It started out like all my workdays…I bought my newspaper and walked to Waterloo to take the Jubilee Line. Nothing unusual. However, when I got in the queue for the front door, I noticed a short pudgy guy next to me. Obviously, he was someone who didn’t realise the unspoken rule that, at these Jubilee Line stations (the ones with doors) you get into a queue, one at each side of the door, to wait patiently for the train.
The train arrived, and we politely let the passengers off, as we are constantly being reminded to do. Then we began to file onto the train. There was some kind of holdup in front of us, and the woman in front of me stopped. I stopped too, and suddenly I was violently shoved from behind, and the short pudgy man, who was doing the shoving, said, rather loudly: “Come on, don’t stop, get on the train!” I gave him a look, put my hand out, and shoved him right back on the platform. I was hoping that the train doors would close, but unfortunately, they didn’t. He then got on behind me. The rest of the journey was very tense; he seemed to think that he’d “won”, but shouting loudly at a stranger in the Underground is Just Not Done.
I have since thought about a few ripostes, among which the best (IMHO) is “Well, I see that you’re quite eager to get into work to continue embezzling from your employer while your wife is cheating on you.” Unfortunately, I didn’t think of that one until I had nearly gotten to the building in which I toil for my crust.
we politely let the passengers off, as we are constantly being reminded to do.
The constant reminders on the Tube can be a bit of an annoyance, but on the other hand it would be interesting to see if, even for the briefest of moments, it could be made to occur to Boston commuters to let the passengers off before barging onto the train.
(Queue to get on a train? Those wacky Brits.)
Only relatively recently was the law repealed that made barging into a queue for public transport illegal. Now everyone seems to do it.
a few years ago I needed a walking stick to get around. Most people in trawna are polite, but a few get rude in the subway. We all know that the best way (and, indeed, fastest) to do the on/off is for those on the platform to stand to either side of the doors, let the disembarking passengers get out, then file in.
On one occasion when I was “with cane”, I was standing in the doorway waiting to get out at Bloor station and some yahoo was waiting in front of the door instead of waiting aside, and indeed barged in as soon as the doors opened enough. I must admit I allowed my walking stick to stray to a 30 degree angle, rather than completely vertical. I did indeed feel a jerk on the stick(*) as he went past, but I firmly resisted the urge to turn around as I walked out onto the platform, and had to be satisfied with the stumble-and-crash-into-the-doors-on-the-other-side noises from behind me.
but I must admit to a quiet satisfaction in being the agent of Nemesis that day.
(*)in more than one sense of the word
Well done Chris 🙂