*The 11, members of a long-standing book club, boarded the Wine Train at about 11 a.m. on Saturday but were told to leave the train in St. Helena after a maître d’hotel complained about their behavior, saying they were being disruptive, according to Lisa Johnson, an Antioch author and member of the club.
…After several miles of “chitchatting” among the club members, Johnson said, the train’s maître d’hotel told the group, “Your noise level is a little loud, and you have to tone it down so we don’t make others uncomfortable."
“We thought the purpose of the Wine Train was to have a good time and enjoy being with a large group. No one told us of any noise ordinance. If you get a group of 11 women talking and laughing, it’s going to be loud,” Johnson said.
Later, the maître d’hotel came by a second time, warning the women they would be ordered off the train if they didn’t quiet down, Johnson said.
“She said people were complaining and I said, ‘Who’s complaining?’ And she said, ‘Well, people’s faces are uncomfortable,'” said Johnson. “At that point, one passenger nearby said, ‘Well, this is not a bar.’ We reacted, ‘Yes, it is a bar, a bar on wheels.’"*
It appears that 11 drunks were kicked off a train because the drunks were too stupid to understand that they weren’t the only ones on that train. It’s the book club that needs sensitivity training.