Over the last few days I've gone about my life and kept to what is becoming a fairly normal routine. However since I've started writing this I've made a conscious effort to keep my eyes open and watch what's going on around me and hope it inspires something worth writing. Christ you see some strange behavior if you're looking out for it!
One thing I have noticed since moving down to Portsmouth is the people down there are so confrontational it's untrue. The drivers don't stop at zebra-crossings, everyone seems up for an argument, and even the elderly want to throw their diminishing weight around. In Brentwood it would be normal to have somebody approach you asking if they can take a chair from your table if it is not being used, in Portsmouth people just sit down at your table without asking if the seat is free. This has happened to me in a pub, in Sub-Way and even in Costa, and whilst I am getting used to it now, it still surprises and offends me that my status appears to be so low to these people that they can just come and invade unceremoniously. Oh well.
Another observation I've made during the last few days is of the way people behave on the London Underground and whilst travelling by train and around stations in general. Absolute Chaos. Even though I managed to avoid the rush that is inevitable at the beginning and end of the working day it was still busy as the underground tends to be, but this is no excuse for the lack of common sense on display. Some people stroll around as if nobody has anywhere to go and in all directions causing pile-ups of people as they decide whether they want to take the bakerloo or the jubilee line completely unaware of the dozens of people they're holding up as they stare aimlessly into the distance. At the other end of the scale there are the people who must get to their destination in the quickest possible way using the most direct route regardless of how many people they have to knock flying in the process. My own personal experience from travelling home on Friday all culminated in somebody saying 'excuse me' as she promptly shoved me out the way, what was the bloody point in saying excuse me if you didn't want me to move? It was at this point that I decided that we should introduced a common sense and consideration test that everyone has to pass before being allowed to travel on public transport, that would get rid of the day-dreamers, the dawdlers and the pushers and shovers out of the way and make using the trains so much more comfortable for those that are capable of doing so without ruining it for everyone else.
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