Nose to the Door

It's interesting to watch passengers when their routine is disrupted. This morning, I arrived at the station to discover no trains. This is unusual, because there's one, sometimes two, trains already on the platform - I live at the end of the line. My mild distress was confirmed on finding people standing around on the concourse staring at the (lack of) information display. I joined the throng, but in this age of technology I could open up an app & hope that it had something useful to say. It didn't.
The screen still said no trains for forty minutes - or more - so I decided to go back home for a while. Just as I was leaving earshot, there was an announcement for a train in twenty minutes. This was fine by me, but it meant three trains' worth of people. I can rough it.

I stood on the platform somewhere near where my carriage should have ended up. People started congregating in very specific places. Sure enough, that was where the doors did open when the train arrived twenty minutes later. The important thing is that these people were crowded around a single spot, pushing to be the first on the train - & I mean literally, as the train was empty by definition.

So, how did they know where the train would stop? It's something that just doesn't happen often enough to memorise. It's different when you're coming home, because the train pulls in & you're waiting. Of a morning, the train is there for me, & there's no crowding.
Next problem - why did they stand there like sheep trying to push up the race? These people were almost shoving each other out of the way to press their noses into the door as the train stopped. Is it that important to get that one special seat ahead of everyone else? I should point out that we're only talking about five or six people in total doing this, plus one or two like me standing back with a look of shock.

After that amusement, it was just a SNAFU day.