• Un-serious: Bizarre questions and answers

  • Discussion relating to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia Metro Area). Official web site can be found here: www.septa.com. Also including discussion related to the PATCO Speedline rapid transit operated by Delaware River Port Authority. Official web site can be found here: http://www.ridepatco.org/.
Discussion relating to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia Metro Area). Official web site can be found here: www.septa.com. Also including discussion related to the PATCO Speedline rapid transit operated by Delaware River Port Authority. Official web site can be found here: http://www.ridepatco.org/.

Moderator: AlexC

  by JeffK
 
Things have been pretty down-to-earth recently with the funding circus and all, but I happened to see the following on the (in)famous SeptaSucks.com site:
Here's a sampling of the dumb questions I've heard, and heard of, over the years:

Q. Do you go anywhere near the El? (Now, this may not sound like a dumb question until I tell you that the man who asked it was standing on my Route 3 bus at Front & Dauphin - UNDER THE EL!)
A. I leaned forward, looked up, pointed up and said: This is as close as I get.

Q. When do da bus come? (Submitted by a Subway cashier)
A. If the bus comes down here, we're all in trouble.
With that as a start, what are the strangest questions, comments or exchanges you've heard from other riders and/or from SEPTA personnel? A few that I've encountered:

Q: WOW! I didn't realize Oxford Valley Mall was so huge! Could you tell me where [x] department store is?
A: No idea, sir. This is King of Prussia.


Q: I need a ticket to Wayne
A: We don't go to Wayne, ma'am
Q: But this is the Bryn Mawr station, isn't it?
A: Yes
Q: But all the trains from Bryn Mawr go to Wayne, don't they?
A: uuhhhh ... we're not at that Bryn Mawr station


Q: (from a rider standing at Norristown's Elm St. station during Railworks) What time is the next train?
A (me, just happened to be using the parking lot as a place to trade cars with my wife) October.


Q: How can the switch be frozen? It's 80 degrees outside!
A: (unprintable)


OK, this next one misses SEPTA by 3500 miles and it's translated, but I've heard it enough while travelling that it's worth a repeat. If you know any high school French at all it'll be funny:

Q: (American to Paris taxi driver) Could you please take me to the war in the north? (*)

(*)The words for "war" (guerre) and "train station" (gare) differ by only one shift of a vowel sound

  by ctrabs74
 
One of my favorites...

A person stands outside waiting for the 104 bus (or any bus for that matter). When the bus pulls up, the passenger boards the bus through doors which are next to a digital sign that says "104 69TH STREET TERMINAL" then proceeds to ask "Excuse me, is this the 104?"

Replace 104 with any bus line, and you get the same reaction...

  by Silverliner II
 
Makes you wonder how some people make it through the day, eh?

  by JeffK
 
Silverliner II wrote:Makes you wonder how some people make it through the day, eh?
Should give pause to anyone who doubts that Darwin was right. :-D

  by Silverliner II
 
After reading all three editions of The Darwin Awards, I have no doubts at all, LOL!

  by Sir Ray
 
So what you guys are saying is... sometimes there is such a thing as a stupid question... :P

  by Silverliner II
 
Sir Ray wrote:So what you guys are saying is... sometimes there is such a thing as a stupid question... :P
LOL....well.....sometimes!!

Especially if it is a question while standing on the platform at Allegheny Station on the Broad Street Line like this:

"Scuse me....does the local train stop here?"

LOL!!!