Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Happy Holidays!  This winter the U.K. was once again brought to a standstill by unexpectedly heavy snow in the days leading up to Christmas.  This had some knock on effects, mainly because transportation of people and goods were affected and so best laid plans had to be put to rest.

There was chaos at various airports around the country, but London Heathrow came under much criticism for its inability to cope with the situation.  On TV one could see people sleeping at the airport terminals hoping to make it home in time for Christmas.  What was not reported was how badly prepared the airlines were in coping with the problem.  Here I cite just one case where two older people were travelling home to Portugal from Hong Kong via Heathrow on the 19th of December.  They were told mid-flight that they would not be able to land in London and that the plane would be diverted to Cyprus for the night, at the very least.  To be fair the transit from Cyprus airport to the hotel was well organised and the two passengers felt generally well looked after.  They were a bit stressed, understandably, but were comparatively calm in comparison to some other passengers who tried to find information regarding connecting flights via the internet and by asking at hotel reception.  The websites for the various airlines provided little information, and some crashed.  Some of the passengers did not have access to the internet, or did not know how to use the internet, and had little recourse but to enquire at hotel reception; the hotel receptionist had little information to give as the airline had given her none.  The two passengers for Portugal had implicit faith in the airline they were travelling with and were certain that once they got to London things would be OK and were not too worried at this point.

The flight for London did take off on the 20th December from Cyprus and landed in London in the early hours of the 21st of December.  Passengers in transit were told to make their way to a hotel in central London by taxi and to reclaim the taxi fare from the airline.  This would have been unproblematic if the passengers had enough British pounds to use to take the taxi- at 2 a.m. in the morning, in unfamiliar surroundings, with the help desks full of people, and clothing that was inappropriate for the cold that was awaiting them in the taxi queue, this is actually rather unreasonable and can be called little else but bad customer service.  Fortunately the two passengers for Portugal had made friends with some of their fellow travellers and one lady from Manchester, bound for the same hotel, offered to share a taxi with them and to pay for it and reclaim the taxi fare later as she was heading for Manchester by train the next morning and would be able to see to this in the comfort of her own home soon enough.

The two travellers tried to find information regarding their onwards journey to Portugal later on that morning, having been told by the airline that they should call up a freephone number for further information.  The phone line was constantly busy and they could not get through; the hotel had no information except that they had to vacate their room at 2 p.m. that day.  Having seen on the news on TV that passengers without confirmed flights should not travel to Heathrow, the two passengers were at a complete loss as to what to do.  They know yours truly and in desperation, called for help.  It took me 4 hours to get through on the phone to someone with information to give- this after trying to check for flight information and to rebook online on their behalves to no avail.  As their flight had departed from Hong Kong, their flight intinerary showed them as having used up all their flight bookings even though their last leg had actually been cancelled.  This information was not updated and therefore we were unable to rebook their flights until I got through to an airline agent on the phone who then rebooked them on a flight 6 days from when I called.  When I asked about accomodation for these passengers in the interim, information was not forthcoming.  We eventually were told that the airline would not be booking accomodation for them while they were in London but they could reclaim accomodation costs up to £200 per day on production of a receipt to the airline.  Again, the airline made the assumption that this could be easily achieved by their passengers, without any care that older passengers in particular might find this difficult to do, especially since they were in a country they were not familiar with and had not been prepared to visit.  It was the run up to Christmas and booking reasonably priced accomodation in London for two was not a simple task.  Also they made assumptions about their financial status that they had no right to make.  This is poor customer service and not befitting a national airline.

We cannot beat nature but it is all too easy to blame the weather for human insufficiencies.  And in this case there were human insufficiencies.  The airline should expect loss of custom if they do not recognise this and ammend the way they treat their customers.  For now they have lost at least two.

Things to do in the tube part 2

Reading books

This has the advantage over TV in that one does not have to worry about the battery running out, unless you read electronic books.  All you need is to remember to take the book with you.  For anyone with a continuous commute of over 20 minutes- e.g. no line changes- it is possible to read and absorb fairly serious topics so this activity is not necessarily limited to the kind of reading that does not require much concentration.  Get my drift?

The daily 90 minutes of commuting has been useful for me to catch up on reading those books that I need to read but have no time other than that which takes me to get from A to B.  When I get to these points there are tasks awaiting and there is no time to indulge the mind with these other topics.  The recent political discussions regarding benefits tax, for example, has heightened my interest on the issue of social equality to such an extent that I feel compelled to read more on the subject to help me answer some of the questions I have.  There is little or no time to do this other than while I am on the tube and yet I need this information for me to judge the merit or demerit of the government's decisions and, thus, inform me of how I can best fulfill my civil obligations.  Perhaps it is a sign of the times we're in that one has to be trapped in a train carriage to be able to do this even though it is obviously important.

What's more when reading a particularly interesting book, any extra time spent on the train because of problems on the track, etc become a blessing.  I sometimes find myself wishing the journey would take a bit longer so I could read a bit more.

Variety is key but reading as a means to further learning can be achieved with this otherwise 'dead' time so why not?

Things to do on the tube Part I

Watching TV

There are numerous ways to keep oneself entertained while on the tube these days.  For one the emergence of smart phones which allows the download of television programmes to be watched at leisure is one good way to pass the time.  

I recently got a smart phone; my old phone having given up on me and died while in service.  I got the same model as my partner to make the getting to know the new phone a less painful experience.  To be fair it wasn't that hard to learn to use in the end as most functions were quite intuitive.  But it was hours of endless fun playing with it after.  There are countless applications that could be fun to have and just choosing goodies to have on the phone was most entertaining.  The iplayer download was excellent as it let me keep up with programmes that I missed from being too busy with one thing or another.  In particular news programmes and discussion panels were now more accessible and I found it much easier to keep up to date with recent occurences.  And there are just countless episodes of documentaries, comedies, and drama series to watch while on the tube.  It took me a while to figure out that I needed a media player to play the downloaded files but there is so much freeware to cover everyday needs I was literally spoilt for choice.

And so it is that on my morning trip to work I can catch up with the ins-and-outs on the box. 

No tube day September 06, 2010

It’s a week since the London Tube strike. As usual there was chaos in London on strike day as most Londoners depend on the underground to go about their normal business. It is not my intention to go into the rights and wrongs of the the strike itself; probably best if you make your own mind up about this and one of the places you can find information, opinions and links on this is at the BBC website. What struck me, however, was that it wasn’t as bad as the last one and I’d like to talk a little about that.

While the Tube workers went on strike, more of the other means of transport were put into place to help commuters get to work. I had a rather pleasant commute that day using the Thames river boat service and bus, as you can probably gather from the photos in this post. It took a little longer than normal but this was marginal and was much more enjoyable. There was no over-crowding and the option of sitting on the outside deck if one wished. There was also one other bonus. The boat crew were a rather happy bunch and the jokey announcements and banter between them made a welcome change to the comparatively more impersonal Tube service. The boat service is more expensive than the Tube but I would certainly consider this a viable alternative, particularly on a nice sunny day.

Taking the river boat to work.

I realise of course that my journey was pleasant this time in part because I now live near a river boat terminal and this was not practical before. Instead, I took a bus across town to work. This involved over two hours in a tightly packed bus with commuters screaming at the bus driver from the pavement because they couldn’t get on. The bus had difficulty moving off from stations because as the driver let people off at their requested stops, other commuters wanted to get on even when it was not possible, leading to the bus sitting at the bus stop until people finally saw sense. It takes a brave man/woman to be a bus driver on a Tube strike day.

Waiting for the bus by Big Ben

From what I read more people cycled to work during this period and the recently installed Boris bikes were put to good use. The Capital has recently benefited from the installation of more cycle paths in the form of Barclays Cycle Superhighways. With more on the way and a rather impressive coverage of the city, as seen on the map, it is easy to imagine that more commuters will take to two wheels in the future.

The question for me is as follows. The efficacy of strike action is dependent on the impact of witholding services. If this is minimised by other services stepping up, what will the strikers then do to restore the impact of their action?

Buying a bike

I've lost my bike. Its a long story but that's not the point of this post. Suffice it to say it wasn't 'stolen' in the sense that most people would think and that I don't now imagine the streets of London are filled with bike thieves. I am not naive enough to think they're the safest places on Earth either but one must be sensible and realistic about these things.

The last time I bought a bike was about 10 years ago. I got my first pay check and thought I'd treat myself to a nice, new bike. I didn't, and still don't, know much about bikes and the people at the shop were very helpful. This time round I thought a bit of research is not out of place- if one owns a bike then one should know a bit about bikes, no? There are a number of websites that offer advice but I found this one particularly useful.

The reason I wanted a bike was that I am enthused by the new Barclays Cycle Superhighways to cycle to work more frequently. It makes health and financial sense to buy a bike as my employer participates in the Cycle to Work scheme.

I now know what kind of bike would best suit my needs, know my route, and know which shops I can get my bike from. Off bike shopping then!

Dream the day away

Today must be the day to be here and yet far, far away. Three people in front of me in the tube all had something to read in their hands and yet none of them were reading said things. Instead they were staring ahead at some place or thing invisible to the rest of us. One of them had a small smile on his face while he was doing this. Must have been a good place wherever it was.

For the love of sports

The daily commute offers plenty of opportunities to think about anything and everything. Just as well as sometimes there is quite a lot to think about. Having that thinking time forced on me has been a good thing. I enjoy being engaged and, given half a chance, would spend every waking moment doing something. Being still and having time to consider things carefully is necessary for having an orderly life and to actually appreciate some of the things one does. The commute allows me to do this.

One of the things I do in my spare time is run a volleyball club for amateur players. It is a fairly young club and there is always lots to do to keep it going. I have been running one club or another for the last decade but its always been somebody else's club: the university's volleyball club or some other well-established club wherever I ended up in, so I was more dispassionate about them. All of that, however, provided valuable training ground and lots of experiences to draw on now that I am running one I helped set up. The courage to do so came from having encountered and survived a lot previously but there are challenges that are still new and unexpected. Perhaps that is the interesting bit that draws one to the task.

There is a lot to consider on a daily basis. The new season is about to start so there is a lot to sort out to get things off the ground. The lack of a venue for pre-seasonal training was one. By thinking through the various bits of news gathered from various sources we did, in the end, find somewhere we could go to for a few weeks until our venue becomes available again. The teams need more players, new coaches- more things to think about. Who have I met in the near past that would fit the bill? How about the people from the season before? How many are coming back for sure and how many new people will we need to pick up to keep us safe for the season?

The main concern is the men's team, which is fairly new. Where the women's team consists of friends the men's team is a different kettle of fish as it consists of random players that are joining because they want to play rather than because they are friends. This produces a different set of challenges. Finding enough players to form a team is the first. Providing means to build team cohesion is the second.

As usual there are all the technical and personal problems found whenever human beings gather but in the instance of the men's team there isn't as much goodwill as in the women's team, where the players were friends to start with. Negotiating this was tricky in the first season and now in our second we have the problem of players leaving, some for better things, others because they were dissatisfied with the club in some way. The former is not really a problem except the others left behind may feel just that- left behind- and so helping them keep spirits up is a major task. Of the second group there leaves much to consider. If the people leaving did rightfully have a complaint then the issue is how to avoid the same situation arising again. If they didn't then its a case of making it evident that this is so and not allowing them to poison the team. In any case it would be necessary to find new players and getting that message to the right people is a challenge. How do we advertise ourselves to the big, wide world?

Money is always a worry. We have to make ends meet just as any organisation. We don't operate on a profit and that means we have little to cushion ourselves if things go wrong. Managing club finances such that it is fair for members is a fine art.

As with all things to do with sports, fairness is the catchword and being fair to all our members takes a lot of time to achieve.

Eyes wide open

Today was a good day of people watching. First thing in the morning on the way to work, a lady in a bright green pair of mountaineering boots, big socks and a short flowery dress walked off the tube at my stop. I own a pair of those boots too and they take some breaking into. Didn't quite think stereotypically fashion conscious Londoners would do that, even ones that love the mountain and we know there's another stereotype there as well. The thing is even though they are great mountain boots, walking on flat, paved terrain in them is not fun. The sole is fairly solid- a bit like ski boots- but the lack of flexion means you basically rock forwards or backwards and its a rather funny gait, particularly when its not observed in its normal context.

On the way home I saw a guy who had plaited his beard into two pigtails. Enough said.

Sex in the City

It is inevitable that one would over-hear conversations while on public transport. They may not be interesting but some of them can be amusing. One such conversation I overheard on a train coming back to London from Canterbury.

I can't quite remember where they got on the train but I do remember them getting on as they both had very fancy dresses on and were beautifully turned out. One got the impression that they had just been to a garden party but it would transpire from the conversation that followed that they had been to the movies. Possibly after a garden party, one never knows for sure, but I suspect that the dress code was in honour of the movie that they had been to see which was 'Sex in the City II'. I haven't seen the movie yet and am not sure about the content but the two of them were very impressed with it except for a few parts which were a but disappointing but largely it was a great movie and they should take their mums to watch it when they go a second time. The two girls talked about the characters in the movie as if they were their acquaintances and talked about how they found some of the actions taken in the movie to be funny/so her/so him/disappointing/outrageous, etc. The blur between fiction and reality was rather impressive and slightly worrying, if I were honest. Its good that what was being portrayed in the movie was realistic enough for people to identify with their own lives but I couldn't help but wonder how much of it was the opposite way round- that real life was being modelled on fiction. I say that because the dressing up was a bit over the top and the way they talked was a bit over the top and most people are not like that. I wonder if that's how they are on a daily basis?

It was amusing listening to their account of the movie- events that happened in their own lives to their friends as far as they were concerned- but it left me wondering how many people now mimic fiction in their real life. Is this indulgence in escapism going to take over 'normal' life?

Keep on running

I'm a runner with a knee problem and over the years have had a lot of advice from various sources as to what I should and should not do while I'm running if I want to keep running. Over time I developed an interest in people's running styles and travelling to work on the bus has provided opportunities to observe commuters' sprinting styles.

The one I have seen most of is the 'not really sprinting' style where people are moving like they are running for the bus but are travelling at speeds not that dissimilar to walking. Whether the person gets to the bus in time to get on it depends largely on whether there is a long enough queue of people waiting to get on the bus rather than the runner's efforts.

The one that amuses me the most is the high-heeled sprint. This is usually used by female commuters. Usually the higher the heels, the smaller the steps. The stride length is so ridiculously small because of the inhibition by the heels that the runner has to move her feet incredibly quickly to actually build up any speed. Whether the person gets to the bus in time to get on depends on the reason mentioned above and if the bus-driver was kindly enough to wait for her.

The one that is most akin to mine is helicopter legs. This involves swinging the legs out at the knee so that they rotate like helicopter rotor blades with each stride. Not the prettiest way to run and not very efficient as often the stride length is limited by the lack of movement at the hip. It is not necessarily slow and may earn the runner a few smiles from his fellow commuters if done well.

Running is actually not as simple as most people think. It is technically demanding if you want to do it well. These days when I run I can't concentrate on the music coming through my earphones as I hear all the advice I have ever been given with every step- engage your core muscles, engage your hips and thighs, pull your knee caps up, don't slouch, keep your shoulders relaxed... It may be paying off- my knee problem is no longer as severe and I hope people don't find it as amusing to see me run as before.

bus life

I recently started traveling part of the way to and from work by bus. It takes a bit longer but its quite pleasant to spend some time above ground and looking at London life from a different angle.

I love double decker buses and can't wait to try out the new routemaster when it comes into action. Sitting right at the front on the top deck is still one of my favourite things. You can look behind the boards into the building site to see how that giant building block down the road is being built, or see how fine cyclists cut it when it comes to getting in between traffic, or just enjoy the brush of branches on the glass screen.

The general ebb and flow of people on the vehicle can be quite interesting. On this particular route, for example, there seems to be a divide as to who gets the run of the bus on different parts of the route. As the bus moves from east to west, we intially start out with an overwhelming majority of school children. They fill the bus with sounds of idle chit chat and giggles until they get off to make room for the suits. The bus ends up in the city and passes by a number of schools before passing through a neo-suburb for city-folk. Gradually the bus fills up with banker types and almost everyone gets off as the bus gets into a station near the financial center of London. On the reverse journey back home from work, however, the population on the bus is a bit more boring. Its too late for school children so there are only the suits on their way home.

Occasionally I meet friends on the bus trip. It is rather pleasant and relaxing to see a friendly face, particularly first thing in the morning. The general hustle and bustle around you as people go about their daily business helps you stay engaged with the world at large where things happen. Its more interesting than just watching the tunnel walls rush past and definitely worth the extra time this takes.

Learning to drive

It took me 2 years and 5 driving tests to get my driver's licence. However, as my driving instructor kept telling me, it is only when I am driving around in the city on my own that I am completing my education. There are laws and rules which govern every motorist's actions but what people actually do out on the road is interesting, and occasionally terrifying, to learn.

If not for the use of a Global Positioning System (GPS) I would probably never find my way anywhere in the city. However, not having looked at a map before setting off on a journey, thinking that the GPS will guide me, often means that in more complicated road systems, e.g. very large roundabouts, I frequently find myself having to make decisions about what to do with the car a bit more quickly than I would like. The problem is that a relatively inexperienced driver takes a bit longer to decide how to manoeuvre the vehicle. Where the road is complicated and traffic is busy that may prove to be a challenge. Thus, there is still something to be said about being prepared- having a look at maps- before setting off on a journey if one is relatively new to driving.

Bendy buses can be quite intimidating as well as there is something decidedly worrying about a vehicle that apparently swings out at you. Cyclists can be problematic- you're worried about over-taking them and if you don't the drivers behind you may get rather angry at you. Children are particularly scary. When I see a child at the side of the road my brain tells me that child is about to jump out in front of me just for the hell of it so I automatically go into panic mode. It makes no sense at all but for a new driver every little thing is a potential hazard and the panic button gets used quite a bit. Not necessarily a bad thing but there is danger in being over-cautious as other drivers might be impatient and do stupid things because of this impatience.

However it is not all bad. Driving through central London and passing Westminster is rather pleasant; the traffic can be trying at times but it is so much nicer than being in the Tube!

Cycling in the big smoke

Motorists are evil. They mow down cyclists. They think that bicycles have no right to be on the road. A few of the comments that I have heard other fellow cyclists make. I am a fair weather cyclist and don't use the roads as much as people who cycle to work daily but have seldom felt in danger while on the road. This may partly be due to the weather conditions I choose to cycle in as these do have an impact on riders and drivers; in short I admit I am in a vulnerable position while I am on my bike and I will not cycle if I don't feel up to the challenge. Being safe on the road on two wheels requires the cyclist to be sensible about the dangers they will face. Its no good saying its the driver's fault; it may well be the driver's fault but the cyclist will probably come off worse for the driver's mistake(s) so it pays to be more attentive to your own as well as other people's potential faults.

Mostly drivers just don't know how to deal with cyclists- they either have no idea what cycling involves or have problems judging the space and speed of a very small, man-powered vehicle. Motorists need to be trained to be aware of other more vulnerable road users. As cyclists we need to be aware of that and not push them to make difficult decisions. In short, all road users should take responsiblity for their own safety as well as that of others.

I have been annoyed by cyclists as a pedestrian so feel that cyclists have little right to adopt a holier-than-thou attitude in relation to motorists; they are just as bad at ignoring the safety of more vulnerable road users. I am wary at pedestrian crossings if I see a bike approaching because cyclists often don't stop for crossings. Cyclists also often don't stop for lights with the same discipline expected of motorists. I have seen cyclists using the pavements and crossings on their bikes when they should get off their bikes and push their bikes along; under these circumstances they are pedestrians, not cyclists, and what they are doing may be dangerous to people walking on the pavement. Some cyclists argue that they will obey the rules when they have more dedicated cycle lanes to make travelling on bikes safer. Is it O.K. to terrorise more vulnerable road users to get your way? Do you think people will be sympathetic to your plight if you adopt that attitude?

We can make things safe for everyone with a bit of common sense. Its not always about asserting your rights and asking what other people can do for you, but rather what you can do for others.

Commuter rage

Leaving home at the last possible minute is probably a common practice for most commuters. On the one side of the commute there is the comfort of home and on the other side there is the office; the latter is not necessarily uncomfortable but it is not home. When time is limited, the stress of travelling may increase quite dramatically when things don't go according to plan. Some people might enjoy the exhiliration of not knowing and find it all a great big adventure. Most people would probably want a smooth ride to work without having to think about it too much because they are still trying to wake up, or in some cases still continuing with their sleep, while on whatever mode of transport they happen to be on. Dangerous if you are driving but otherwise, perhaps, quite pleasant with the gentle (?) rocking of the vehicle.

People often get angry at each other when things go wrong. Most of the time it is because they have left themselves too narrow a time margin with which to get from A to B, so it is their own fault even if they don't want to admit it. It is so much easier to blame it on the guy who was stuck at the ticket gate for the extra minute it took to get from that to the train. Of course plans should work to the minute-margin and one missing the train with that built-in margin is obviously the fault of the idiot at the gate.

There are times when no amount of planning is adequate, e.g. when someone jumps in front of a train and paralyses the line during rush hour, which seemed to happen quite a bit in the aftermath of the banking crisis. Annoying as the delay may be, taking it out on train station staff, as some people do, is not constructive and could result in you being taken away for aggressive behaviour. Yes, sometimes things go wrong because the service providers are incompetent but that is, more often than not, not the fault of the people on the ground and taking it out on them is just silly.

There are a few simple ways to avoid the stress. Leave yourself plenty of time to travel. This may involve leaving the house just that bit earlier but could save you plenty of grief, and you can still have that extra cup of coffee that you were going to have at home if you do get to the office a bit earlier than planned. Think about what you would need to do if your preferred route were not available and factor in the time needed for an alternative. Just knowing an alternative route in advance can help avoid the panic one feels when things go wrong.

Going to bed earlier and allowing oneself enough sleep is an important factor. Modern life is busy and we all want to do ten zillion things all at once but at some point we just have to admit that we can't do them all and it is perhaps more important to get enough rest. Its about choice. You can choose to go to bed an hour earlier so you get that extra hour of sleep or you can choose to spend it at a bar with your mates. Both are pleasant things to do and neither are right or wrong, as long as you are prepared to accept the consequences of those actions. Don't blame the stress of having to deal with less sleep than needed, or having to rush to work because you overslept, on someone else if you made the decision to spend the time in the bar instead.

Keep access points clear

This is just a polite request to all the people that find it necessary to:

1. stand in the middle of doorways while they are waiting for someone,
2. stand at the tube/train entrance while they fumble for their ticket/oyster card,
3. stop and talk at an entrance/exit,
4. park a buggy/shopping cart/piece of luggage near an entrance/exit, and
5. step off and stop by the end of an escalator to figure out what to do next,

to not do those things because they cause delays, are potentially dangerous, and are very annoying, particularly in the morning when people are in a rush to get to work.

Sleepy heads

Travelling makes me sleepy. Perhaps its the rocking of the vehicle, perhaps its the boredom. I don't think I'm alone. You can almost always find one person in the tube carriage that's dozing off. The two people sitting in front of me this afternoon did make me smile though.

They were a couple. The lady caught my eye as she had bright pink fingerless gloves on. It wasn't a particularly cold day and they were very bright pink wooly gloves. They were sitting next to each other and holding hands- they both held both of each other's hands- as they chatted to each other. It was quite sweet and I glanced at them a few times over my book during the journey because it was a cheerful thing to see. On one of these occasions I noticed they had stopped talking and had actually both fallen asleep with their heads stuck together, as if they had fallen asleep while leaning towards each other for a kiss, hands still locked. That was quite sweet, too. I continued reading and a short while later, noticed that they had woken up and were chatting again, hands still together. And a little after that they were asleep again- heads together, hands together.

They got off at Whitechapel; they did each release one of the other person's hand as they walked off the tube.

When in Rome

One of my friends once said that she is always on her best behaviour when she is abroad as she is aware that she is a representative of her country while she is visiting someone else's. She thought it may be tempting for the locals to think that any ill behaviour on her part may be typical of her people and she did not want that. I thought that was a bit over the top and that essentially being oneself is one way of letting other people find out about your own customs, as long as you don't try to impose those customs on other people. I have the freedom to express my opinion but don't expect them to be accepted all the time and have no intention of forcing them on anyone. A lot of the times conflicts arise, at home and abroad, when people do not respect the right of other people to their own customs and try to make someone else accept their way as the 'right' way.

Recently at the airport, on the way back from a ski trip in Italy, an incident occurred that made me think about this a bit more. We were in the queue at the check-in desk, waiting for our turn. The airport is small and there wasn't enough space to accomodate the long queues that had formed on that particular morning, most of them consisting of British skiiers returning home from a ski trip. This caused some confusion for people who wanted to join a queue as they couldn't really find the end of one for the crowd. And then the first argument happened.

A family of three tried to join our queue and found they couldn't stay at the end of the line for long as people needed to move round the airport and kept asking to be excused through. So the family moved to a point slightly away from the queue, rather more next to the queue than in it, and then the man in front of us (we were about half way up the queue for our counter) shouted at them, 'The end of the queue is over there, not where you are.' The older gentleman in the group replied in an Italian accent that he knew where the end of the queue was but they needed to move somewhere else to let people through. The man in front of us laughed drily and said he didn't believe him, he's Italian, isn't he? Why he's trying to jump the queue!

The young girl in the group replied, in English with a Birmingham accent, that he was being rude and that actually they were British. The man in front of us turned away from them as she continued to scream abuse at him, whilst the young man in the group tried to calm her down. Eventually they realised they had joined the wrong queue anyway and moved away. In front of us, people kept cutting across the queue as they were trying to get to their check-in desks. This annoyed the man in front of us as well and he kept making comments at people who were pushing through. These were all British and apologised for what they were doing but he accused them of not meaning the apology. At some point the man in front of us turned round and made a comment to the man behind us about being proud to be British whenever he goes abroad. The man behind us replied that it was almost enough to make him vote BNP.

Two other incidents between then and our boarding the plane all had a similar theme: the passengers were lucky, and proud, to be British because things were so much better at home.

The incidents left me thoughtful. Although I don't think that the people I met were representative of all Brits, my view was that these people were hypocrites. They made a conscious decision to visit a foreign country to enjoy the skiing on offer there and yet have no respect for the local people. Although the incident was really a rather big misunderstanding, the underlying message was that the Brits knew better than the locals. Why should the Italians conform to British standards? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I cannot help but wonder if the imperialist attitude has not quite gone away even though the Empire does not exist any more. Maybe my friend was right after all and that it is prudent to be cautious about one's behaviour while abroad.

Chair lifts and skis

I love skiing. I even love the clomping about in ski boots and carrying skis- all that is actually contributing to the self-sufficiency of skiing, whatever little self-sufficiency most skiers have.

Skiing can be an efficient way to travel in the snow but for the most part it is possibly one of the strangest past-time: you take a lift up to the top of a mountain and then you ski down the mountain as quickly and in as stylish a manner as you can, and then you do it all over again. It is great exercise in great locations, where the air is fresh and the views fantastic, but it is perhaps not the greenest sport.

I often find chair-lifts stressful. You might find yourself sharing one with someone that has different ideas to what you want. Do you keep the wind shield up or down? What do I do if my ski poles are trapped in between my leg and the safety bar? Do you talk or not talk? When do you lift the bar up and prepare to get off? Where is s/he turning when s/he gets off the chair-lift? What about ski poles? Will s/he stab me by accident or plant the post on the ground so that I will trip over it when I try to ski off? Is there any danger of a pile up?

After all that you need the sense of freedom of skiing away down hill to make up for the chairlift experience.

Getting your safety message heard

While on my way to a ski resort on a chartered flight from a popular ski holiday operator in the U.K., I was surprised to find that the in-flight safety message has been given a much needed face-lift.

First of all, the message was in the form of a short video clip that was shown on screens in front of the passengers. The exits were still indicated live by the air stewards but the main bulk of the message was pre-recorded. The images and sound were clear so it was possible to see and hear what passengers are required to know.

Secondly, the message was delivered by a little girl dressed in air stewardess uniform. The rest of the cast were all from a similar age group, dressed up as adults doing silly things on aircrafts. The words were the same as that you would hear from an adult but it was far more effective to have this wee girl tell us how to be safe on an aircraft. Quite a few ladies went 'awwww' when they saw the sweet little girl and their attention was immediately captured. Some of the other passengers giggled at every line as there is some comedic value in the situation, I guess. I was well amused and watched on to satisfy pure curiosity.

It was pleasant to see that the tour operator had taken the pains to try to draw attention to safety procedures in an imaginative manner. More often than not people fall asleep or are engrossed in whatever in-flight entertainment they had furnished themselves with and could not care less about the safety message.

Mole People

Londoners depend on the tube for everything. We get to work on the tube, go shopping on the tube, meet up with friends anywhere in the city with the tube, go home on the tube, go everywhere on the tube. It helps you avoid the traffic jam up above, is quicker than taking the bus as most routes are more direct, and is way cheaper than taking a taxi. Being underground and (mostly) indoors also means you are shielded from the elements.

The down-side is that most Londoners do not have any sense of where everything actually is, as demonstrated when people got completely lost after the terrorist attacks which incapacitated the tube service a few years back. People were forced to go over-ground and realised that they didn't know how close/far locations were relative to each other, or which way to go to get home. They didn't know enough landmarks with which to guide them.

London is a beautiful city. Finding the time to go over-ground, at least occasionally, is well worth the trouble.

Size matters

We are getting fatter. We hear this on the news all the time. The government has launched advertising campaigns and schemes to encourage healthy living. This may help in the future but the reality now is that we are dealing with a more corpulent population and one of the areas of life where this is obvious is on public transport.

Don't get me wrong; I don't mean that bigger people have a tendency to take public transport or that taking public transport makes you fat. Seats on public transportation are clearly marked out. When you purchase a ticket you are effectively hiring a seat, a demarcated space. Thus, you are expected to fit into said seat. Why else would you draw a boundary around a space? People are getting bigger, bums are more voluminous and hence the carefully marked out seats are no longer adequately sized to accomodate the average backside. Elbows are another problem; with increased body width there is also a requirement for increased elbow room.

At the other end of the scales, there is much talk about the size-zero phenomenon; complaints that the fashion industry is encouraging unhealthy body image by using images of very thin models to promote their products and making clothing sizes unreasonable. By that logic, if the size of seats on public transport were anything to go by, particularly those on some aeroplanes, operators of these services probably want to encourage a very similar body image. Passengers do complain about this. These services exist as there is a demand for them. If you feel strongly about it, vote with your feet (and credit card)- action speaks louder than words.

New Year, New Blog

People in big cities are too busy to notice the other people around them. Guilty as charged.

I spend on average three hours a day on public transport and very rarely notice what happens around me during this time. On the occasions when I did look up from my book or newspaper and saw a pregnant lady or older person, someone who was physically less able to stand, on their feet rather than sitting I have felt guilty and chastised myself for not checking the passengers that have stepped into the tube carriage at the last stop. I never sit in the priority seats for this reason. People seldom ask for a seat even if they legitimately could because to cause a fuss over themselves was just unthinkable.

I cannot think of an occasion when I have regretted being attentive to what goes on around me. One such occasion provided the name for this blog.

My New Year's resolution was to take more of an interest in what happens on my daily travels and to record this in a blog. Keeping records provides an incentive to keep looking. Of course the blog needed a name and one event, a few years back, while on a flight home with my sister, gave me the name. She had insisted on a window seat by the wings at check-in and been staring out of the window for a while when I asked her what she was looking at. At the time my clever little sister was learning to design and build aeroplanes, and she had been looking at the flaps on the wings. She took the opportunity to give me a crash course on why aeroplanes can fly- revisions for the then upcoming January exams, I guess- and described her vision of a simplified aeroplane fuselage. The image stuck and is all I can think of every time I take a plane.