Watching a play about a railway station with a real station attendant

 My childhood friend worked for a local railway company as a station attendant. A few years ago, I asked him to watch a play about a railway station at a theater with me.

 After the performance, I asked him:

“Did you find anything strange in that play as a real station attendant?”

Actually he also used to be a stage actor, so he knew that “the most important point about a stage play is not reality.” However he taught me differences between a real station and a station on the stage.

He said:

“Handling a flag has strict rules. It is a sign to other attendants. If a real attendant used a flag like that actor, other attendants would be confused.”

I heard a lot of interesting stories about station attendants.

 I will tell you the most interesting story.

 In the play’s climax, a station attendant discovered a danger, and rushed to an emergency stop button on a pillar and stopped the approaching train. My friend said:

“That is absolutely impossible.”

That was because all station attendants have their own emergency stop button on their belt. If an attendant discovers a danger, he or she just needs to push his/her own button. However, the audience don’t know about that. Furthermore, rushing to an emergency stop button on a pillar looks dramatic. We discussed and concluded that was a proper direction by the director.

I asked him:

“Have you ever pushed your button?”

He answered:

“Nope”

He also pointed out a good point about the play:

“The lines on the attendants’ caps were correct. The lines on the stationmaster’s cap are different from those of other attendants. They did their research well.”

I didn’t know we can tell an attendant or a stationmaster based on their caps.

 My childhood friend had children. It is possible to imagine he might worry about his lines of the cap for his children. I hope he will be a stationmaster in a near future.

 

Photo:Gohtatu