Getting to my work place is quite a long transit. First of all I have to get from my home to the bus stop which is a 5 minute walk. The next step is to take a 20 Km trip accross the city on an express bus. This part of the journey is deceptionally fast, as going on the expressway literally on the opposite way of where must the traffic are, the trip takes usually only half an hour which is a short time compared to all the inner city traffic jam. After debarking from the bus, I have to cross the bridge, and walk another short transit to a shuttle bus (the red pickups) before I could reach my work place. This process usually takes me about an hour to complete a single trip.
In most of the cases, the trip here are usually uneventful. However a few days back, things weren't as simple as it turned out. As I got off the express bus, there were a few people that usually use the same route as I do. On this day, things were mostly the same, except that during my walk from the busstop to the shuttle bus - which was about 500 meters, I met this man that was dressed in short jeans, and a red shirt that didn't cover the waist. As seeing a somewhat odd fellow, my usual reaction is to take a long route around the person. As I was walking past him, he was muttering all sort of non-sense - in which I ignored, knowing that it is best to avoid these types of people. However as I walked past him, I heard a scream, and a young lady (probably a student in one of the schools close by) ran past me, and grabbed my hand, and told me that she was harassed. As I turned back, I could see that I was in between the crazy person I mentioned earlier and she was behind my back. As I looked at him and sized up, I could see he was mutting all sort of nonsense before turning sideways and shouting at a telephone booth. A few seconds later he walked back and shooted at a trashcan. As seeing he wasn't quite interest in us anymore, we decided to walk off.
As we briskly walked on, the young lady gave a call and quickly hopped on the cab while I continued my transit.
Afer all that has happened and as it sunk into me, I couldn't help by wonder how things could have been very very different. As in this case, I was lucky, as I was only confronted by a crazy person which in most cases were quite harmless. If the person was a stalker or a sick individual, I deduced that I might have been in serious trouble (e.g. been stabbed or stalked for helping another person out). The worst part about it is that in this case, I wasn't given the ability to choose whether to help or not. No matter the case, at the end of the day, I'm just glad everything turned out not too bad... At least I'm still around to tell this tale...
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An hour to commute - is that all?!
Mine is an hour and a half minimum and sometimes over two hours depending on traffic and connections running on time.
20 minute walk to take the overground train into London (another 20 minutes). I could walk 5 minutes to take the bus, but the traffic is so congested it is quicker to walk to the train. Take underground tube for 25 minutes (three lines/changes), finally another 20 minute train and a ten minute walk.
I do try not to be seen or heard talking to inanimate objects and generally avoid talking to anyone at all if at all possible. On my journey home I sometimes drink a can of beer, which acts as a deterrent for most other passengers who naturally believe that I must be crazy.
What I don't like is that I sometimes find myself hating people I don't even know just because they push past me or because they smell or they are too large for their seat and spread on to mine.
The overcrowding is quite brutalising and unhealthy in rush hour. I tend to go in early and come home late to avoid it. The upside is I can have a bit of time off during the week to make up for it.
The British stiff upper lip means nobody is called upon to be a hero, instead we all just pretend nothing is happening!
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