I would like to relate a little story about an event that happened yesterday.
We decided to take our 5 year old grandson for his first real train ride, (He had been on the Pine Creek Railroad last year, but that doesn't count) We drove to our nearest NJT station at Belmar and took the train to Long Branch. During our layover in the Long Branch station the other passengers were nice and seemed entertained by our grandson. On arrival back in Belmar we unfortunately had a mishap. We are not as fast or agile as we once were and on disembarking the train we were too slow. My wife went down the steps first to help the little guy get over the gap between the last step and the ground. At that point the door closed leaving my grandson and I on the train.
We got off the the train in Spring Lake. The next train north wasn't for more than an hour, so some other solution was necessary. Having no cell phone (I almost never need one), we went to Joseph's Delicatessen and asked them to call a cab and inquire the fare to Belmar as I only had $6 cash with me. They called the cab and offered to ring up whatever I needed to pay the taxi company on my debit card. When they found out the cab fare would be $7, they gave me $2 out of the register so I could pay the fare and tip the driver $1. Awesome! We were soon back at the Belmar station.
Meanwhile my wife was stuck in Belmar with no wallet, money or shelter as I had the car keys. Having arrived in Belmar after the little coffee shop (Hooked) at the station had closed, (2:00pm) she went to the Dollar General store to ask for piece of paper and a pen to write a note. The clerk there gave her a piece of register tape and directed her to Don's Pizza for a warm place to sit and wait for our return. She left the note on the car windshield. She explained her predicament to the people at Don's and they had no problem allowing her to wait there without making a purchase. Upon arrival back in Belmar my grandson and I searched the station a area for Grandma and finally found the note directing us to Don's.
So I would like to thank the passengers at Joseph's, Dollar General and Don's for helping us get through what could have been a very stressful situation. It only delayed our day by about 1/2 hour. The only long-term drawback is my wife says she is now done with trains, so my planned June trip to Atlanta (Amtrak) to visit my brother will be solo.
We decided to take our 5 year old grandson for his first real train ride, (He had been on the Pine Creek Railroad last year, but that doesn't count) We drove to our nearest NJT station at Belmar and took the train to Long Branch. During our layover in the Long Branch station the other passengers were nice and seemed entertained by our grandson. On arrival back in Belmar we unfortunately had a mishap. We are not as fast or agile as we once were and on disembarking the train we were too slow. My wife went down the steps first to help the little guy get over the gap between the last step and the ground. At that point the door closed leaving my grandson and I on the train.
We got off the the train in Spring Lake. The next train north wasn't for more than an hour, so some other solution was necessary. Having no cell phone (I almost never need one), we went to Joseph's Delicatessen and asked them to call a cab and inquire the fare to Belmar as I only had $6 cash with me. They called the cab and offered to ring up whatever I needed to pay the taxi company on my debit card. When they found out the cab fare would be $7, they gave me $2 out of the register so I could pay the fare and tip the driver $1. Awesome! We were soon back at the Belmar station.
Meanwhile my wife was stuck in Belmar with no wallet, money or shelter as I had the car keys. Having arrived in Belmar after the little coffee shop (Hooked) at the station had closed, (2:00pm) she went to the Dollar General store to ask for piece of paper and a pen to write a note. The clerk there gave her a piece of register tape and directed her to Don's Pizza for a warm place to sit and wait for our return. She left the note on the car windshield. She explained her predicament to the people at Don's and they had no problem allowing her to wait there without making a purchase. Upon arrival back in Belmar my grandson and I searched the station a area for Grandma and finally found the note directing us to Don's.
So I would like to thank the passengers at Joseph's, Dollar General and Don's for helping us get through what could have been a very stressful situation. It only delayed our day by about 1/2 hour. The only long-term drawback is my wife says she is now done with trains, so my planned June trip to Atlanta (Amtrak) to visit my brother will be solo.
Harry