Case 17 LEAVING FROM ROME Roger and Rachel Watson, a young American couple, were on a threeweek train trip across Europe. They had just completed a four-day stay in Rome and were preparing to take the train back to England, where their trip had originated. They had spent most of their trip in Germany and Switzerland and had traveled on several trains in those countries. They were impressed by the efficiency, timeliness, and cleanliness of those railways. The Italian train system, they discovered, was quite different. The ticket booths at the train station in Rome were a mass of noise and confusion. Ticket windows seemed to open and close randomly, little attention was paid to organizing lines, and it seemed that everyone was yelling, including the ticket agents. To relieve the stress prior to their departure, the Watsons had stopped by the train station the previous day to make sure that their tickets were in order and that the train schedule had not changed. Although it took them quite a while to get to a ticket window, the agent there spoke some English and was able to assure them that everything was fine for the next day. On the day of departure they checked out of their hotel and entered a taxi to take them, along with a considerable amount of luggage, to the train station. They had allowed themselves almost two hours to get to the station, which was less than 2 miles away. They had been walking the streets the past several days and knew how bad traffic could get, so they wanted to allow themselves plenty of tme. As it turned out, their estimate was wrong. It took more than an hour to get to the train station, and they still had to lug their suitcases into the station and find their train. With 30 minutes to go before departure, they felt confident that they would make their train, but they were getting a bit anxious. The sign system for the trains was very confusing to them, but they finally figured out that they were to take the number 9 train. They began walking the platform in front of the engines, looking at the signs. They finally found the number 9 train, but they were confused because it did not look at all like the train on which they had arrived in Rome four days before. There was no one to ask, so they began to walk next to the train looking for car number 39, the number on their tickets. They had walked almost the entire length of the train when they finally came to car 39 . They boarded the train and immediately knew they were in the wrong 56 COMMUNICATION place. There were no private compartments, one of which they had booked, and all of the individual rows of seats were occupied. Departure time was approaching, and they quickly got off the train. They could find no one who spoke any English; then a young female train porter approached them and asked if anything was wrong. The Watsons showed the porter their tickets, and she exclaimed that they had been on the wrong train, that this was the local train 9 and the transcontinental number 9 was located several bays away. She immediately grabbed one of their suitcases, yelled, "Come on!" and began running toward the front of the train. The Watsons ran as best they could, partially dragging one of their heavier bags. It was now a couple of minutes past their scheduled departure time. They reached the front of the train and followed the porter past several track bays until she turned and began running down the sidewalk next to another train. This one looked familiar. It was slowly starting to move. The porter got to car 39 and jumped aboard, then helped the Watsons get on. She then went to their compartment and found that it was occupied. Examining the occupants' tickets, she found that they had moved into the compartment when they thought it would be vacant. They left, albeit reluctantly. The Watsons got their luggage into the compartment as the train was beginning to back out of the terminal. They thanked the porter and tried to tip her, but she would not take any money. "Help an Italian when you get back to America," she called as she left the compartment. They saw her jump to the pavement near the end of the terminal, and they waved to her as the train continued to back up. Had they missed this train, the Watsons would have had to spend another night in Rome and would have missed their flight back to the United States from London. As it was peak tourist season, they were not sure whether they could have even gotten on the train the next day. As their rapid heartbeats began to slow, they agreed that the porter had truly been their guardian angel. 1. What cultural issues are relevant in this situation? 2. What could the Watsons have done to prevent their predicament? 3. Why do you think the porter did what she did