Misery on The Tube: One Commuter's Story

The Greenwich Gazette received this e-mail this morning from a commuter on the tube. The writer is clearly upset and we believe that he/she has a big point to make. The letter is both charming and comical. But the message is clear: It's time we were more sensitive to our surroundings. Here's the full letter. Feel free to leave your own comment or stories about the tube.

Dear Greenwich Gazette:

I am not the sensitive kind who gets irritated by other quirky people on the tube, but there are two types of commuters who really get on my nerves. It’s not the guy blasting music from his phone I Pod, or the two travelling together who decide to sit on either side of the carriage and carry out a conversation through two dozen people. It’s the 3 ton Backpacks and the chocolate eaters.

I just can’t get anyone who is on a crowded train and does not actually realize that they are carrying a backpack that takes up the place of three people. Why can’t they just take it off their back and place it between their legs while on the train. I always get the urge to unzip their bag and let them collect their stuff from the beginning to the end of the Central Line. Let’s see how oblivious they would be to their surroundings then. They are really irritating!!!

The other type is the ‘can't wait must have chocolate bar on crowded train’ people. I saw a woman who took out a Kit Kat stick on a train with one hand, put it in the other and held the pole with the first! Now we know air-conditioning is coming to the tube but the heat in there is not ideal for storing chocolate. So you can imagine the state of the pole and the next poor sod who is going to hang on to it on the way home and find Kit Kat on his 100 pound shirt. You might say if he can afford a 100 pound shirt it’s quite OK. I might agree, but no mercy for the chocolate monster.

To make it worse, when the train came to a stop the Kit Kat and owner pumped into the next person leaving even a better mark than the one on the pole. Luckily the victim was the chocolate lady’s friend. So there is justice. But imagine if it was your taking the full brunt of a flying kit Kat bar!! How long is her journey than she can’t wait to stuff her face with a kit Kat?? It’s not even Flake!!


“Keep it between your thighs” (it goes for backpacks and Kit Kat). This will be my next slogan when I run for Mayor of London.