My usual travelling companion wasn't on the train this morning, so a few stops later I was joined by another lady, but one less well known to me. She sat calmly playing similar games on her electronic device in a companionable silence that I appreciated at once.
When we got closer to my station, before I even got to thinking about prematurely terminating the seminar I was listening to, she arose & headed towards the rear of the carriage, so I followed her shortly thereafter as my station approached.
However, she wasn't leaving the train - she was standing near the other doorway, so that she could be amongst the first to get off at the next stop.
This may sound like over-planning, but it is actually annoying, because she & her fellow-early-birds were in effect helping to block the stairs from people like me who were intending to get off immediately.
It's hard enough with people sitting on the stairs & milling about the doorways in general, too exhausted to move inside the carriage once they've rushed at the last minute from their inner-city residences to arrive at work with seconds to spare before they need to bundy-on.
To add to this shemozzle by intentionally blocking the doorways prematurely sounds excessive.
As one of my old friends used to say "If you're not a part of the solution, then you're a part of the problem." If there is over-crowding in the vestibule of the carriage, why join the crowd unnecessarily & get in other people's way?
I know what you're going to say - I could get up from my seat earlier & get ahead of such people, but then they'll catch on & get up even earlier, & then we'll all end up standing for the whole journey, squeezed into a space meant for turning one pram around, & that just doesn't sound like a fun trip for anyone.
I hope my usual companion comes back tomorrow...
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Sheep Nature
I'm reasonably lucky with public transport - I can set my own working hours, so I learn how to avoid the busiest times on the trains. My home station is at the end of the line & not very popular, & my work station(s) are not as bad as some. However, things sometimes happen that expose me to the pushy-shovey-stupid-sheep nature of some commuters.
I was going home the other day when the guard announced that he could smell smoke, & they were stopping at an unexpected station to investigate. After a few minutes, we were asked to get out of the train. That's easy - you get out, you find a piece of platform to wait away from the doors, so that other people can get out behind you, right? No; apparently you mill around the door so that you can be the first person back on the train when the all-clear is given.
This was not a crowded train - I had been very comfortable on a seat of my own. I - & I am sure many others - had no fear of having to stand for any part of the journey. So, why were people standing on the platform in the same way that they would if they were waiting for a train to arrive? Habit? Have they stopped thinking for the day?
The guard went up & down the train, having a good sniff. Some people decided that, after he had passed, it was time for them to get back on board. He chased them out again on his next pass down the train. Again - what were they thinking? Why were they so eager?
In the end, that train left without us. It was one of those rare days when I ended up catching four trains instead of one - the guard on the next train suggested we change for an express train a few stops ahead, & then that next train didn't quite get me home.
This is public transport. It happens a few times a year. It took me twice as long as usual to get home, but so what? That's why I carry a book. It's an interesting deviation from the norm, but it's one I can cope with.
I was going home the other day when the guard announced that he could smell smoke, & they were stopping at an unexpected station to investigate. After a few minutes, we were asked to get out of the train. That's easy - you get out, you find a piece of platform to wait away from the doors, so that other people can get out behind you, right? No; apparently you mill around the door so that you can be the first person back on the train when the all-clear is given.
This was not a crowded train - I had been very comfortable on a seat of my own. I - & I am sure many others - had no fear of having to stand for any part of the journey. So, why were people standing on the platform in the same way that they would if they were waiting for a train to arrive? Habit? Have they stopped thinking for the day?
The guard went up & down the train, having a good sniff. Some people decided that, after he had passed, it was time for them to get back on board. He chased them out again on his next pass down the train. Again - what were they thinking? Why were they so eager?
In the end, that train left without us. It was one of those rare days when I ended up catching four trains instead of one - the guard on the next train suggested we change for an express train a few stops ahead, & then that next train didn't quite get me home.
This is public transport. It happens a few times a year. It took me twice as long as usual to get home, but so what? That's why I carry a book. It's an interesting deviation from the norm, but it's one I can cope with.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Up the Stairs
I couldn't decide which blog to put this in ...
I was walking up the stairs from the platform to the concourse, in the usual stream of people so happy to start another work day, & it got me thinking. This was just a metaphor for government & politics. Let's face it, with an election coming on, these things do come to mind.
Essentially, we're all going in the same direction, but there are occasional people going the other way. One of the problems is that we're going at different speeds - some dawdle up stairs, or have lot of difficulty rising from the base platform, while others try to zoom up the stairs & feel impeded. Some people stick to the side, hanging onto the rail, while others wander about all over the stairs, & yet others intentionally zip from side to side to get around other people.
It occurred to me that it would all work so much more smoothly if we all co-ordinated our efforts - helped those who struggle up the steps (the station has no lift), be more aware of our fellow passengers & what they're trying to achieve. Rather than trying to get around them or ignore them, we should be trying to get to know them, & trying to work with them, so that we all get to the top & get on with our days.
If you ever wonder why people don't smile much on the platform, it's because of situations like this - being isolated in a crowd.
Everyone has their own way of getting up the stairs. But nobody seems to believe that their way is only one of so many. If we all have a look around us & take in what's happening, then I think we can all start the day in a better mood, as a part of the commuting community, not as a survivor of the morning fight on a flight of stairs.
I was walking up the stairs from the platform to the concourse, in the usual stream of people so happy to start another work day, & it got me thinking. This was just a metaphor for government & politics. Let's face it, with an election coming on, these things do come to mind.
Essentially, we're all going in the same direction, but there are occasional people going the other way. One of the problems is that we're going at different speeds - some dawdle up stairs, or have lot of difficulty rising from the base platform, while others try to zoom up the stairs & feel impeded. Some people stick to the side, hanging onto the rail, while others wander about all over the stairs, & yet others intentionally zip from side to side to get around other people.
It occurred to me that it would all work so much more smoothly if we all co-ordinated our efforts - helped those who struggle up the steps (the station has no lift), be more aware of our fellow passengers & what they're trying to achieve. Rather than trying to get around them or ignore them, we should be trying to get to know them, & trying to work with them, so that we all get to the top & get on with our days.
If you ever wonder why people don't smile much on the platform, it's because of situations like this - being isolated in a crowd.
Everyone has their own way of getting up the stairs. But nobody seems to believe that their way is only one of so many. If we all have a look around us & take in what's happening, then I think we can all start the day in a better mood, as a part of the commuting community, not as a survivor of the morning fight on a flight of stairs.
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