to think that comuting in London...

[TandB]

...sends people into some kind of strange trance-like state of aggressive, rude, stupidity in which they behave in a way that they would never normally contemplate?

And that rain causes a nearly frenzied unreasonableness?

I have shouted at more people this morning than should be possible in an hour's commute.

At Waterloo Station they had closed the access down to the tube as it was so busy, so coming up from the tube we were fed in pretty much single file outside, back in and up a broken escalator and through a single door. I had DS on my back as usual but despite this, the same woman shoved me hard three times trying to get past until I shouted at her to leave us alone.

Coming through the doors two other women tried to barge through in the wrong direction and converged on us shoving me into the man behind. Cue more shouting.

On the completely full train, the man sitting opposite us refused point black to move his bag so people could sit down on the basis that "there was nowhere to put it and there's not really room for three people on these seats anyway". More shouting - not from me this time.

At the station at the other end, a woman decided that there was no point putting her massive umbrella down to walk all the way up the stairs, along the corridor and through the barriers and ticket hall. I was one of about half a dozen people to shout at her after being poked in the face. Her response was "it's raining". What? Inside?!

Final straw - I stopped on the pavement to let a doctor pull into his parking space outside the surgery. Whereupon he gunned the car through a puddle and soaked me from the knees down. I stuck my head round the gate and shouted a lot. To be fair, he did apologise and say he was just trying to get off the road quickly and hadn't noticed the puddle.

Seriously. Do people leave their common sense and courtesy at home when commuting? If I get pushed about that much with a toddler on my bike, I am not sure how non-child carrying commuters actually survive the journey!

There should be commuter etiquette enforcement officers who can hand out spot fines for just being a bit twatty.

Oops. Just seen where the bike thing came from. Toddler on back, not bike.

I don't find weekday commuting too bad - mostly I find commuters know how to walk/stand/move along the platforms in such a way that they get to their destination most quickly. It's a lot less stressful than using the underground on weekends, when everyone just wants to dither and hang about on the escalators and nobody appears to understand the concept of letting people off the train before trying to cram themselves on.

Maybe it depends what lines you use?! I use the DLR, which is very civilised and then get on the Northern line at Bank, which is like a tin of sardines but everyone usually very efficient and pleasant.

Sorry you had such a crappy journey, though :(

I do love London, but freaking hell - the transport makes you suicidal.

I got into work this morning, nearly in tears after my journey took more than three times longer than normal THANK YOU VERY MUCH YOU USELESS WANKERS TFL.

They don't believe in telling you what's going on - the next train was showing as coming in 1 minute. For 5 minutes. Apparently, they did not feel the need to tell people that a train was broken further down the line, thus causing massive delays.

I think commuting brings out some pretty primal feelings, as well as a sense that there are some many selfish idiots (e.g. people who have big backpacks that take up room and refuse to take them off their backs, or people who have tons of room around them in the middle of the carriage, but refuse to move down. ARSE

(very, very bad journey in this morning)

You did say in your OP that you had a toddler and a bike

I agree London commuting is awful, have been here over 3 years so getting a bit more used to it now, but found it unbelieveable to see how people behave when I first moved here :( Probably other big cities are just as bad but then I don't want to live in those either...

People in London also don't think you should travel with children in rush hour. Someone tried to crush my buggy against me because they just thought there was a whacking big space in front of me and a woman once tipped it over when she was leaning on the back of it

Toddler on BACK! Typo. Not bike!

Divine. I don't find the tube bad at all. I agree that everyone just gets on with it. Jubilee line is almost pleasant. It is the frenzy of Waterloo that is the main issue.

[pats Abs consolingly]

I thankfully don't need the tube but travel from Liverpool Street Station and have noticed, especially since beingpregnant, how it's very much a case of taking your life into your own hands trying to get from one end of the concourse to another. It's pretty clear by now that I'm pregnant but I feel I'm going through an assault course just to get to my platform, phew .. even worse in the rain of course as the roof leaks really badly and there's puddles everywhere, pah.

Is it me or has there been a lot of London, and Londoner bashing on here recently?

For me, it's the joy of the new year with the annual price rises for transport and almost weekly tube strikes that are making me a bit tetchy.

First monday back - HUGE delays on my line. Not a good way to start the year.

This isn't London bashing. It is commuter bashing. It just happens to be located in London because that is where I commute.

Though, if you want to see the best behaved commuters in the history of commuting, get yeself on the Waterloo and City Line during rush hour - all the people coming in from the Home Counties and going to the City. It's incredible - no shoving, no pushing - just calmly queuing and waiting. It's amazing.

London is a fantastic city. I live in central London and it always makes me cross when people go on about how rude it is!

I do agree that mainline London train stations are fucking awful, though, which sometimes makes me wonder whether it is the commuters (ie those living in suburbs/home counties) rather than Londoners that are so erm,...fiesty

OP you sound a tad irritated in one or two of your replies. Perhaps the problem is you too.

Perhaps it has changed, I worked up to 8 1/2 months pregnant with my first commuting in, and found that lots of people gave up their seats for me. Mostly I found commuting fine, people who don't wait for the train passengers to get off first annoy me, and there was a classic time when I fainted between the door and the platform (which is quite dangerous) and some man stepped over me! But other passengers and the guards did help, and travelling out of rush-hour with children and a buggy, I got lots of offers of help too.

I love living in London and think it is the best city in the world, but the bus ride to work, yuk!!
I actually walk to work in the summer, but Shepherds Bush Green in the rain, Horrible!!
I got to work to day soaking wet, and with a sore foot due to the stampede for the bus.
The rain just makes everything slower and people more bad tempered.
I have friends in other cities, and their commute is almost as bad, I dont know why people who dont live here slag it off, one weekend in a city doesnt let you get to know the place does it.

Would just like to put the other side forward for a second and say that I have travelled on the tube many times with a pram, usually out of necessity as I avoid it whenever I can.

I have never once had to manage the stairs alone. Someone has always helped me carry it, sometimes going back the way they just came to help.

Not all Londoners are rude fuckers...a lot of them are but not all!

FWIW District was down at Fham Bdway and central line was up the spout as well. And Waterloo is a living hell always so I feel for you Kungfu

The only way I survive my commute is by seeing it as a game - ie how fast can I move without knocking into people or pissing them off. I am sure I'm as big an arse as everyone else

But refusing to move your bag off a seat is unforgivable. My head would have exploded.

I also remember how much worse it was when I was living in Japan and they men in little white gloves would literally push you on. A friend of mine would get felt up regularly by some perv or other and there was nothing she could so about it as she was tiny and couldn't move.

Oh I'm so glad it takes me 30 mins to walk, 11mins to cycle and 5 to drive to work. All by myself and not talk to or confront anyone!!

Yes Boozilla, I agree, outside of rush hour people are actually rather sweet. I was preggers only last year and moved my work hour so I could avoid the commute and got seats about 60% of the time. the rest I just asked and no-one ever refused. Teenage boys were the sweetest actually, always thoughtful.

A few years back I got dumped by a bf (on Valentine's Day!!!). I sobbed my little heart out on the tube on the way home and the entire end of the carriage I was in ended up proffering me water, tissues and advice.

Boozilla
Totally agree with you, I have always been helped on and off buses and tubes when I had the pushchair, most people only too happy to help.
WEnt to see my sister in my home town, a few years ago, and used the buses there, not one bloody miserable person helped me, in fact they all loooked at me like I was insane taking a pushchair on bus in the first place!!!, and this is a commuter belt, home counties town, I sense a theme here.

I've only been back at work a few months and I really like my commute (I should admit that I only work 2 days a week). I normally have a seat, for at least part, if not all, of the journey. I'm on a train, not the tube (if I had to get the tube, I definitely wouldn't feel the same way) for about 20-30 minutes and in that time I have no responsibilities at all, which after 7.5 years at home with the DCs is a new experience! No-one asks me for a drink or a snack or to wipe their bottom; equally, I don't have a blackberry for work, so am not checking emails or anything work-related - it's just my time and I can read my book or the paper, or listen to my ipod or play a silly game on my phone. Or often, just sit and stare out of the window .

Give me a few more months of the daily grind and I may have come back down to earth with a bump, but for now, I'm quite enjoying commuting (DH thinks I'm barmy btw ).

Ditto upahill. Only fly in the ointment is having to drop DS2 off on the way so walking is out except during the school hols.

Used to do a 70 mile commmute though. Not nice. Dread to think what it would cost now.

tkband3 Me too...I love 'being grown up' and having no one hanging on to me!