SECURITY ON CHICAGO METRA TRAINS

Jon Espenschied wrote a piece in Computerworld recently about how he was especially observant while waiting for his flight at an airport recently, and spotted a woman systemically fishing credit-card receipts from trash cans. Apart from exchanging a knowing glance, Espenschied didn't call the authorities on this person. Should he have?

Unattended bags, suspicious behavior and anything out of the ordinary are, unfortunately, causes for concern. After all, "If you see something, say something," is the message hammered home to us whenever we travel these days.

But if you see something on Chicago's Metra rail system, don't waste your breath saying anything.

That sad conclusion crossed my mind after reading Espenschied's column because I've had similarly unsettling experiences three times in about the past month on Metra, the commuter rail service linking Chicago and 230 stations in a six-county area. In my case, however, I saw something, tried to report it -- and was met with complete indifference.

It all started on Dec. 21, 2007, when I was about to board a Metra train at the Ogilvie Transportation Center. As I neared the last car, I noticed a picnic cooler sitting unattended in the vestibule. I figured this was no big deal, that some overburdened passenger had been manhandling a passel of packages onto the train and would return shortly. A couple of minutes passed and the cooler just sat there.

I wasn't about to get overly dramatic, since simple explanations are usually the correct ones. And the simple explanation was that nothing more hazardous than a ham sandwich, bag of Fritos and a couple of cans of diet soda were inside that cooler. Still, the thing shouldn't be left there.

Then, I noticed a Metra conductor walking along the platform. I approached him and told him about the unattended item in the vestibule. This guy curtly informed me he was off duty and that I'd need to alert the next conductor I saw and assured me there'd be one along soon.

"I understand that," I told him, "but we're supposed to tell you guys if we see something? You know, these times of heightened security and all?"

He repeated his desire not to be detained and hurried off. I started looking around. Other passengers were climbing aboard the train and walking right past the unattended picnic cooler without even noticing it. I wasn't scared, but I was sure getting miffed.

Finally, another conductor came by. I pointed out the cooler to him and he dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Oh, that's mine," he told me. "I'll take care of it."

In the days that followed, I began to worry about both conductors' laissez-faire attitude toward me, so I telephoned Metra's customer service line and spoke to a representative. I wasn't too specific about the incident, since I didn't want to get some guy in trouble or fired for what I assumed was a simple lapse of judgment. When I asked what I should do in the unlikely event this happens again, the rep earnestly informed me that I should go tell someone in the glass-enclosed office at the end of the platform.

What I was hoping for was that she'd tell me they'd remind the conductors not to leave things lying about. In any event, I figured that was the end of that and that one way or another, these conductors would somehow get the message, feel somewhat embarrassed by the experience and learn to stow their lunch.

But that's not what happened.

On Jan. 3, 2008, I was boarding the train and, yep, there was that cooler again. And on Jan. 8, there it was a third time. Something tells me that this cooler is being left there unattended every day -- and since I don't ride Metra every day, I'm just not noticing.

So, what should I do? Call that railroad security phone number the next time I see this? Tell the folks in the glass-enclosed office? Do nothing? That seems to be what hundreds of other people who see this unattended cooler are doing.

Am I making too big a deal over some conductor's lunchbox? Ask someone from Madrid.

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