Training Part 2
I used to love commuting on the train. Well, I'm not sure I loved it at the time, but I have fond memories. The whole hustle and bustle atmosphere of it all.
It is best to approach it all in a 'not too bothered' frame of mind. The train will turn up late. On special occasions it is on time, or even early, and then that is a cause for joy. But there's no point getting worked up by the delays. Sit back and watch the wildlife. By which I mean the other passengers, not the sheep, cows and such that pepper the view out the window.
So two days in London is an opportunity to relive this. I haven't I commuted by train daily since 1991 and it has certainly changed...
1. It is much, much busier. Having to let a tube go because there wasn't enough space on it was almost unheard of. In the last two days I and my fellow passengers have done it 3 times.
2. I feel naked without an iPOD. Everyone has those white headphones. Let me rephrase that, the majority of the most attractive people do. Unfortunately that is not because iPODs make you attractive. Trust me, they don't. For while the trendy classes may be predisposed to owning them, so are the nerds.
3. Etiquette has changed. Early morning trains used to be silent. No chatter, no ringtones, no phone conversations. You always made room for passengers to get off first. The social graces are no longer.
4. The tube lines were cleaner - is there a fluffer shortage? (Fluffers clean tube tunnels at night, I believe they have existed longer than those in the porn industry. Perhaps porn pays better and they've all re-trained?)
5. Most of the trains are quieter and more comfortable, assuming you can get a seat.
6. It's much, much busier.
Another memory I have enjoyed reliving is a visit to Beatties in High Holborn. The shop is pretty much unchanged apart from it now being called Model Zone.
I used to get so excited on the rare trips to Beatties with my mother when I was a boy. I had a pretty large model railway and I used to spend hours drooling over magazines and catalogues. Unfortunately my model railway desires were far beyond my skill, patience and, above all, budget.
I probably have all those things now, I just don't have the time. I am not alone - wandering the store it was obvious that this industry is fuelled by the grey pound - men older than me, their children growing up, who now have enough time to relive their childhood.
Good thing too - model trains are no longer at toy prices, but then they are no longer of toy quality. Roll on retirement.
It is best to approach it all in a 'not too bothered' frame of mind. The train will turn up late. On special occasions it is on time, or even early, and then that is a cause for joy. But there's no point getting worked up by the delays. Sit back and watch the wildlife. By which I mean the other passengers, not the sheep, cows and such that pepper the view out the window.
So two days in London is an opportunity to relive this. I haven't I commuted by train daily since 1991 and it has certainly changed...
1. It is much, much busier. Having to let a tube go because there wasn't enough space on it was almost unheard of. In the last two days I and my fellow passengers have done it 3 times.
2. I feel naked without an iPOD. Everyone has those white headphones. Let me rephrase that, the majority of the most attractive people do. Unfortunately that is not because iPODs make you attractive. Trust me, they don't. For while the trendy classes may be predisposed to owning them, so are the nerds.
3. Etiquette has changed. Early morning trains used to be silent. No chatter, no ringtones, no phone conversations. You always made room for passengers to get off first. The social graces are no longer.
4. The tube lines were cleaner - is there a fluffer shortage? (Fluffers clean tube tunnels at night, I believe they have existed longer than those in the porn industry. Perhaps porn pays better and they've all re-trained?)
5. Most of the trains are quieter and more comfortable, assuming you can get a seat.
6. It's much, much busier.
Another memory I have enjoyed reliving is a visit to Beatties in High Holborn. The shop is pretty much unchanged apart from it now being called Model Zone.
I used to get so excited on the rare trips to Beatties with my mother when I was a boy. I had a pretty large model railway and I used to spend hours drooling over magazines and catalogues. Unfortunately my model railway desires were far beyond my skill, patience and, above all, budget.
I probably have all those things now, I just don't have the time. I am not alone - wandering the store it was obvious that this industry is fuelled by the grey pound - men older than me, their children growing up, who now have enough time to relive their childhood.
Good thing too - model trains are no longer at toy prices, but then they are no longer of toy quality. Roll on retirement.
posted by Anonymous at 12:21
1 Comments:
iPod owners and their bright white headphones are so positively unfashionable these days. I remember the days when it used to be cool to have one ...
I agree - in the space of th elast 10 years or so - it definitely has gotten busier - and people have become a lot less considerate of others too.
Although I do remember early nineties having to let several tubes go by due to not enough space to get on. That was the northbound Northern Line at Clapham North - which is where i used to live. In fact - in those days I used to go Southbound in order to get space on a tube going northbound!
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