All sorts of train journeys

Why is it that we expect so little from food on public transport ? The fact that anything more than a barely warm panini brings a smile of true surprise to our lips ? You'd think that through the efforts of many a food connoisseur we would expect much more from a train company we have trusted to make our two hour long journey as safe and comfortable as possible. Unfortunately this is still not the case as we clutch onto our pitifully chilly food and attempt to steam it over the blistering polystyrene cuppa tea.

(Based on real life event) Another strange situation which one can find yourself in is when you sit in your reserved seat next to someone seemingly chill, fooling you into thinking that the couple-hour journey will be go smoothly . And then your neighbours starts talking on the phone about their night out in which they describe a fight they got into after someone called them a rude word. Needless to say, the thought of the dainty passenger next to me turning crazed and beating someone up did make me feel uncomfortable … Other train journeys can be much more fun - The last long journey train voyage a was on involved myself and the passenger across the table falling asleep in turn , waking up every couple of minutes as the train lurched on.

There is also the other way the voyage can turn out , in which you start off the journey with a certain level of decorum , possibly reading a book or revising, and slowly start to slump lower and lower in the seats, covered in disused crisp packets as crumbs from a high sugar snack.


Tube travel.
It really is amazing the amount of times we try and stare at random signs on a train to distract ourselves from looking at someone's paper or what they're texting on their phone. If this where not rush hour and I was seen staring at the Emergency Door Release sign for a full five minutes the other passengers would very possibly be quite tense and concerned as to whether or not I would fling open the door of the train. Instead, it is seen as a quiet sign of respect as we try and stare at anything but the text they're writing or the game they're playing on their portable device. Through our silence we have found a way of being partially polite to the hordes of people we've never had the pleasure of being formally introduced to. Though this politeness can easily be explained through the fact that we're forced together in a mostly nose-to-armpit configuration and must work through this awkward scenario using a universal coping mechanism.  We must turn to politeness and tell the persons of the carriage through eye contact alone that "I am terribly sorry for this unfortunate placement of limbs" whilst internally screaming "I can't ken how a didn't use my newly purchased cologne!”