Sunstone Days 5 and 6

So on the 5th day it was Sunday. I had stayed through Sunday in case anything cool happened on that post Suntone day. It turns out that usually there is a brunch that Doe had planned on going to and I had planned on going with her. But the brunch was moved to lunch because the group of Sunstoners decided to go to the sermon at Community of Chrsit church which I would have gone to but I had no idea where it was and really no easy way to get there. Doe had to leave after breakfast so the kids and I hung out in the room until check out time at noon.

I would have liked to go to the lunch but I had no idea how to get there on the bus system. So instead I checked our bags with the bell hop and took the bus up a few blocks to Temple Square. Our train didn't leave until 11:30 PM so I had A LOT of time to kill.

My favorite chapel

We began by taking a tour around the square with two of the sisters. Their historical points which were less than completely true bugged me and after I corrected them a few times I could see I was getting on their nerves so we left the tour about half way through.

The announcement in the visitors center said that they were about to show the movie The Restoration in theater number 5 so I took the kids there. It was a well done and moving film. I really enjoyed it and the end made me cry my eyes out. Nykki complained it was a boring movie because it wasn't a cartoon and Ronan slept through most of it.

Nykki's favorite part of the Book of Mormon

After the movie we walked around the visitors center which was so cool, clean and inviting. I was so thankful to have such a comfortable place to go with the kids. After lunch across the street I decided to see if the museum was open. I thought it might not be since so few things were open, it being Sunday.

At the museum

Not only was it open but they had a hands on kids section! I was so impressed. We played for hours with dress up clothes, blocks, baby dolls, coloring etc. The kids had a blast! I was so thankful for this family friendly space. After being at Sunstone for 3 days which isn't family unfriendly but certianly isn't family friendly either I was happy to sit back and let the kids explore, play, shout and laugh with no need to hush them up or tell them to put something down.

Ronan plays baby dolls



The hands on exhibt, called I Am A Child of God, actually had a giant wall pentacle puzzel made to look like the Nauvoo temple windows! I had to get some pictures of that!



The only down side I could see was that in the "Nusery" part of the play area they showed a sad woman being guided into a hospital by a smiling husband as she patted her very pregnant belly. On the other side of that image the play area was set up to look like a hospital nursery, bottles included.



Let's puase for a few Brigham Young Quotes:

“Would you want Doctors? Yes, to set bones. We should want a good surgeon for that, or to cut off a limb. But do you want doctors? For not much of anything else, let me tell you, only the tradition of the people lead them to think so; and here is a growing evil in our midst."

"It will be so in a little time that not a woman in all Israel will dare to have a baby unless she can have a doctor by her. I will tell you what to do, you ladies, when you find you are going to have an increase, go off into some country where you cannot call for a doctor, and see if you can keep it."

I was appaulled at this hospital birthing scene! I wanted to complain but there was no one to complain too. I saw a mom hanging out with her three young girls and I kept being prompted by the Spirit to speak to her. When I finally did I found her to be a splendid woman who had her last daughter at a birthing center and was hoping for a homebirth the next time around! It felt better to be able to tell her how I felt about the wall painting and even though I don't think she had thought about the way birth was being presented there she certainly thought twice about it after talking to me LOL She was truly a kindred spirit.



We stayed until the museum closed and then watched another movie, called Legacy, at the visitors center. Both the kids slept through that one. By that time it was after 7 PM. We went to Denny's for dinner and I got a huge to-go order to take on the train. We walked back to the Red Lion and got our bags and had them call us a cab to take us to Amtrak. Once I arrived at Amtrak my blessful holiday was RUINED.

To save my fingers the strain of constant retyping, I will sum up my experience for you by sharing with you the letter I wrote to Consumer Affaris regarding Amtrak.

"I took Amtrak for the first time, alone, with my two small children, ages 19 months and 5 years old. I purchased roundtrip tickets online to travel from Sacramento to Salt Lake City and back again. When I arrived at the Sac station to pick up my tickets they printed me two tickets, one for me and one for my 5 year old, to go from Sac to SLC. I asked about my return tickets and was told I would be issued the return tickets at the SLC station.

Nearly a week later when I arrived at 10 PM to prepare for my 11:30 PM train from SLC to Sac I was told that the computer showed my tickets had already been printed in SAC. I explained there had been a mistake, that I was not issued the return tickets. The Amtrak employee, Don, was VERY rude to me. He said he could not print me another ticket. When I asked to speak with someone else, a manager or someone higher-up, he refused.

He rolled his eyes a lot at me and walked away when I begged for help. He told me that all he could do was sell me another two tickets. I explained that I didn't have the money and it was too late for me to find a way to get the money. I explained that I had no friends or family in SLC, I had been there for a symposium, and I asked if Amtrak was going to kick a mother with two small children onto the streets for a mistake THEY had made. I was told by Don and later told by an Amtrak employee over the phone, "Yes."

Don told me he would not print me a "fake" ticket and implied the whole time that I was trying to scam Amtrak! I have never been treated so rudely in my life!! I ended up having to call my husband and desperately find a way to buy two additional tickets so I could get home! Every course of action I have tried to take has gotten me nowhere. When I arrived in CA I waited in the Sac station for over an hour, pouring sweat (no a/c there) waiting for them to "look" for my tickets. They told me, of course, that they couldn't find them.


My children and I have been nothing short of traumatized by this experience. I cannot even look at an Amtrak employee without having a posttraumatic stress reaction. I cannot even begin to explain how frightening it is to be in a strange city, late at night, in a filthy train station, with two small children, and to be told that Amtrak doesn't care that they sold me a ticket they didn't give me - I was going to either come up with another $100 or be spending the night on the streets! Both my children, and especially my 5 year old, were very traumatized by this event. They were scared they wouldn't be able to get home and my son has nightmares about the event."

After some investigation at home i have found that if you lose your Amtrak ticket you cannot get another one. If you are mugged, if they don't actually print them - it doens't matter. They do not give replacement tickets. It ridiculous because they could give replacement tickets. The tickets have your name on them and you have to show your ID to use them. I could not have sold my tickets to someone else, no one else could have used them.

Here's a copy of the letter I am presonally sending to Don at the SLC Amtrak station.



Don
Amtrak Station
320 S. Rio Grande St
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Don,

You recently dealt with my two children and I on the evening of August the 10th 2008. I arrived around 10 PM to prepare for my 11:30 PM train ride from Salt Lake City to Sacramento. I had pre-purchased my round trip tickets online. As I told you that evening when I arrived at the SAC station they had issued me only two tickets, one for me and one for my 5 year old, to ride from SAC to SLC. I was told that my return tickets would be printed at the SLC station. I came prepared with my reservation number and my identification.

You informed me that the computer showed that the tickets had already been printed. When I desperately expressed that they had in fact not been printed and that we needed to find a way to remedy this situation you were extremely rude. You rolled your eyes at me, you spoke down to me, and you walked away on numerous attempts I made to get more information on my options.

At one point you told me you would not issue me a “fake” ticket. I never asked you for a fake ticket, I simply asked for the ticket I had paid for which Amtrak had never issued me. When I explained that I didn’t think there was a way I could buy another ticket since it was late, no banks were open and my husband and I generally do not keep much money on our debit card to avoid the possibility of theft, I asked you if Amtrak was willing to put a mother and her two small children on the streets for a mistake they made. Your answer was in the affirmative.

Sir, your actions were totally uncalled for. I am assuming that due to your reaction to me that you “summed me up” and judged me before you even spoke with me. Yes, I have blue hair, and I am young. I probably appeared very worn out after having spent 9 hours touring Temple Square with two small children. You’re judgments about me however were wrong.

As I stated I was in town on business. I am a writer and scholar with a Master’s degree in Women’s Spirituality and I was a speaker at the Sunstone Symposium. You can look it up online if you like. While in Salt Lake I was heralded and applauded by numerous members of the community who enjoyed my many sessions and I was even offered a faculty position at the Utah Collage of Midwives by their director.

I tell you this not to feed my ego but because your inaccurate judgment of me and your extremely rude and abusive behavior toward my children and I was completely uncalled for and I hope you never treat another customer in such a manner, no matter what they look like.

I want to address in this letter that you told me there was “nothing you could do” several times and it turns out that this was a bold faced lie. After researching this issue, as well as making a complaint about Amtrak and specifically about you, to Consumer Affairs, I have found that there were many steps you could have taken.

Generally, RESERVED tickets have a bit more protection, as the holders name is on it. This was the case with my tickets. Proper refunding would involve looking at the ID of the presenter; Amtrak can then block a reserved ticket from being refunded once Amtrak has been notified. For example, Amtrak can put the ticket number on a "hot list" of lost and stolen tickets, in order to try to confiscate the ticket later if someone other than myself tried to present it for usage or for a refund. A replacement ticket could then have been issued.

You could have called the SAC station and asked them to check their drawer to see if my tickets were there since the computer told you they had been printed in SAC and I was telling you that I had never received them. If they were found the situation could have been explained to the conductor and the tickets presented for processing in SAC.

My children and I have been nothing short of traumatized by this experience. I cannot even look at an Amtrak employee without having a posttraumatic stress reaction. I cannot even begin to explain how frightening it is to be in a strange city, late at night, in a filthy train station, with two small children, and to be told that Amtrak doesn't care that they sold me a ticket they didn't give me - I was going to either come up with another $100 or be spending the night on the streets! Both my children, and especially my 5 year old, were very traumatized by this event. They were scared that they wouldn't be able to get home and my son has nightmares about the event.

Please be advised I am pursuing all of my legal options against Amtrak, in general, and you, specifically. Since you are a resident of Salt Lake City I can assume there is a fifty percent chance that you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a member of this Church, a California convert who was excited to be visiting Zion. I expected my fellow brothers and sisters to treat me in a manner befitting the legendary Zion as well as the Church. I must say that your behavior has specifically caused me much pain and heartache physically, emotionally and spiritually and I will leave you with the following quotes. I pray you take them to heart.

“One sees a blatant disregard for the precious souls of mankind.” Thomas S. Monson

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Jesus Christ


Reservation #: 0507AC

Re-purchased ticket #DOF1

CC: Amtrak, Office of Customer Relations, Washington Union Station, 60 Massachusettes Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002.


If any of my readers live in Salt Lake City, I'll give you a free copy of my thesis to whomever goes and punches Don in the face LOL Just Kidding. But seriously if anyone passes by the Amtrak station and wants to give him a peice of their mind on my behalf, I fully encourage that. :) That guy was a JERK.

The nice thing is that I LIKE taking the train. There is nothing so peaceful as rolling along the Seirra Nevadas, looking out the window, contemplating the nature of life as you roll slowly passed. Getting to peak into the backyards of small town America, laundry flapping in the breeze, children riding bikes and playing ball. It's classic.

So we got home safe and sound and out an extra $100 (ugh!)and unfortunetly I'm battling a bout of mild depression over the whole Amtrak event. But onward and upward! The trip as a whole was a tremendous success and I look forward to receiving emails from friends and contacts I made at Suntone!

aylayoga at gmail dot com