Shinkansen vs. Amtrak and the lost art of small talk
My Uber from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport drops me off right outside Amtrak’s Tukwila Station, where I seem to be the only living being among a vast expanse of dormant cars in the park-and-ride.
Eventually I confirm the presence of at least two other humans: a security guard pacing the empty platform and a woman using a leaf blower to gather fallen leaves, which are immediately ungathered by the wind (10 mph from the north, according to the captain on my Hawaiian Airlines flight).
I’m 20 minutes early for my Amtrak Cascades line train to Portland, Oregon, so I scout the surroundings in a jet-lagged haze, walking the length of the platform, then the sidewalk outside it, mainly because there’s nothing else to do within walking distance.
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