{"id":134,"date":"2007-06-01T14:21:43","date_gmt":"2007-06-01T14:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.bananasplit.info\/?p=134"},"modified":"2007-09-26T16:57:27","modified_gmt":"2007-09-26T16:57:27","slug":"the-age-of-the-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.stmellion.org\/?p=134","title":{"rendered":"The age of the train"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a Recent Rant<\/a>, I wrote about the terrible cost of using rail transport in the UK. Despite the price, I still find myself on trains that are packed to the doors between key stations. So what’s the big attraction?<\/p>\n

Well for myself, I like the train because I can sit in relative comfort in an environment that enables me to work or read my book. Virgin Trains<\/a> thoughtfully provide a “Quiet Zone” for people like me who hate noise. In this carriage, you can’t use a personal stereo, mobile phone or any other irritating devices that beep or chirp. This message is made very clear by signs on all the windows and doors in the carriage.<\/p>\n

Despite all the signs, I have yet to make a journey where people haven’t been making\/receiving phone calls from the Quite Zone. It’s almost as if life is impossible for some people without a constant link to the outside world. The worst offenders seem to be young girls for whom their phone isn’t merely a means of communication, it’s a statement of their personality. The combination of Barbie colour, style, flashing wallpaper and ringtone all say, “This is me”. It’s the female adolescent equivalent of the boy with the little Renault Clio with the massive body kit and booming stereo system.<\/p>\n

Next worst offender is the middle-aged guy in the tie. This person is clearly of such international importance that his phone call must be taken, even in the quiet carriage. He’ll even apologise to the irritated book-readers around him before repeatedly making\/answering his call. The penalty for this crime should be to have “I am a wanker” tattooed on his forehead.<\/p>\n

Glad I’ve got that off my chest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a Recent Rant, I wrote about the terrible cost of using rail transport in the UK. Despite the price, I still find myself on trains that are packed to the doors between key stations. So what’s the big attraction? Well for myself, I like the train because I can sit in relative comfort in… Continue reading The age of the train<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rants","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stmellion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stmellion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stmellion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stmellion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stmellion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stmellion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stmellion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stmellion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stmellion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}