07.58 to The South Pole

It seems that fancy dress is all the rage at present, South of the Thames. Following my encounter with Batman & Co (see post dated 19th Sept), last week I found myself sharing the platform with an adult-sized penguin.

This particular penguin was in fact raising money for a children's hospice, which made her instantly more likeable, and excused for blocking my exit path somewhat. So as I passed I gave her an encouraging smile, while inwardly feeling sure that others would not be so gracious. But then, with one brilliant sentence, she knocked the ball out of the park.

With a roll of her eyes she dropped her shoulders and sighed a little too audibly "I really pulled the short straw this morning". And that was it. Nobody could argue. It was 8am, freezing cold, and she was facing a stampede of commuters dressed as a pengiun. The hilarity of this truth and the poor penguin's misfortune brought a smile to all who heard, and had them emptying their pockets in no time.

Welcome to the home of...

I can’t help but think that South West Trains might have done something to anger their marketing team.

You may have noticed that some platform signs promote the particular station as ‘the home of Hampton Court Palace’ or some other equally prestigious landmark. However, Clapham Junction’s claim to fame reads: ‘Britain’s Busiest Rail Station’. Now, it may be just me, but I would’ve thought that busyness is not a characteristic that one generally looks for in a station. In fact, if prior to disembarking someone told me that this was the busiest station in Britain, I would much sooner endure another two miles of the foul-smelling specimen sitting beside me, get off at the next station, and hail a cab.

Perhaps a pay rise is in order, before we find ourselves in 'The home of Britan's highest levels of knife crime'.

Political Trenchcoats

For those of you who might be alarmed at my broaching a political topic in this post, I assure you it is on a very shallow level only. And those of you who know me, or have attempted to explain to me what the Chancellor of the Exchequer does, will be able to anticipate this.

This post was inspired by my beautiful friend Suzannah who, while watching David Cameron's address broadcasted live to the entire country commented: "And I get nervous just having to decide the top 10 trenchcoats of the season."

I found myself considering how easy it is to forget the weight of responsibility lying in the hands of our political forerunners. And for once my cynical side took an uncharacteristic step down, and left me feeling genuinely happy about the positive reaction David received following his speech. Even his on-stage kiss with Samantha appeared heartfelt. And, lets be honest, much more aesthetically pleasing than watching some other political firgures lip-locked.