I have to be honest; I don't know what aspect of professionalism got to me the most today at Stratford rail station. The ISS (A market leader in all areas of facilities including cleaning, that originated in Denmark is now co owned by another market leader in finance and investment, Goldman Sachs) operative, who leant her short squat frame up against the concrete column, armed with huge, thick hooped earrings with a matching necklace and large rubbish bags awaiting the delayed jubilee line train to de-litter the carriages of discarded copies of the free commuter paper, the Metro. Who whilst waiting took it upon herself to get a mouthful of freshness by unwrapping a pack of Wrigley's double mint and allowing the tripled layered packaging to aimlessly flutter to the floor of the platform, therefore actually creating the litter that she was being paid to clean up as three of her work colleagues waited upon another platform, all supporting the staircase from falling over, after all why else stand around leaning up against it, talking very loudly and ogling all the female commuters or the actual station staff. There are three platforms for the Jubilee line at Stratford, 13, 14 and 15, now by the time I reached the station, platform 15 was packed, the board showed that the next train in was to be on that platform and the next one would pull in 6 minutes later at platform 13, so I waited at platform 13.  I never see the point of packing myself into a train like a sardine for the sake of arriving somewhere a few minutes earlier… what is there in your life that being a few minutes late will have such a dramatic and life changing affect? Anyhow, so there I am waiting on platform 13 when the train pulls in… the crowd of platform 15 look over with a pissed off look on their faces and start to use the link bridge to descend on 13 to catch their morning train. Problem is the doors aren't opening so now you have the platform 13 crowd and the platform 15 crowd all waiting to enter the tube train… when the tannoy starts up and the station announcer points out that that train is out of use and the next train will be at platform 15. So both sets of commuters use the link bridge again to go to platform 15 (not me though, I'm still happy to wait for a later train with less commuters killing each other to get a seat on 13).

So just to recap… large crowd on platform 15, because that's where the train was meant to be, slog over to platform 13, because that is actually where the train does pull in, only to be told that that train is out of service and everyone needs to catch the train on platform 15. So large crowd from both platforms slog back to platform 15… and after this super fun 17 minutes, where does the working train finally pull into? You guessed it, platform 14. The excuse for this mix up was due to a signal failure… maybe just me, but if you know that the signal for platform 15 isn't working… why would you encourage people to keep going to platform 15???

You have to travel on the London train system to fully understand the mentality of the commuter, people barging their way around, tinny headphones at decibels too loud for the passengers seated down the carriage let alone the actually stone deaf wearer, private conversations on mobile phones that aren't private, overcrowding on trains, people forcing themselves in, blocking the doors so the train can't move and they end up as late as they would have if they just waited for the next train, people who moan about limited space yet wear a backpack that sticks out an extra foot rather than taking it off and placing it by their feet, not to mention those that have to use a luggage bag with wheels that gets dragged three foot behind them tripping others up because the actual effort to pull it closer to the body is too much for them to handle… I could go on about delayed service, ever increasing prices, unhelpful staff etc but there's only so much I can write before needing to use very harsh swear words to add poignant adjectives to my descriptions… and I choose to rise above that.

In case you can't tell, I am an angry London commuter…

I'm also British, not that I am proud to be… far from it. I take pride in being a Cockney, a true Londoner from the East End but British, it isn't me. I feel the monarchy is an outdated concept, the bleeding hearts have made this country soft, the justice system is arse about face, all government parties are as crap as each other and no one died in the war for me to have my freedom… I'm too young (even at 40). My granddads fought in the WW2 but they didn't die in it so I never see the point of buying poppies for remembrance. This once great empire has allowed itself to become nothing more than a poorly governed, hypocritical, PC ruling little island and I for one will be emigrating at the first possible opportunity I get (I'm mainly waiting for my youngest daughter to leave school and make her own choices… I don't feel it's fair to instil mine on any of my brood… freedom of choice is what I still believe in).

The true lineage of the British person has escaped to greener pastures, we were known for our manners, our deserving treatment of our elders, the gentlemanly approach to chivalry and our penchant for a risqué pun or innuendo. We were the envy of other, sometimes greater nations for our British gumption and ability to conquer in the face of adversity. We were a force to be reckoned with, we were true, we were fierce, and we were British.  That cannot be said for today's Britain, hoodies rule the streets after 6pm, politicians who set the laws are the first to break them, the Royals have been discovered to be just like everyone else, today's British solider moans that they find themselves in a war, nudity is banned from the underground advert boards, the anarchists from the seventies are now the wanting elderly, rapists, child fiddlers and murderers are given slaps on the wrists, outreach programs and excuses to go out and repeat their crimes. Sports we used to excel at are now ones we are lucky to take part in, our athletes are over priced models that play as individuals in team sports, tax payers support the living costs of everyone who comes to Britain to escape all that stopped them from knowing what freedom was whilst they complain, terrorise and put demands upon their open armed liberators by wanting the right to change our culture to match what they choose to escape from in the first place. Innuendo is now sexual harassment, back pain is now called stress, reality shows take out the need to learn a craft the hard way, credit blacklisting hits 3 in 5, Banks get nationalised and Jordan has yet another boob job. This is what being British represents in today's world, what is there to be proud of? The London transport system???? Don't get me started on that again…

Stay frosty