St. Louis resident and diabetic Roosevelt Sims was on an Amtrak train Sunday night, speeding towards his destination - Los Angeles. He never made it to that fine city, however, because he was forced off the train by a conductor. It seems Amtrak personnel found Sims disorderly, presumed he was drunk, and decided to eject him before he disturbed other passengers. His family members, however, say Sims was diagnosed with diabetes just the day before leaving St. Louis, and they think he may have been in diabetic shock. That, rather than intoxication, they say, may have been the reason for his alleged unruly behavior.Initial reports made this episode sound like a horrible abuse against this man had been committed by Amtrak. Stories were filled with descriptions of his being dumped in the middle of nowhere amidst 800,000 acres of pine forest. The details were faithfully repeated by various websites. Okay, so the police helped out when a local lieutenant provided the following juicy quotation: "You don't put anyone off in an area like that. There's no water up here, we're at almost 8-thousand feet." Meanwhile, MyFox St.Louis quoted Sims' irate wife saying of his treatment, "I wouldn't have put a dog off like that."
The reality, it seems, wasn't quite as awful at the gushing headlines indicated. Sims was put off the train and, yes, this did occur in the middle of a pine forest. However, he was not alone: a conductor got off the train with him and waited for the police, who had been notified, to come and pick Sims up. But when police did arrive, Sims took off into the woods alone, leaving his bags and meds behind. He did take his cell phone, though, and used it to call his family. Also, Sims was not put off literally in the middle of nowhere; rather, he was escorted off at Williams Junction, a regularly scheduled stop along the way. Sims was found Thursday night walking along the railroad track and was taken to a hospital for a checkup.
All-in-all, sounds like a case possibly bungled by Amtrak, but one that the media seized upon and reported (embroidered?) with great relish. Amtrak has issued a statement saying its staff merely followed company policy in their handling of the Sims incident. Can you say public relations disaster?
Footnote: I was surprised to notice that the WLTX report describes Sims as an "elderly man." I wonder how many people these days consider someone in their sixties to be elderly? I don't. Guess it makes the story sound all that more exciting, huh?
