It's kicking off in the quiet carriage. At Reading, two elderly people get on and the lovely hush that has existed on this corner of the 09.59 from Paddington is over. "Which seats?" barks the wife. Her husband, two steps behind with luggage and tickets, replies: "Twenty-nine and 30." Snoozers awake confused and dry-mouthed, readers look up from their books crossly. "Did you book them facing or next to each other?" "I don't remember. Why?" "Because 29 and 30 are opposite each other. I don't want to sit opposite. I want to sit together." "Why wouldn't 29 and 30 be together?" "You would assume 29 and 30 would be together." "When I booked online, it looked as though 29 and 30 were together." "But they clearly aren't."
Cue low-volume tutting. Why, I ask myself silently, can't passengers who board trains be fitted with chips that give them a silencing electric shock if they speak over a certain decibel level? Surely that's not beyond the wit of First Great Western's engineers. (MORE)
Source: Guardian
0 comments:
Post a Comment