Train station familiarity
It counts for absolutely nothing.
Of the two people that I have spoken to on my local train platform, if I try to engage them in conversation the following day or week, I am met with exactly the same "Oh, you're on the platform too?" look that I get all the time. It's not that they're afraid to talk to me, but it's almost as though every encounter has to be started with the customary brand-new-contact face.
If no conversation is made at all, they'll quite happily stare at the rail track for fifteen minutes until the train arrives, and then board in absolute silence despite the fact that these people see eachother every single day and have done for at least the last four or five months that I've been occasionally catching the train.
My travel is infrequent, and even I still recognise people on the platform that get on there every single day.
What the hell is the point in life if you don't bother to make your time waiting for a train a little more friendly and communicative? Since when has banter on the train platform led to stalking, marriage, or god forbid; casual friendship.
If you don't think you need any more friends, chances are you're wrong and you live a more isolated life than you had once thought.
Of the two people that I have spoken to on my local train platform, if I try to engage them in conversation the following day or week, I am met with exactly the same "Oh, you're on the platform too?" look that I get all the time. It's not that they're afraid to talk to me, but it's almost as though every encounter has to be started with the customary brand-new-contact face.
If no conversation is made at all, they'll quite happily stare at the rail track for fifteen minutes until the train arrives, and then board in absolute silence despite the fact that these people see eachother every single day and have done for at least the last four or five months that I've been occasionally catching the train.
My travel is infrequent, and even I still recognise people on the platform that get on there every single day.
What the hell is the point in life if you don't bother to make your time waiting for a train a little more friendly and communicative? Since when has banter on the train platform led to stalking, marriage, or god forbid; casual friendship.
If you don't think you need any more friends, chances are you're wrong and you live a more isolated life than you had once thought.
Labels: banter, familiarity, station, talking, train
posted by Karl at
9:38 am
1 Comments:
Mate, I've been catching the same train almost every day for the last three years (last Thursday) and I've barely exchanged more than five words with any of the people with which I've travelled over the entire period.
I can tell you exactly what each looks like, where they get off, even where they work and what they do, but barely have I ever uncovered this information first hand.
There are two small groups that meet every day and sit and converse. The first starts forming from my stop with more joining two stops further, and the second group all board together two from the end.
The most conversation I've had on the train with people with whom I'm not acquainted has been randoms. And it's normally initiated because I'm sat in cycling gear so people will ask how far I've come, etc.
I'll be honest, though; I'm as bad as anyone. Most days I'll only get there minutes (some times seconds) before the train arrives and upon boarding will proceed to either read the rest of yesterday's paper, or fall asleep.
Weird innit.
By
Mr Dom, at 10:46 am
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