One thing I fecking hate, okay, is the way the buses and tubes all have these awful recorded announcements on them – every single stop you have to listen to it, always way too loud, telling you what bus it is and /or what the next stop/station is. As if you didn’t already know, and every single poor sap on the thing didn’t know, because you all got on it on purpose. In between that, and the clash between that and the person on the platform making the exact same announcement over an intercom so you can’t hear either one properly, and the walkmans and iPods and people talking on their godawful phones, and the kids who scream at each other instead of talking… well… you get the picture. Noise pollution. I blame Ken. (And if I wake up tomorrow morning and Boris Johnson is the mayor, well, I blame Ken.) (And you.)
So the other day I was on a 149 bendy bus – urgh – there I was. Ignoring the announcementsa. And then, opposite me, I saw this little skinny boy, wearing a camouflage-print fleece hat, next to his skinny mother. She had a harassed, after-work look about her that I know only too well. He was talking nonstop. I was ignoring everything, including the announcements. Then suddenly I realised that the boy was intoning, very seriously, in the pitch-perfect unison that only comes with practice, with the announcement: “the 149… to Edmonton.” His mum didn’t even notice. But he kept talking anyway and I after a bit I heard him saying, “and he asked me why I love trains. And I said because they’re very nice!”
Little boys, eh. Where would we be without them.
4 Comments
May 1, 2008 at 11:24 pm
You’ve got a great voice, and I’m going to add you to my blog feeder. Woot!
May 2, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Hello Chartroose, why thanks! You are more than welcome here if you’re going to say things like that. Glad you like it.
May 2, 2008 at 11:20 pm
And then there’s the ongoing movie on the bus now, allowing you to observe your fellow passengers as they observe you.
May 9, 2008 at 7:05 pm
I linked to your blog from Juliet Doyle’s “Musings from a Muddy Island” – a place from which one can’t go wrong. I felt compelled to comment on this particular post (though I read and enjoyed the whole page) as I am just back from my first-ever trip to London (aged 43 and after a lifetime of longing). Just about my favorite thing on the _whole_ trip was the Tube. Me and my little daughter navigated throughout London on the Tube and a few buses. We loved it all – including the announcements on public transport. I esp. liked the tone and quality of the female voice that announced next Tube stops. (I had to pay close attention, even with the maps on the sides of the cars). I assumed the voice was necessary for confused tourists and, moreson, for the visually impaired. I can’t stop blogging about my trip… I invite you to have a look and comment if so inclined. I am off to explore some of the links you have here. -KSV