Thursday 1 May 2014

Curious people - on the trains today

Travelling home on the train tonight I saw a curious thing. That's not unusual, but I've never seen this before.

The train itself was a model with the articulated joins between carriages. You know the ones? They have sides like a piano accordion and a round platform in the middle of the join. In the middle of this platform, a man stood. Unusually for a peak hour train, there were plenty of seats available so it was a little strange that he would choose to stand, but even stranger that he would choose to stand there. He was wearing a serious blue suit, pin-striped and immaculate. He looked to be in his early 50's. He was looking at his mobile phone, holding an umbrella with his other hand and not hanging on to anything.

I watched him, fascinated. It was a rough ride standing where he was standing. Even if he didn't want to sit, there was plenty of space to stand up in the aisle. At one point, he could have been a surfer out on the waves. I wonder whether he is a surfer and was taking the opportunity to practise his balancing techniques.

The train lurched wildly as it moved from one line to another. The man almost toppled over. He righted himself, but continued to travel in the articulated join.



I stopped watching him when a 50 year old woman sat opposite me wearing a jumper with repeated pictures of Bart Simpson all over it. Eye searing is the only description. The woman wearing it wasn't exactly svelte.

What curious sightings did you have today?

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