Traveling in London can be quite tiring because of the poor quality of service. I tend to use the train and underground to go about everywhere because they are faster and more reliable than buses. I had a terrible experience on the bus around 2 weeks back when some asshole picked my pocket and nicked my mp3 player. I ranted and fumed for around 2 days till i realised I was never going to see my beloved Mp3 player again. Anyway let’s get back to my story about travelling in London. I loathe travelling on the underground because it can be too taxing. For starters the heat gets to you and makes you wanna get out of the train really fast. I thank my lucky stars whenever i complete my journey on time and don’t have to endure severe delays. Grabbing a seat on the underground during peak hours is like a game of musical chairs. The best way to get a seat is to go through the door where people aren’t exiting as one can cover ground really fast and find a seat. I have had to curse my luck for standing at the wrong spot on a number of occasions which resulted in me standing during most of the journey (which can be a pain if you are in sandals). Travelling on the underground is boring as people act like as if they are super miserable and are on their way to death row. It’s rare to see anyone smiling or even looking at anyone. I guess I should bring a canister of laughing gas with me next time i am travelling on the tube. At least i can get to see some smiles and i wont have to bother with the negativity in the air. It tends to be a downer and brings everyone down coz it’s so infectious. It also bothers me when people start picking their nose, applying makeup, playing music really loud on their cellular phones (haven’t they heard of headphones) which tends to be really annoying and gives me a bad headache, or doing some random stupid thing. People who read books, newspapers, play games on their DS-Lite and PSP aren’t being anti-social if they are travelling on their own as they want to kill time. Couples who find time to make out in slow motion during journeys can be super annoying as one tries hard not to stare at them. It is impossible as they are either in front of you or sitting in a way that you can’t avoid them. I haven’t gotten of staring away from kissing couples as my neck hurts a lot. I don’t know how much longer I have to keep up with it. Then there are people who end up staring at each other but are too afraid to make the next move. Some brave fools try to break the ice but then the other one always gets cold feet later. This is one reason why London Newspapers have this section where these lovefools (or lust fools) post their missed encounters. The ad is usually like “saw u at blah blah line at blah blah time. you were the hot blah blah whatever and i was the one in blah blah whatever. Fancy a drink.” Geez most of these ads are more cliched than an Indian or English rom-com.
I hate changing between trains because i simply hate the decor and the fact that the walking distance from one line to another is like a walk from home to china. My walk down the corridors is ruined coz people don’t know how to walk and end up blocking the way. They need to be taken to some school where they should be taught how to talk.
I have seen something positive on the underground lately. A lot of people travelling on the underground have had no respite from beggars who would beg their way while on the underground. I guess the authorities have cracked down on them as I haven’t seen any beggars in a long time. I am also glad that they decided to ban alcohol from all public transport. It was a bit annoying coming home late at night and watching people walk about in drunken stupor. I can’t stop people from drinking outside but at least they don’t have to drink on the underground and endanger the lives of others by doing something stupid.
The authorities have also started scanning people randomly at certain stations to prevent knife crimes. This makes me feel safer. They should have done this a long time back. They have also started cracking down on fare evaders and imposing heavy fines on them. I believe that this is a good move on their part as people will take them more seriously now and pay the full fare. I watched this fare evader being stopped by an officer at Tottenham court station earlier in the day.
Oh well here’s an end to yet another boring post. Hope you enjoyed it.
PS.
Books i am reading on the underground :Wicked, Yes Man
Music I am listening to on the underground :Alanis Morissette Discography, Shpongle
