started moving). Drivers can be power-tripping dicks sometimes.
@ …:
I’m sure putting people into tin can rocketing through a miles of depressurized underground tunnels at hundreds of miles an hour is absolutely foolproof and safe.
But where was Sandra going?
Pick two.
@ Dante:
No, this is New England, not Old England, so it would have to be a one-finger salute.
Anyway, I’m 90% sure this is just a stress dream.
I don’t understand this, but it’s still funny.
It may seem cruel, especially if there’s a long wait for the next bus, train, or trolley, but it makes sense to be strict about not overstaying at a stop. It’ll take even a agile person more than a second or two to get safely seated. Staying a minute longer per stop can quickly add up.
Other people tend to be too late, I have the opposite problem. Wherever I go, I am always too early. Like, twenty minutes early at the minimum but often over an hour. I came two and a half hours early at the appointment once and awkwardly waited in the front of the building the whole time.
It’s a cruel, uncaring universe, but by Pele’ SOMEbody’s got to enjoy it!
There aren’t any trains like that in New England. They have them in Canada, however.
@ MidoriLuna:
I believe the primary issue is that it just doesn’t and won’t work. That the theoretical basis behind “We can make this faster at less energy” is flawed in relation to the laws of physics. There’s some videos of it on YouTube from someone who’s an actual nuclear physicist.
That said, regular trains don’t have to be an issue. I’ve been in Tokyo for two weeks, and the worst trouble I had was one weird station with a weird street where it wasn’t clear which way you have to go in order to actually get in. The train itself was punctual and fast, and came frequently enough that you didn’t care about missing it by a second (even though some dashes for the door did happen).
@ oledakaajel:
that’s the punchline, actually. just to laugh to other’s faces.
I don’t see a problem here.
Punctual? The train shut the doors presumambly when it was supposed to. No extra passengers and hassle.
Honest? That was seriously evil and malicious laugh. Perfectly in line how he probably felt despite having guidelines he needed to follow.
Fast? Seemed to move fast enough when it got to it. Sure the guy wasn’t in a hurry, but perhaps he didn’t need to be.
And really. Trains can be late. They shouldn’t, but they can. Passengers can’t. It sucks, yeah, but if stuff is supposed to move on 12.15, it should do that as well. So if you’re in 12.15, shame. Passengers wait for transportation. Not the other way around. You’re simply not that important and high and mighty.
And no, I don’t work for any transportation provider and the people I know who do are more like acquaintances than anything else. 😀
Punctual! Honest! Fast!
Pick two, apparently.
Would work for post offices in my country… Trains here are usually late…
Velgar wrote:
For one person who was saved an hour of waiting, hundreds of passenger have wasted a minute each. Sure, the hour is going to be felt more dearly, but on the long run it’s the better way. Doesn’t really take the pain out of it, though.
I also have seen buses leaving one or two minutes EARLY. That’s what’s really getting on my nerves.
Mr Knörzer… the credits are still in German!
Klaus wrote:
The joke here is that he obviously spend more time making fun of her than it would cost to let her in. But generally, yes, it’s not worth waiting for one person. Also, if the train is not on time, it means other trains might need to wait for it on semaphores and get late too.
Even more obvious in subway: in rush hour, the train can’t wait because otherwise the NEXT train could get dangerously close to CRASHING INTO IT.
Arriva are a pain in the arse for this in north-east England. On both their buses and trains. Actively look at you as you run up, close the doors, pull away. Miserable smeggers.
Despite all her training, her plan got derailed.
Shows a lack of service, if you ask me.
In the time he walked to her, laughed at her and gave her the card, she could’ve easily boarded the train.
@ Velgar:
Well as you are saying Trains can be late.
Passenger can be on THOSE trains…
And SO Passenger CAN be late.
MidoriLuna wrote:
Probably much better than flying on a 737 Max.
I’d totally do that as a train driver.
@ Bahamuttone:
Aah, but in such a case the passenger is not late. Nor are they early. They arrived just in time. 😀
Yes, the BoWash line isn’t the best as to on time. Almost as bad as the Brits. But, doesn’t require a bank loan, unlike Europe’s. Passenger trains are few in the US. Partially, because they don’t go were most wish to be. Plus, slow, whereas planes get us there much fast and more inline with a continental spanning nation. US freight trains are some of the best. Unlike, Europe’s which are extremely inefficient. Just forming a concise with their pre-WWII coupling systems is slow and dangerous. That’s why Europe’s roads are filled with under powered trucks pulling two and three trailers.
… wrote:
some passangers are just as bad, bus pulls away from the stop, when someone comes running up and bangs on the door expecting the driver to stop and let them on, then yell insults at the driver when he-she doesn’t
Salisria wrote:
I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but here in london bus driver gets fined if their bus is late and fined if the bus is early.
Velgar wrote:
Punctual, the door may have closed on time, but it took the brakeman to walk the length of the train, laugth, give sandra a card and walk the length back means the train doesn’t leave on time, so how can the service be punctual?
shazz_smiff wrote:
I did that once (banged on the back of the bus) and the driver stopped but yelled at me for making me think he’d hit somebody – I still feel bad about that 35+ years later…
As someone who lived in the Boston area for 30+ years, this sorta rings true. The train cars are a good representation of the MBTA Commuter Rail, and the motto is exactly the opposite of what people who ride them have come to expect. When we’re not being charitable, that is. The “T” is almost always better than the atrocious Boston car traffic, and most of the conductors are friendly and helpful, if not always effective.
Well, at least this narrows down where in the US the comic takes place – New England, the Northeasternmost six states.
Up here in the PNW our light rail is almost European in its convenience and timlieness . . . except when some lamebrain in a car gets in a wreck and blocks the tracks!
@ shazz_smiff:
There are usually sequence of things that happen with transportation. Many a vehicle take in passengers only up to certain moment, then the doors are shut and the vehicle goes to the next step of the sequence. Sure the classic thing is for someone to jump in the train when it’s already moving, but I don’t know do they work like that at New England Railroad Co. :\
@ Elchar:
Me too, and I gave the trait to my daughter, she calls it pathologically early syndrome. I generally have a book and settle down to read or if it’s somewhere I have never been investigate the area.
@ shazz_smiff:
By having two separate scheduled times: One for doors closing, one for train leaving.
Still better than Southern Rail
For the joke to work, the order has to be switched. Sandra first has to walk past an advertisement: “Start the day with a laugh”, “Punctual, honest, fast”. Then, she misses the train. And then, the train-guy laughs at her.
And now next time I miss my train I’ll be annoyed, laughing, and angry at myself for laughing instead of just annoyed. Thank you for making my days packed with more emotions.
Connecticut resident here.
First of all: how dare you.
Second of all: this is absolutely correct.
LOL, actually, that’s very funny. Absurd, but funny 😀
@ Whirlwound:And yet I’ve seen the exact opposite from Arriva drivers – waiting while a late passenger hurries to catch the bus.