Using the Senior & Disabled Ramp at Light Rail Stations-Common Sense rules...unless you are Hell on Wheels.

First, did you notice that they are called "Senior & Disabled" ramps??

The ONLY reason for the existence of these ramps at Light Rail Stations in addition to kneeling buses with wheelchair lifts & ramps is all about accessibility for passengers with disabilities, or senior citizens who still maintain independence, but may not move fast enough to board a train or have the agility to climb stairs on a bus .

Let us also remember RT's commitment to ADA Compliance, and trust me, ADA compliance is a huge deal at RT.

Secondly, I have read no rule that says if you board my train using the "Senior & Disabled" ramp that you need to be a complete shit head.

So....here are my step by step instructions on how to use the "Senior & Disabled" ramp.

I'll start with the rarest of boardings on the "Senior & Disabled" ramp....Wheelchairs! No shit, I board more walk on's and baby momma's on the ramp than I do wheelchairs...go figure.

The most important thing to remember is not to be drunk. Simple request maybe, but give me an effing break....do you really need to be off your marbles on 4 bottles on Thunderbird wine by 11 A.M? Odds are if your drunk I will leave you. If you start talking drunken shit to me, I will most certainly leave you. When you are on the ramp with 2 other wheel chairs, play nice with your wheeled comrades. I don't like moderating a 4 wheeled battle royale, and I know you like that prime spot behind the drivers door or close to the aisle. Tough shit. You wheel yourself to the location I politely direct you to. This is for your good and the other 300 passengers on the train. And almost as important as not being drunk is knowing how to operate your 200 horsepower wheel chair. Please, Please, Please, learn to drive your chair. When you do a swan dive off the platform into the street at 9th & K, I promise to not say "I told you so", while muttering something about hell on wheels under my breath.

Wheelchair passengers are easy street compared to baby momma, daddy, and the assorted children that accompany them....especially around the 1st and 15th of the month. Don't get me wrong, I know you have 3 kids, a stroller that carries 1 maybe 2 of them babies and that your man is probably in jail or sleeping with your sister. But rules is rules. If I have to follow them, you have to follow them.

They are spelled out, in simple English..


Learn it, Love it and Live it.

Start walking, buy a Wagon or bail your man out of County.

Bottom line is I don't want to hear it। I used to be sympathetic, and now I'm not

Read the sign posted at the ramp...If you are illiterate, it's cool...because too many people in Sacramento are in the same boat you are. Ask and me, and I shall tell you.

"You have 15 minutes to figure out what you want & where you want to go."

Train 5 proceeding.......

Watt/I-80 Bound Train, The Next Stop will be 16th Street

No sweeter sound can be heard, with each station she reminds me how close I am to a "potty" break.


Cammie Winston is the voice of Sacramento RT on Light Rail trains.

Not so long ago, Cammie also announced the transfer point at 16th Street Station inbound & outbound. Basically, passengers arriving at 16th Street who were traveling to destinations outside of the CBD (Central Business District) were informed so by Cammie at least 2 times before my train rolled into 16th Street on inbound and outbound trips.

Not anymore.

Seems that Cammie's lovely voice irked some of the denizens along the R Street corridor, so now you have to endure my voice.

Let me be the first to say, my voice over the PA system we use aboard trains is horrible. I'm a twenty something year young guy....over the PA I sound like a 40 year smoker with a limp and 10% of my vocal chords.....Unless you are dicking around and delaying my schedule....I roar like a Lion-

My point is, I want Cammie back. I miss her.

Bag-O-Seniority

New bid, new life.

Thanks to the internet I do not have any children.

If I had children, at this rate I would be capable of spending maybe a day a week with them until they graduated from High School. Pets? No such luck, you would read about me in the Bee...something related to animal cruelty. Such is life, and I work for RT...so I get payed like....a zillion dollars an hour... what am I sniveling about? Life is effing great right?

Wrong.

I'm stuck with an empty bag of seniority. Well, not empty...I think I have some vapors somewhere in my bag. Point is, I am cast to the land of shifts that would make some people cringe.

On the other hand, if you can appreciate working until 1 AM 5 days a week, 8 hours and 10 minutes per day on a split shift which more or less guarantees you spend upwards of 12 hours at your job but get paid for 8, you might smile gleefully.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job and I am thankful to have it. Since I am in my twenties, I'm still in that phase of life in which I require instant gratification. Nothing too fancy, but maybe a Friday and Saturday off instead of Wednesday and Thursday. Or maybe a route that starts at say...9 in the morning and ends at around 5 in the afternoon versus 2:30 in the afternoon and ends at 1:12 the next morning.

As soon as I become ensconced in my self-gratificationism, (I know thats not a word, I made it up, think Transitarian) I realize that I must pay the proverbial dues like the scores of rookies who came before me.

It's the truth. It still sucks, and I can still hate it....But I also appreciate it.

See you this afternoon.