The tube station can be a pushy place and getting on the tube can be a challenge. Tubes stopping at Finsbury Park tube station--which is the nearest station to my homestay--are always crowded in the morning. Alot of people get off and alot of people are unable to get on. Before the tube gets there there is always a long disorganized column of people along the plank waiting to get on the tube. The unlucky are at the back of this long column, waiting to see if they can get on. They usually don't, and they have to wait until a tube or two passes until they have a chance to get on. Each time a tube passes their chances of getting on the tube increase. This is because when a tube passes some people get on, making the column thinner, allowing the people waiting to move up each time a tube passes. Also, whenever people move up in the column their previous place is taken by a new arrival. People on the plank in the morning are like a mechanized machine at work, despite whatever inconveniances that exist.
But this is only the begining of all the complications of using the tube. In the morning and evening the tube is crowded. When somebody enters a crowded tube its like entering a packof sardines that has reached its maximum capacity and is on the brink of collapse. It's so crowded you can't move. Your literally in somebody's face and there is plenty of bumping up against someone or something. Everybody who has to wait on the plank to get on the tube trades his or place place for a more crowded one! The best thing you can hope for is to get through the experience in one peace. But if your unlucky you'll be stuck in front of someone who needs takes a shower and there's nothing you can do about it. This has happened to me. The last time I was in London somebody's bare armpit was in my face, and this guy either did not put on any deoderant or it had worn off. There are certain places where alot of people tend to get off the tube, which will leave more room to move. Alot of people get off at King's Cross St. Pancras, Russell Square and Covent Garden. The King's Cross St. Pancras tube station is huge in comparision to alot of the other tube stations. Six lines run through it (Piccadilly, Victoria, Northern, Metropolitan, Hammersmith and City and Circle), and alot of people use King's Cross St. Pancras tube station. But that means when all those people get off the tube there are just as many people getting on. The same thing tends to happen at Russell Square and Covent Garden.But worser things can happen. Sometimes the tube stops because of some malfunction, and people can be stuck on the tube for hours until the problem is resolved. This tends to be big news in London. Newspaper venders often try to sell papers whenever the latest tube disaster has happened using this sort of headline: 300 PEOPLE TRAPED ON THE TUBE FOR THREE HOURS IN TUBE NIGHTMARE! Perhaps this is a reflection that violent crime doesn't happen that often in London, which is usually something that will be headline news in the United States. So newspaper venders in the U. K. have to focus on things most Americans would consider mundane to sell papers, like people being traped on the tube for hours, unable to get to their destination.
Somebody from a small city might fell overwhelmed and intimidated by this, especially people who have mobility problems. There have been times when I have seen elderly people who have mobility problems have difficulty using the tube. This is reminiscent of the Tortoise and the Hare children's story. The hare has no problem with mobility; he's fast and the mere thought of being slow because of mobility problems would be unthinkable to the hare. But tortoise is slow, and sometimes it's a real struggle for him to get from point A to point B. The elderly who have mobility problems inch their way toward the tube in a struggle while everybody else rushes by them. This reminds me there will be time in my life when my health will be in decline, and I might not be able to do some of the things I enjoy doing now. I can see why Ray Davies wrote 'imagine yourself growing old' when he was 23. Those people were a constant reminder to him the older he got the more likely he was going to have health complications.
But one complication I know the elderly wouldn't tolerate in London is being pushed or shoved from behind, which is common in the tube station. One night when I got off the tube at Finsbury Park station I was pushed from behind. Somebody put their hand on my backpack--either inadvertly or not--and pushed me forward. I had paused for a second because I was tired; the trek down to Tottenham Court Road and back had worn me out, and I needed a breather. But the unspoken rule of the tube station is unless you have mobility problems no one is going to wait for you. If you stop moving when alot of people are trying to get off the tube or when alot of people are trying to get on your liable to be bumped or pushed out of the way. I didn't turn around and quarrel with the person, that would have been pointless. He or she were probably long gone anyway, making their way through the rush and push of the crowd. I fell in with the rest and did the same with the knowledge that this was simply part of life in London.
But this is only the begining of all the complications of using the tube. In the morning and evening the tube is crowded. When somebody enters a crowded tube its like entering a packof sardines that has reached its maximum capacity and is on the brink of collapse. It's so crowded you can't move. Your literally in somebody's face and there is plenty of bumping up against someone or something. Everybody who has to wait on the plank to get on the tube trades his or place place for a more crowded one! The best thing you can hope for is to get through the experience in one peace. But if your unlucky you'll be stuck in front of someone who needs takes a shower and there's nothing you can do about it. This has happened to me. The last time I was in London somebody's bare armpit was in my face, and this guy either did not put on any deoderant or it had worn off. There are certain places where alot of people tend to get off the tube, which will leave more room to move. Alot of people get off at King's Cross St. Pancras, Russell Square and Covent Garden. The King's Cross St. Pancras tube station is huge in comparision to alot of the other tube stations. Six lines run through it (Piccadilly, Victoria, Northern, Metropolitan, Hammersmith and City and Circle), and alot of people use King's Cross St. Pancras tube station. But that means when all those people get off the tube there are just as many people getting on. The same thing tends to happen at Russell Square and Covent Garden.But worser things can happen. Sometimes the tube stops because of some malfunction, and people can be stuck on the tube for hours until the problem is resolved. This tends to be big news in London. Newspaper venders often try to sell papers whenever the latest tube disaster has happened using this sort of headline: 300 PEOPLE TRAPED ON THE TUBE FOR THREE HOURS IN TUBE NIGHTMARE! Perhaps this is a reflection that violent crime doesn't happen that often in London, which is usually something that will be headline news in the United States. So newspaper venders in the U. K. have to focus on things most Americans would consider mundane to sell papers, like people being traped on the tube for hours, unable to get to their destination.
Somebody from a small city might fell overwhelmed and intimidated by this, especially people who have mobility problems. There have been times when I have seen elderly people who have mobility problems have difficulty using the tube. This is reminiscent of the Tortoise and the Hare children's story. The hare has no problem with mobility; he's fast and the mere thought of being slow because of mobility problems would be unthinkable to the hare. But tortoise is slow, and sometimes it's a real struggle for him to get from point A to point B. The elderly who have mobility problems inch their way toward the tube in a struggle while everybody else rushes by them. This reminds me there will be time in my life when my health will be in decline, and I might not be able to do some of the things I enjoy doing now. I can see why Ray Davies wrote 'imagine yourself growing old' when he was 23. Those people were a constant reminder to him the older he got the more likely he was going to have health complications.
But one complication I know the elderly wouldn't tolerate in London is being pushed or shoved from behind, which is common in the tube station. One night when I got off the tube at Finsbury Park station I was pushed from behind. Somebody put their hand on my backpack--either inadvertly or not--and pushed me forward. I had paused for a second because I was tired; the trek down to Tottenham Court Road and back had worn me out, and I needed a breather. But the unspoken rule of the tube station is unless you have mobility problems no one is going to wait for you. If you stop moving when alot of people are trying to get off the tube or when alot of people are trying to get on your liable to be bumped or pushed out of the way. I didn't turn around and quarrel with the person, that would have been pointless. He or she were probably long gone anyway, making their way through the rush and push of the crowd. I fell in with the rest and did the same with the knowledge that this was simply part of life in London.
posted by James Marshall Richardson at 9:58 AM
2 Comments:
I can imagine the tube is intimidating if you're not used to it, but give it time and you'll be scowling at people who block corridors and escalators.
As for the newspaper headlines, anything connected with people being trapped on the tube for hours is going to be a big story after last year's bombings. A few months before the attacks, I was trapped underground in the dark for 2 1/2 hours and was disappointed not to read a single line about my ordeal in the paper...
Yes, I probably should have said something about the tube attacks last year.
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