Letting off Steam

[whole diary]

[BandHcommuter]

The great thing about the various forums, blogspots, websites which have sprung up recently, is that it gives an opportunity for war-weary, cynical commuters (like me) to get things off their chest in a relatively harmless way. It is amazing how daily rail commuting (15 years plus in my case) can brainwash one into a generally stoical and tolerant attitude about most things, and yet just occasionally one will get irrationally exasperated about something relatively minor.

For example, I can now tolerate  :

• The automated announcements on Adelantes - in fact I barely notice them
• Passengers who use mobile phones in the quiet carriage - again I just mentally switch off
• Complete closure of the route between Paddington and Reading in the evening peak due to a fatality - I just go for a quiet pint somewhere and come back two hours later - I always get home in the end

However I get in a right temper with  :

• People who stop at the top of escalators to reassemble their roll-along suitcases, oblivious to the pile up behind
• The fug of fag smoke one now has to endure when walking out of Paddington Station
• Passengers who sit by the aisle next to an empty window seat, increasing the boarding time at Newbury and Reading while people who want a seat ask them to move with others queueing to get on (if that makes sense)

In the coffee shop spirit, I invite other regular travellers to "let off steam" and tell us about those annoyances which although trivial in the scheme of things, really get up your nose! Just for entertainment of course, and all in line with forum rules...

[Ollie]

It's the ones who put there bags and jackets on the seat and are shocked that you would dare ask them to shift it so you can sit down.

[Conner]

1)The people who have to sit on a table even though there is only 1 of them with no luggage despite there being lots of other seats.(Annoing if you're travelling with a family of four)
2)The people who insist that if they're are no tables that there our no seats and then spend the whole journey walking up and down the aisle rantin about how there is no seats and why aren't there more tables? (Paticuarly on Refurb HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s)
3)The people who sit in your reserved seat until you get on, make a mess of it and when you ask them to move they leave there rubbish behind.

[12hoursunday]

People that ask me "does this train stop at............... " then after I say yes it does they then ask the next railway employee the same question

[vacman]

Oh god where do I begin!  Passengers who continue to yap on their mobile phone when i'm trying to serve them,
99% of the poulation of Camborne and Redruth (there are one or two decent people from the two towns, but not many), holiday makers, people who put bags and coats on seats on busy trains and no matter how many times you announce it on the PA^▸ (Public Address) they STILL dont bloody move them! I could go on all night but i'll shut up now until next time.

[vacman]

Or, "what time do they come back", "well madame theres a time table over there", "Oh I can't understand any of that it's all full of numbers". Or "why don't YOU put more carriages on?" Arggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[jester]

Surely you could have put on a bigger train than this!!! Yes!! we knew you were all going to turn up for this train, thats why we purposly put this two coach sardine special on for you!! People who ignore the female member of staff on the platform and walk 100 metres to stop the driver from what hes doing to ask him instead. The annoying phone thing vacman mentions, "Does this stop at?" when they are already on the damn train!!  Yes! AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!

[Ollie]

Customer: Is this the Reading train?
Me: No, it's the Bristol train but it will go to Reading.
*train pulls out of Paddington*
Customer: Does it stop at Maidenhead?

[Lee]

"Does this stop at?" when they are already on the damn train!!  Yes! AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!

Let me put a slightly different perspective on this.

I travelled on the 0600 Portsmouth - Cardiff service on Saturday morning (13/10/2007.) Although it is timetabled to stop at Dean and Mottisfont & Dunbridge , none of the information boards or station announcements mentioned this fact.

As having a look at Dean station was my reason for catching this train , I was rather concerned that the service might have been "revised" to miss out some stops.

So I asked the guard whether the train stopped at Dean. He said yes and gave me a withering look that suggested he was thinking "of course it does , you moron."

He also asked "where did you get on , I havent seen a ticket for Dean." I must admit that I took great pleasure in showing him my Freedom Of Severn & Solent Rover Ticket , which he had already checked earlier in the journey.

I should point out that all the other FGW^▸ (First Great Western) staff I encountered during the day were pleasant and professional , before I get accused of FGW employee - bashing.

[grahame]

Customer: Is this the Reading train?
Me: No, it's the Bristol train but it will go to Reading.
*train pulls out of Paddington*
Customer: Does it stop at Maidenhead?

     We have some customers like that in our business too ... a very few of them, but some.

Customer: "Can you write a program to display dates of events from our database"
Me: "Yes"
Customer: "Please come to London to do the work"
[Graham travels to London]
Me: "So where in the database do you keep the dates of events"
Customer: "Oh - we don't keep them ...."

[12hoursunday]

Best one was an agitated member of station staff was asked by a little old biddy " Young Man could you help me out" "Certaintly Madam which door did you come in through ." Lucky for him she seen the funny side too!

[vacman]

or

Passenger; "is this the St Ives train?"
me; "no madame, take this train to St Erth and change there"
Passenger; "so this train doesn't go to StIves then"

enough said?

[oooooo]

Or:

Passenger at Plymouth: 'Is this the Penzance train?'
Me: 'Yes'
Passenger: 'Oh so where do I get the Truro train from?'

errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, why dont they just ask what they actually want to know, ie 'how do I get to Truro'..

You have to wonder how some passengers are allowed out on their own...

[moonraker]

Passengers who start a journey with absolutely no bl**??y idea on how to reach their destination, I would not dream of trying to go from one end of the country to the other and not have at least one planned route.
People who do not control their children and let them roam Ferrel throughout the journey.

[vacman]

They get on the train, doors close, start moving then they run up the train and say "does this train stop at Lostwithiel???", "errrrrr.... no", "well that's rediculous,WHY doesn't it stop?".......................... the question i'd like to ask most of them is "how the f**k do you get out of bed in the morning and manage to get to the train station?" fortunately I just think it and don't say it!

or

"what times do the trains return?",
"ten past every hour sir",
"oh ok, whats the one about 5 O'clock?"
well funnily enough........................ ten past five!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, had a day of it today!