Crowding People
This morning as I was waiting for the train, a woman came walking to the end of the platform where I was standing. She looked British, slim and was probably in her sixties or late fifties. The platform was not very crowded but she placed herself rather close to where I was standing. That seemed odd to me because British people are usually pretty good about keeping physical distance when there is plenty of space. I edged away and she followed with her back toward me. This happened twice until I felt cornered between the platform edge and the platform end barrier. I moved around her.
When I got on the train, the carriage was mostly empty. The two end seats were occupied by a person each but there was only one more person at the very front of the train.
The seats on the Metropolitan line are mostly three-seaters facing each other. The end seats are two-seaters facing the back of a three-seater. Because sitting there you don't have to share foot space with others, the end seats are very popular with people who like to be left alone.
The woman made a beeline for one of the end seats, sitting down for a clean-shaven, Indian-looking man in his thirties. It took only a few moments before he got up and moved to another seat on an empty three-seater.
I wonder what went through her head. Twice within a few minutes people had moved away from her. Surely she would have noticed. Did she think that she smelled bad? Or was she just happy to get the end seat to herself?
When I got on the train, the carriage was mostly empty. The two end seats were occupied by a person each but there was only one more person at the very front of the train.
The seats on the Metropolitan line are mostly three-seaters facing each other. The end seats are two-seaters facing the back of a three-seater. Because sitting there you don't have to share foot space with others, the end seats are very popular with people who like to be left alone.
The woman made a beeline for one of the end seats, sitting down for a clean-shaven, Indian-looking man in his thirties. It took only a few moments before he got up and moved to another seat on an empty three-seater.
I wonder what went through her head. Twice within a few minutes people had moved away from her. Surely she would have noticed. Did she think that she smelled bad? Or was she just happy to get the end seat to herself?