Yesterday on Valentine's Day, the company hosted a ceremony for the above couple to renew their wedding vows. This year was their 60th anniversary, and what better way to celebrate than to do it on a rail car that is even older than them!
This whole wedding hoohah was a last minute PR stunt of the GM. After months of bad press with robberies, crashes, and lack of ridership, he wanted to improve the negative perception of our transit system with a feel-good campaign. You know, like "The Ride is So Great, You'll Forget You are Late" or safety messages like "Travel in a Pack and You Won't Get Attacked." At the same time, it was his chance to showcase the trolley and shoot back at the media, saying, "Ah ha! You were wrong! Not every one of our cars are covered with graffiti and foul smells!"
We originally wanted an actual wedding, but since the promotion did not start until late January, we really limited our candidates to mainly promiscuous partygirls whose EPT stick turned positive within the last month. If you think about it: instant wedding (before you start showing), two nights at Fairmont Hotel, steakhouse dinner, gift certificates, and only 10 guests allowed... It truly is the perfect wedding of desperation!
It was shocking to us that even though our buses are filled with dropouts, gang bangers and teen moms, not one applied. Maybe because the application required a 150-word essay about their story. So first, they need to have some sort of education. And I guess if the essay starts with, "Um, we met at a party..." and ends with "or else my dad gonna kill us..." it doesn't make for good storytelling. It also required a photo, so if you have tattoos across your face and neck, you may have already disqualified yourself.
As February approached with zero applicants, all the managers were freaking out. They even tried frantically to matchmake their own nerdy children. Then for one hour, they relented and opened the firewall to allowed everyone to log onto their Facebook accounts to spread the word. They were thinking: surely, all our employees must have non-planning, no-budget, fly-by-seat-of-their-pants friends that would want to get married on ten days notice, right?
In the end, they wisely opened it up to anyone wanting to renew their wedding vows. Four entries were submitted and this couple was picked (six days prior to the 14th).
Depending on the feedback we get, we intend to do this again next year. So come January, be sure to check up on your single friends in case they get knocked up on New Year's Eve. But seriously, this is every guy's dream wedding. No coordinating, no rehearsal, no relatives. Flowers/cake/drinks/photographer/minister all free. Just show up. Even winning a game show doesn't get this good!
VTA, where were you 17 years ago??!!
