An Adventure on Amtrak

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and daughter and I were taking the train from New York down to Washington, D.C. (search).

Everyone was in a big rush, so the guy at the boarding gate just gave our tickets a quick look. We got on the train, it began to move, and I suddenly had a sinking feeling that we were going the wrong way.

Sure enough, the loudspeaker announced that we were on an express train north to Boston. I found the conductor and told him my problem. I kept my cool, didn't get hysterical or start blaming anyone for my own stupidity. And…he listened. After a lot of work on his part, he got permission to make an unscheduled stop, and put us on the next train going south. What could have been a seven-hour nightmare turned into a one-hour inconvenience.

Now, this conductor was not a FOX fan (search). I could tell he didn't know me from Adam. But after pleading my case without blowing up, he dealt with me like a normal, decent human and bent the rules to help us out.

Now there are a lot of nasty people out there doing nasty things. We report on them all the time. But it's important to remember that there are still a lot of decent people in the world, who respond well to being treated decently. And to a conductor named Leon, who manned Acela (search) train #2164 on March 18, wherever you are, thanks.

And that’s the Asman Observer.

Watch David Asman on "FOX News Live" weekdays at noon ET.