Do Not Proceed
I worked on trains and have heard a lot of stupid stuff, but this was my top one yet. We got to a station and the signal ahead was on a red light, meaning “stop” or “do not proceed”. Basically the same as traffic lights.
I made an announcement saying, “Sorry for the delay, we are currently being held on a red signal and will be moving momentarily”. Five minutes later, we moved but got stopped at the next station.
A couple was walking down the platform toward the exit and I heard the husband/boyfriend go, “Ah, stuck at a red signal again”. I acknowledged him and said, “Yeh, red signal again”. The woman looked me straight in the eye and asked, “What’s a red signal”?
I was stunned for a moment as I thought she was pulling my leg, but the horrible truth quickly dawned on me. She was serious. Her husband chimed in, “You know, red means stop and green means go”.
We both saw that it still hadn’t sunk in, so he said again, “Like a traffic light”. She took about five to ten seconds, and finally said, “Ooooo”.
This was as they kept walking down the platform. All I could think of at that moment was that she was having a blank day where her head was not functioning correctly, or she was one of those people that get you thinking, “How do you get up in the morning”?