Trains are a fantastic method of travelling fast to any
major hub. It also seems to be THE place to discuss your love life very loudly
on the phone.
“Yeah.”
Said a very rough female voice, a strange mix between cockney and a Liverpool
accent. “He said her an inbox on
Facebook and she replied what a bitch.”
Her child
just gazed unassumingly out of the window; I assumed he was tired of listening
to his mothers failed love life.
“No, he
also poked Liz. And I was well mad at him.”
The boy
looked up at her. The exasperated expression on his face told me all I needed
to know. I have done that look too many times before.
He resumed
his bored gaze out of the window, his iPhone sat disused in front of him.
Clearly the technology could not take away his boredom. This did make me start
to think about how slowly we are all being dragged into this
technology-obsessed world. I, don’t get me wrong, love tech. I find it so
useful, being able to communicate across thousands of miles instantly. Being
able to stream video calls and see long lost relatives. Fantastic.
Its social
networking which gets my goat. Any way. As I sat watching these two completely
differing personalities. I looked out of the window for a brief rest bite from
the onslaught of “He is” and “He said”. Seeing the Cumbria landscape sprawled
out with tall, dark and ominous mountains fringing the present green and newly
ploughed fields. I was struck at how the child must be feeling about it. Being
an active child in the outdoors I was always wanting to go out side and find
snails and such. I wondered if perhaps the child was thinking the same. Even if
it was only to escape his mothers infernal chatter about how “Her man keeps
cheating on her.”
I have had
other more pleasant and interesting journeys, along the same route from London
Euston to Carlisle. 3 elderly people sat around a table with you makes for very
interesting conversations. One of them being a gardener for most of her small
village in Essex. The second being a retired gentleman who used to work in
accounts. The last did not revel her past occupation, but a younger lady piped
up that her sister used to work for Springwatch. The conversation ranged from
wildlife, to the person talking loudly on their phone, from the driver being late
to the river the train passed over and all the way back round.
The times
where the conversation has been interesting and both parties have been willing
to contribute to free flowing and stimulating topics make my train journeys. I
have had several of these beautiful joining together of two or more strangers,
these are sadly marred by the awful journeys like the one mentioned at the
beginning. Even with all the wondrous country side just a glance away out of
the window.
