There are two types of sightseeing train drivers, or tour guides in general. There are those who are there for the moment, working a season or two, then moving on back to college or another job or another town. Thom referred to them as Passers, as in those who are just passing by, or passing through. But even though there is a lot of turnover among guides, there are a few who stay forever. Usually they have already experienced what Passers are currently experiencing, and this is where they landed when they were tired of moving. Thom called these the Settlers.The scenario is not unlike a western town in a 1950’s not very good film. The stranger rides into town. If he’s young and a troublemaker, he’ll likely tell the bartender in the saloon that he’s just passing through. But if he is trail tired, seen too many gunfights won and nearly lost, he’ll likely tell to matron who runs the upstairs at the saloon that he’s thinking of settlin' down and maybe Wet Rock will be his home from now on.
Thom saw himself as neither a Passer nor a Settler. He had stayed long enough certainly not to be a Passer, and by doing so had been promoted off the trains and into a station, now the only surviving station. But he knew he would not be in that chair back stool, swivel, forever. He knew it because he spent so much time thinking about not being there.
But for the time being, this was certainly the best of all possible lives in St. Augustine.