Do NOT Push that Button! Adventures on the Acela...
I have heard some unintentionally funny announcements, but the one I heard last night on the Acela going from Washington DC to New York was a doozy. I was returning from visiting my mother, and was almost asleep in my seat when the speaker crackled, and a conductor says the following:
“Riders, please listen carefully to what I have to say. If you are using one of our restrooms, do NOT….I repeat, do NOT…..push the red button on the wall. It is NOT the flush button. If you push the red button, we will assume you are in trouble, and we will come in to save you. So, please, please do NOT push the red button if what you want to do is flush the toilet.”
Now you have to understand that the poor guy repeated this announcement maybe three times in a clearly rattled manner, though he tried hard to sound composed. But who could blame him. Clearly, he and other members of the train crew had been put in an embarrassing, untenable position. Breaking open a restroom door only to find…someone trying to flush and not expecting to be interrupted in that endeavor.
He also went on to say that because of this, we would be a little late coming into the station. I can’t tell you how much this announcement made me laugh. Not just what he said, but the way in which he said it. Poor guy.
But to be fair, I have to say those modern train bathrooms are confusing. Once you close the door, you are in basically a large metal box. Everything seems to be made of metal. And frankly, it IS hard to figure out right away where the flush button is. That’s because it is a big metal button about the size of a small pizza that is flush (pardon the expression) against an identical metal wall. It actually took me a moment to figure it out. If ever there was a need for a pictogram or at least a sign FLUSH posted clearly on this button, this would be it.
And you can understand how someone might be confused and see the only thing that stands out in the room….a RED button….is the right thing to push for what it is you’re trying to accomplish. Actually, when you think about it, when those train conductors rushed to what they thought was something dire taking place inside that restroom, they were right. The person probably turned to them and said, “Thank God you guys are here! This is an emergency! How do you flush this thing???!!!!”
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Comments: 32
Hi Kaity,
It sounds like they put the red button in the wrong place, or maybe they should have made the button blue.
Oh well, at least you were warned not to press the wrong button. You don't need a bunch of people knocking down your door when you are in the bathroom!
Regards,
Lee
Toilets aside, Kaity, PIX News needs to put you full length in the camera and Jim Watkins behind the desk. His mid-western style comes off much better behind the desk where you (and Mr. G), with your stylish NY appeal, can run the show in the stand-up spotlight and most likely bump up the ratings.
That's exactly what I am going to say, right button in the wrong place - a bad design obviously.
"We got a signal from someone inside the bathroom pressed the red button. The person is probably going to be flushed down into the toilet, we need someone to knock down the door to pull out and save the person. What is your ETA? over."
Guess Amtrak needs to label buttons in both pictograph & ENGLISH what buttons are..
Just like the pull cords in hospital restrooms "PULL cord for assistance"..
I agree with kman, you need to be in FRONT of the camera! Watkins can't pull it off. He should take a back seat to you!
Regards,
Lee
well, at least whoever was in the bathroom was done with whatever they were doing when the crew tried to "save" them.
It sounds like a design flaw. Standard toilets flush handle/ buttons are in a specific place so even if you use a toilet in another place - you would know where to flush. Sometimes designers, in the effort to be ergonomic, lack common sense. Foolish!
How long is the ride from D.C. to NY?
Modern technology at it's best along with provisional top line security,... "Oh, Boy,.. What A Country!"
How can you possibly get any funnier? And at the same time, you deliver a great newscast. You are a complex combination. Unfortunately, I am a red button pusher. Haven't gotten myself into trouble yet but I pushed a red button today. Couldn't get my son's TV turned off so I instinctively looked for the red button. And off it went. I love you!!!
Thanks for the heads up on the flush button. Once again you're first with the news and information that we can really use. We love you, lets see you come out from behind that desk more!
That's what I mean about blogging, there's always so much blogging material out there in the little things, doesn't always have to be about politics. What about installing automatic flush toilets?
Z-man,
They do have automatic flush toilets, but not everywhere. They have them at the casinos, and some rest stops. Also, some restaurants have them. Still and all, they are mostly the flush kind.
Regards,
Lee
At my health club in Los Gatos, CA, we had the same problem with people thinking they were turning off the jets in the jacuzzi but instead the red button does a total system reset of the jacuzzi. There's a great book about these kind of usability issues titled "The Design of Everyday Things" by Donald Norman
Here's the Amazon URL
http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0465067107
Hi Kaity,
I’ve noticed that you haven’t written any blogs that are either exclusively or partially include a recipe for food lately. In fact, the last time that you did something like that was on October 9th (which is over a month ago). Wikipedia has a whole article on Canadian Chinese cuisine that you can find at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Chinese_cuisine. I’m sure your avid blog readers would live for you to share with them Canadian Chinese food recipe that you are either familiar with or would like to recommend to them by writing a blog about it (I know I would). I know of someone that’s into Chinese food, loves to cook, has a mild liking of you Kaity (with an emphasis on the word mild), but does not like seafood. So if you can, try to find a good Canadian Chinese food recipe for your blog that is not seafood and I’ll be sure to share it with him (he does however like oyster oil as an ingredient in his food).
Ari
Yeah I've used those kinds of toilets Lee. Technology, next thing you know you won't have to wipe, a mechanical hand will do it for you.
Yeah I've used those kinds of toilets Lee. Technology, next thing you know you won't have to wipe, a mechanical hand will do it for you.
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