I had some business in downtown Chicago and decided to avoid the traffic mess by taking the train. Nothing unusual happened on my trip there, but coming back was quite a different story.

I was waiting on the El train platform in the Loop when I saw my train pulling into the stop. It wasn’t just an ordinary train, though. I soon learned it was the Holiday Train, complete with lights, images and sounds of the season.

Ordinarily, aside from the happiness in actually having the train arrive, I don’t really enjoy the whole train experience. As soon as I saw Santa waving from an open-air car adorned with Christmas trees and Santa’s reindeer, I thought I might actually enjoy the trip home.

Tinsel is everywhere. The seats are covered in festive fabric. Holiday music plays softly over the speaker system. Cinnamon scents flow from under the seats. The lights are tinted red and green. Even the employees get in the act by wearing elf costumes and bearing seasonal nametags like “Snowflake” or “Jolly.”

It’s not all about fun, though. The Chicago Transit Authority employees have donated enough food and money to fill 300 food baskets, which the Santa train will be delivering to 30 area community organizations.

Twenty minutes after stepping on the train, when I arrived at my stop, I was almost sad to leave the train. During the hustle of the season (not to mention the commercialism), it was such a pleasant surprise to have such an enjoyable experience riding the train.

As I exited, “elves” wished me “Happy holidays.” Happy holidays, indeed!

— John Wroblewski, distribution specialist