Tuesday 21st October

Firstly – there is none.  But there should be.  Just as at London bus-stops it is a mad scramble, the fit and young shoving the old, pregnant and infirm out of the way in their desperation to get on first, so on the tube there is no civility, no politeness, no common decency.  In a way of course and compared to greater evils this is a minor irritation, but in some ways everything matters and this selfishness is a symptom of the selfishness in society.  It doesn’t happen in Walton or smaller country places and the reason is that you probably know the other passengers; in London and other large towns you not only don’t know others but will probably never see them again either.

There are signs asking people to give up seats to the elderly or pregnant, but despite women beimg heavily pregnant with the little “Baby on Board” badge, they are often ignored and made to stand.  I rarely am offered a seat, not that I consider myself elderly or infirm – but it is a bit frustrating when a large family all take a seat, often even small children taking up a whole seat when it would be quite easy for the smaller ones to double up and let some weary adult have a seat.

This morning on the DLR was a classic.  The seats are arranged like bus seats and are so a bit closer together affording little room for standers.  I got on a crowded train at Island Gardens and had to stand in this in-between seats space and wait for a possible seat.  The fourth stop is Canary Wharf, a popular destination and sure enough one woman vacated her seat.  But she was quite large and I had to back-up into the central standing area to give her room to get off.  She had several bags and took a while to exit, I waited, arm outstretched and having to move further from her now vacant seat to give her room to pass me.  Just as I was moving back down the carriage I was pushed aside and a youngish girl ducked under my arm and slumped into the seat.  She was about 14 or 15 and looked up defiantly at me.  She had actually only got on the train at Canary Wharf itself.  I was a bit pissed off and said “That was nice of you, I’ve been standing here for ten minutes and then you grab the seat,”  “You don’t own the seat” she said arms folded, and as I had to agree I just shrugged my shoulders and continued to stand.  The really annoying thing – she was getting off at the next stop anyway, but it was obviously important for her to insist on her right to a seat.  I took her seat at the next stop , so it wasn’t at all important, but it is indicative of the attitude of a lot of people today  and maybe even that is our fault – we have created a dog eat dog world, where the strongest take all, so we shouldn’t be surprised if we are sometimes treated like dogs too.