Monday, January 29, 2007
Bethnal Green, London: The Central line is rammed. I'm standing pinned against the doors of the first carriage, my back to the tunnel walls, hurtling beneath the streets of the East End. A man I've never met before is staring into my ear. His gym bag is pressed into my right side, and the tinny rhythms from his headphones are just audible above the roar of the train. The woman a few inches in front of me is trying to read the City pages of her newspaper, and failing. Her scarf is of-the-moment, but the pink enamel ribbon pinned to her lapel is months out of date. Two builders hog the space to my left, our mutual floorspace minimised by the presence of a dirty brown holdall. Beyond them stand a dozen condensed souls, and beyond them several dozen more. We've assembled here as mutual strangers, on our way to a random selection of offices, schools and workplaces. Our hands hang from the overhead bar, swaying, swinging. We stare conspicuously into nothing. The Monday morning commute is underway.
Posted at 08:23 from 51°31'37"N 0°3'42"W via my Z470xi mobile
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