Sampling the social microcosm
Today on the train I shared my carriage with:
*1 middle-aged lady with reactolite glasses, nursing a croissant the size of a small hedgehog, who spoke very loudly in a posh voice about the fact that hopefully soon, she and her husband were going to sell the house in Cambridge, and shuttle between the flat in London, and the house in Burnham Market. Which is lovely, because you don’t have to drive for miles to get groceries – Tesco delivers! Failing that, the local butcher does organic meat. Hurrah.
*1 middle aged gentleman whose startling ginger nose-hair seemed anxious to venture out and taste the fresh morning air
*1 girl with a nice velvet skirt on, who entirely failed to notice that she was exposing a large expanse of upper thigh on her left leg, and occasionally her knickers
*1 fold up bicycle (new)
*13 cups of Costa coffee
*4 copies of the Guardian
*3 copies of the Telegraph
*and 3 laptops of varying sophistication
I’m attempting to do some kind of social demographic survey of the 8.15 into Kings Cross. If I fit it, I’m obviously an upper middle class multiple home-owner, with an aversion to Victor Kayam, and a penchant for horrible coffee. Perhaps this was not a comprehensive sample.
I was tempted to take a photo of the next carriage though – it was filled with men in suits, a large proportion of whom were displaying a taste for silly socks, reading a combination of broadsheets, and saying things like “Sarah, get Roger on the line for me. It’s about this morning’s 9.30 – I don’t think the graph on page 312 of the presentation has the right colour coding…†into their blackberry email-phones.
I wonder if the 7.45 is any different…