Love must be blind

What I think.

There are only a few types of men that travel on the Bank/City branch of the tube, very early in the morning:

Type 1 - The Financial Times Man - smart suit, usually well mannered but oblivious, his surroundings inconsequential because his head is buried in the newspaper.

Type 2 - The Free Newspaper or Novel Man - smart/casual dress, not bad mannered just distracted... the kind that steps on your toe, steps back onto someone else's bag, sneezes loudly, and then apologises, realising what he's done.

Type 3 - The Sleep Deprived Man - smart/casual dress, not a clue what's going on around him... usually found staring blankly into space, scratching his crotch and yawning in your face.

Type 4 - The Smart Phone Man - appallingly mannered, hasn't a care for anyone or anything apart from his own comfort and playing with his bloody iphone for the entire journey!!!

What I Saw

I got on the tube at about 8am this morning, a very busy time. There were two seats empty and I sat in one of them. At the next stop a couple got on... a beautiful 20-something indian girl and a 30-something pale, angry looking white man. She went straight for the empty seat and he looked at her with daggers and said "Oh great!". She got back up and said "darling, you sit down, I don't mind, I get off in 5 stops anyway." He didn't argue nor did he say thank you. He just sat down and began ruffling through his back pack. I must have looked incredulous because the girl caught my eye and in those few seconds she seemed to say - It's not worth the agro! I was so appalled. Why couldn't he have let her have the seat for 5 stops and then sat down after she got off? Not only that, but during the next 5 stops, she coughed and sneezed and generally looked a bit fragile. The boyfriend didn't notice any of this, however, because he was Type 4 Man. The instant he sat down, out came his iphone and he plugged himself in and played some ridiculous game until it was his girlfriends' stop. He hadn't looked at her once. She patted his shoulder as we approached the station and without taking his eyes from the screen, proffered his puckered lips to her. I wanted to bloody slap him. I was absolutely boiling inside as you can imagine! I mouthed "twat" at him. He didn't notice but a woman opposite me did and laughed.

It totally enrages me how some people behave though. It's not just on the tube, of course, but for some reason being at such close quarters to strangers exacerbates the situation. Everything becomes bigger and uglier when its inches from your face. Yawning and coughing without covering mouths is completely normal now, scratching ones genitals is fine it seems. And now they are saying that they might put mobile phone masts down in the tunnels so that people can use their phones. Bloody hell, can you imagine? It's actually the one place left in London where there is relative peace and quiet...

Oh and one more thing… British Transport are suggesting that 25% of the London workforce try and make alternative arrangements for traveling to work during the Olympics because it will be very crowded! Really... you are only just realising that? Oh, OK, I'll just tell my clients that I'll be in at 11am instead of 9am and I'll be leaving at either 3pm or 10pm. Great idea!