Woman Speaks Loudly On Cell Phone For 16 Hours Straight And Is Removed From Train

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Wed May 18, 10:01 am ET
Loud cell-phone talker removed from quiet car by police
By Liz Goodwin


By Liz Goodwin liz Goodwin – Wed May 18, 10:01 am ET

A woman who was escorted off an Amtrak train by police this weekend after she allegedly refused to stop talking loudly on her cell-phone has the Internet cheering her fate. Civilians and quiet-car champions are supporting her ejection for violating policy at high volume during the 16-hour journey. It doesn't help her cause that she became belligerent when confronted about it by one of her fellow passengers.

KOMO News reports that Lakeysha Beard says she felt "disrespected" by the incident, though passengers said it was Beard who was being rude by refusing to stop yapping while sitting in one of the train's designated quiet cars. She had not stopped talking since the train pulled out of Oakland, California, 16 hours before it reached Salem, Oregon, when a passenger confronted her about the talking. That's when Beard got "aggressive," KATU reports, and conductors stopped the train so that police could remove her and charge her with disorderly conduct.

Amtrak created quiet cars in 2001 when a group of passengers who rode the Philadelphia to D.C. route every morning asked if they could reserve a car where cell-phone loudmouths weren't welcome. Ever since, the rare havens of quiet have become a battlefield between silence-loving rule-followers and rebellious cell-phone addicts. Gawker suggested, not without a dose of sincerity, that the cops who removed Beard from the train were heroes, and that Beard should be charged with "unspeakable crimes against humanity and sentenced to life on some distant planet where there are no reception bars, ever."

According to a very scientific reader poll at The Huffington Post, 77 percent of people were happy the woman was hauled off the train. And CNN personality Anderson Cooper blasted the woman on his "ridiculist" last night, asking "What could someone possibly talk about for 16 hours?" He even compared being stuck on the train with a person who would do such a thing to the "fifth circle of hell."

The Internet is full of tales of innocent people's quiet-car journeys being marred by loud passengers who ignore the rules. An Israeli blogger with a PhD in conflict resolution wrote a lengthy post about the best way to get a fellow passenger to shut up without starting World War III. "Always assume the transgressor is ignorant, not arrogant. This way you won't feel wronged and can communicate your message with less contempt and hostility," he suggests.

Meanwhile writer Christopher Buckley, a self-described quiet car Nazi, wonders why there would be any confusion as to the correct behavior in that part of the train: "The Quiet Car does not hide its light under a bushel. Prominent and explicit signs hang from the ceiling at five-foot intervals. They declare, unequivocally, that No Cell Phones Are Permitted and that conversation must be kept to a minimum and in hushed tones." In a video taken of Beard's removal from the train, she appears to be quietly cooperating with the officers. You can watch, below.

[Riley Martin]

So... how long will it be until Amtrak gets labeled "racist" and then Beavis and Butthead (Rev. Al and Jesse Jackson) initiate a nation wide boycott of Amtrak?


If that happens, count on me to start patronizing Amtrak a bit more.

[Marvo301]

I'm glad they threw her off the train!! She broke the rules and there should be consequences for that. People who can't respect the rules of etiquette regarding cell phones shouldn't be allowed to have a cell phone.

[tiredmike59]

She even looks loud.

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by tiredmike59

She even looks loud.

You're right she does!!

[TJL]

The selfishness of some people. In the quiet car no less.

And of course this woman thinks she did nothing wrong.

[MickeyMac]

Some people can be so annoying talking in public on their cell phones.

[dlemond]

Reminds me of that movie, "Throw Talky from The Train"


I just don't understand why they stopped it first.

[old grouch]

Selfish people bug me. Her punishment should be to have her cell phone smashed into a million pieces with a hammer.

[browneyes106]

I wonder if this woman has set a world record for the longest use of a cell phone.

[Janice]

Originally Posted by dlemond

I just don't understand why they stopped it first.

[OH Nuts!]

They should have thrown that inconsiderate slob off the train after 16 minutes. I think it's outrageous for anyone to talk on a cell phone like that on a train, plane, bus etc. And to top it all off, this was a quiet car.

Recently, there was this loudmouth on a commuter train who just kept gabbing and gabbing. Rather than confront her, I just moved far away from her and mentioned it to the conductor when he passed. I was only going to be on the train for another 1/2 hr and it was easier to move away from gal with verbal diarrhea than get into it with her. I'm beginning to realize EAR PLUGS ARE A MUST ON TRIPS (I'm making sure I have a few pair with me from now on)

[MickeyMac]

Originally Posted by old grouch

Selfish people bug me. Her punishment should be to have her cell phone smashed into a million pieces with a hammer.

RIGHT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PZelda]

Originally Posted by tiredmike59

She even looks loud.

This I totally agree with!

[Cactus Jack]

Originally Posted by tiredmike59

She even looks loud.

LOL