Out & About (again) Part 1

This post - like a lot of my recent ramblings - comes from onboard a train. Part of this is because I have been travelling quite a lot recently and a train journey provides a good opportunity to gather my thoughts and compose a blog entry, and part of this is because whilst travelling I often experience blogworthy events and encounter blogworthy people (usually of the "muppet" variety).

People such as the woman I sat opposite on my ouutward journey to Oxford this morning.

In a move worthy of her own post entitled "Some People (3)" she decided to change her baby's nappy. She could have gone to the toilet and baby changing facility just metres away at the end of the coach, but that was evidently too much trouble. Fortunately it didn't smell, and I was largely unbothered by the whole thing until she asked me if I had an implement to open the broken zip on the bag containing the new nappies. I didn't, alas, but her announcment that her baby would wee everywhere if she couldn't get it open prompted help from a kind lady in the vicinity and disaster was averted. Phew.

My return journey so far has not been punctuated by such an encounter, but I would like to rant very briefly about Clapham Junction. The biggest railway interchange apparently. But when I changed there just now were there departure sceens to help me locate my platform, out of the hundreds of possibilities? No. Well, actually, yes, but down some back alley on a random platform is no use to man nor beast unless you happen to stumble upon it by chance.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I've accused you of being intolerant before Jim, but this woman really deserves the scorn you heap upon her. For reasons of hygiene, changing a nappy in the carriage is a horrible idea!
Tue Apr 04, 08:06:00 PM GMT
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