THE TALES OF LIVING

Showing posts with label public transport. Show all posts

Tube Tales I

A few days ago on the tube - I was sitting a couple of seats away from a middle aged man. He was sitting with his head titled forward and he was asleep. Not only was he asleep but he was snoring so loudly that I could hear it through my earphones filled with music.

In fact I am sure that the whole tube carriage could hear him snore.

In my mind a few questions pop up:

Is he aware that by falling asleep he'll broadcast his snoring to the whole carriage?
Does he even know that he snores?
How will he wake up at the right stop when he's sleeping to heavily?

Angry Man

I saw a man on the bus today. Getting extremely angry and upset over the fact that bus has to hold to regulate the service.

He was shouting "Unbelievable - why can't we just drive!!" and then he was making little frustrated noises and threw his head back. Once the bus started moving after a hold of less than 3 minutes he clapped his hands really sarcastically.

Such a sad angry man. All that energy could have been spent in a more productive way. I couldn't help but think:
"How unfulfilling and sad is your life, if you place such anger so misdirected? How do you really feel when you wake up in the morning? What in your life is making you so angry?"

Excluding?

Heard on the tube announcement system:

"Ladies and Gentlewomen..."

Pink Beard

I saw a man on the tube today.

Upper middle ages, with some shopping bags looking like a retired builder who likes to watch rugby and drink a pint of bitter - with the complimentary belly. He was very ordinary man with grey hair - getting on with his life.

Then he was sporting a full beard - coloured brightly neon pink.

No joke.

Brightened up my commute.

Tube Buddies

I've almost gone into a routine now, by taking the same tube each morning. So now I have eastblished a couple of Tube Buddies - people that I actually recognise every morning. Let's describe them:

The man with the long ponytail

He normally has his waist length hair braided and falling down his back. A few specks of grey in it, underlining his life long commitment and he still wears band branded hoodies. I have no idea what he does for a living but he is certainly an intriguing character.

The medium build guy in a suit

There's this guy maybe in his late twenties with a slightly softer and rounder shape that normally wears a grey suit as a contrast to his dark brown short beard. He looks like a potential city worker bit not quite as clean cut as sterotype would dictate and he has this quirky quality about him.

So I guess I have started to collect these people that I see every day on the tube and recognise...

Confidential Document!

It really annoys me when business men read a clearly labelled 'Confidential Contract' on a busy tube carriage. Not very private or confidential is it?

It makes me want to price the contract out of their hands

Lean over and take a few mobile phone pictures

10 o'clock commuters

Normally, I get on the tube before the morning has rolled around to 8 am. However, the other day I overslept - like a stupid person and suddenly found myself on the tube with the just-before-10-am-start commuters and let me tell you they are a different breed from the ruffle of the 'push or be pushed' - 'as long as I get on the train' commuters of Early Risers.

Let's just say that this never happens on my normal train:

A man calmly sitting down, feet stretched across the aisle reading a book titled "Neuropsychology of the Amnestic Syndrome"

A girl serenely playing on her iPad, making a pattern of a edgy pink shape on top of some fluffy white clouds on a blue background, in what looked like an modern version of Paint.

The before 8 o'clock crowd has slightly lower ambitions - like reading the newspaper without having your arms folded together like an accordion or not standing with you face straight into a strangers armpit.

Aww.... Ambitions

Buskers

London public transport, in the underground at least (the subway trains) have something called buskers.

A busker can be found the lower levels of a tube station, when you have already passed the ticket barrier and half way down to the lower levels to the platform. They will stand there and play music for you.

The definition of a busker is
a person who entertains people for money in public places (as by singing or dancing), usually while asking for money.

On the public transport in London, they have these little Name Tags/Id Cards on them - to show that they are licensed by Transport for London. I find this stunning, even if it must be a hard life. It is lovely that something as big and bureaucratic as the London Transport can so endorse 'street' performance as well as culture and creativity.

Traveling on the tube may sometimes be a necessary evil and it can be testing to say the least. But passing someone however briefly playing live music always succeeds to put a smile on my face.

To read a full lowdown on the life of a busker, read this Guardian article.