the 'public' in transport

Nothing like that jostle and the sharp jab in the ribs to remind you of the 'public' in the public transport. I exaggerate. To be fair, my eight hours of train travel for a meeting up north today didn't involve any rib jabbing. It also didn't involve much human interaction. Well, save for that embarrassing moment when I sprayed, or should I say mildly drenched, a fellow passenger with a bottle of fizzy water. Let's forgive and forget!

I took this snap shortly before boarding a connecting train home at Perth. I hadn't planned to use it, but then as I boarded the train in a long queue of folk, a shouting match and minor fisticuffs broke out between two 'gentlemen' in the carriage, fighting over that well-worth fighting for question of space on a luggage rack. It was quite breathtaking. I turned away from the outbreak with a wry smile on my face, and yet not one of my fellow cattle, I mean, passengers, reciprocated. Not one acknowledgement. A sea of blank, unamused faces just wanting to get to their seats.

Don't get me wrong, I'm often more than happy to stick in my earphones and quietly while away the time reading a book, but public transport in the UK can be so very impersonal! And so, in spite of a cracking sunny day, faceless bodies and blank shadows on a station platform was today's blip.

But let us not end on a negative. A cheery chappy driving a taxi on the final leg is enough to reignite faith in humanity. Not to mention the sun is still shining. Thank you!