An Amtrak worker stood with a bullhorn, shouting out the departures and arrivals of trains to South Station after an early morning power outage disrupted services for several hours.
“I can’t even get a cup of hot coffee,” said Amtrak ticket seller Linda, who sat behind the glass window of the sales booth, waiting for the lights to come back on.
Customers came and went as Linda, who didn’t want to give her last name, explained that the outage would keep people from purchasing tickets at her window.
Linda said services weren’t interrupted, and customers could buy tickets on board and reservations were being honored.
“It just makes the day a little bit more stressful,” she said.
McDonald’s employees sat looking bored in the darkness of the food station atop the counters as customers casually passed by.
When bookstore employee Dan Westwater arrived at work, he said he was confused as to why it was so dark.
Westwater was forced to write down the names of each book he sold, a list that accumulated in just the few hours since the store opened in South Station.
He used an “old school” credit card copying device to track sales.
“Luckily it’s a tax free weekend, so I don’t have to do all that math,” said Westwater. “I’m not mad though. It’s my job. Sometimes you just have to work a little harder.”
