rendezvous

heya


part of me has some doubts about posting this, look you see. there is something of an innate sense to it all which speaks of invading (or intruding) upon privacy. but, ultimately, this all played out in a quite, no very, public place. one should not easily abandon decorum just because they can, after all.

the clincher, or if you will deal breaker, for going ahead and composing this piece to share with you was, or is, that it all just so happened to take place on what was, or is (ostensibly) my birthday. circumstance, fate and choice determined that there was little in the way of traditional commemoration or standard celebration of this, which strikes me as reason enough to pursue this composition. if you at all disagree, well, i would accept such, but also encourage you not to throw any stones of guilt at me, instead suggesting that you simply stop reading.

one more we are in the realm of my most recent (and on the basis of what is happening in the world we now live potentially final) trip to that there london place. yes, i have milked this trip quite a bit so far for posts, particularly across much (or most) of march. but, here we go, potentially a final one in respect of it all. rather fittingly, then, it comes from the final stages of such, as in the trip home.

your attention is drawn to the lady in the pink (or off-pink, maybe even off-purple) jacket, provisionally at the forefront of the image. this would be rather fitting, if not apt, for it so that they are the protagonist of the piece.

with no knowledge of such i happened to be a passenger on the same train as this lady, from london, or for those who care for precision king's cross, to one of the more noted as being affluent regions of north yorkshire. equally, it was true that we had departed the one train at this particular station so as to board another, taking us closer to our destination. this, along with the obvious (or overt) biological differences, is where, i would like to believe true, our similarities end.

my own journey was marked (characterised, perhaps) by any number of aspects, although i must stress the number is in all likelihood finite. for me there was the delight of being safely on my way to be back with my family, relief that my purpose for being in london was a success, delight that i had been able to spend time with my chum Spiros and his family, reflections on another birthday being reached, and similar.

the journey of the lady was, evidently, quite or markedly different. i am aware of this as it was so that i, along with two or three other people on the platform (not the one pictured, but we shall get to this), were engaged by her in an enthusiastic retelling of certain key aspects of her trip. some might possibly say that they were highlights, and thus we missed some parts or context, and i would be inclined to stress that only her version, or interpretation, of events are available as testimony. if any of you are aware, or informed, of the concept of an "unreliable narrator" to tell a story, be it in literature, film or sometimes music, then note such now.

her account was characterised by colourful, yet obscene, cursive swear words of a sexual nature. also, as the tale progressed, it was clear that she had a particular proclivity to use a most offensive, crass and vulgar term which is supposed to be descriptive of an aspect of the female reproductive organ, but in a dismissive way. whereas such a word is not used lightly in other parts of our country, it is very much a frequently relied upon term in london. the word is embraced, and adopted, as a verb, noun, pronoun and adjective as and when required in conversation there, quite often in the same sentence. i make no bones of the fact that i propose to exclude such words from what i recall of the exchanges made.

from what we could gather, or ascertain, her trip on the train had been quite lively. it was, for this lady, a journey of a well refreshed nature, for she had opted to bring along a formidable amount of alcoholic beverages (both in tins and bottles) to ensure that no thirst was experienced or left unattended. sadly, perhaps even (indeed) regrettably, there was an incident with some of the ale, for a chair on the train ended up wet, perhaps even to the level of soaked, as a consequence. whereas no real clarity was provided on what, precisely, had transpired, the lady assured us, her unsolicited audience, that it was one of the unopened cans or bottles that had in a remarkable way emptied out all over one of the seats, and despite allegations made no, she was not personally responsible for providing such fluid which caused such wetness.

a rather distressing aspect of the retelling of her journey came in the section dedicated to her conversation with a humble employee of the train service provider. this was a conversation predominately focused on the (at the time) recently unscheduled soaking of the chair, but also contained elements of a reasonably expected level of etiquette from patrons using the train. whereas the actual provenance or ethnicity of the gentleman she spoke to is unknown to me, it seems in a rather rash mood she took it upon herself to assume that he was of Pakistan in origin, and used a term widely regarded as unacceptable to refer to this. it was at this juncture that it was suggested to the lady that it would be preferable for her to disembark the train at the very next station, for the wellbeing of all.

despite it being so that precisely none of us, her unable to escape with ease audience, inquired or asked, she proceeded to tell us why she was on the train, and to where it is she was going. apparently some action had been taken which resulted in her taking custody of  "free" train ticket, and so it was that she decided to travel to see a friend that she had not seen for some two decades. it was so that she was not entirely sure at which station this friend, who she shouted at repeatidley down the phone when not discussing some matter of a personal nature on the very same phone with someone we believe that she has an intimate relationship with, but when consulted by the lady myself and the fellow travellers on the platform were able to advise of the name of the station sought.

unfortunately, and indeed regrettably, vast swathes of the interaction via conversation that she had were us were not so constructive or agreeable. the sole other lady on the platform, for instance, did all that she could to avoid being spoken to or otherwise attract attention, but not so successfully as to avoid being accused of being with child (which is to say pregnant) in the opinion of the narrator. the rest of us, mostly me and a chap who appeared to thrive on a more sheltered from such life, were told in no uncertain terms by the lady that she should probably not have been allowed to travel alone or unaccompanied, and also that we should "f*** off", or do various activities and take numerous directions which involved variations of "f***".

perhaps this is needless narrative, but as you can see in the images used to illustrate this, the lady was able to make the rendezvous with her friend, all at a train station in an area noted and known for to be of a mixed, varied level of affluence. this all ended, you could say, for her quite well, then. sorry, no, i am unsure if the lady, whilst clearly and patently of london, was pure cockney or part of the social class they call "estuary" down there. it all sounds the same to me.

this was certainly one of the more interesting, and certainly unexpected, encounters to happen on my travels. for sure, it was truly one that featured considerable and formidable uses of foul language. needless to say i offer my thanks to you for reading this, and can but hope it provided you with entertainment, if not any particularly great (or discernable) level of information or insight.




be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!