Saturday, 27 March 2010

Reflections on the underground

On my way back from London - I am continually amazed at how easy it is now to get to and from London in a day.  Arrived at Euston at 10am, hop, skip and job across London on the underground, meeting, lunch, meeting, then hop, skip and juimp back to Euston.

It was during my hopping, skipping and jumping around the underground that I was reminded of the time I was robbed and left stranded in London.  (I have been left stranded in London on a number of occassions - probably the most devastating was when London was hit by suicide bombers in the 7/7 attack - but that's another story)

Back to my robbery - I'd been in London for a meeting again and was making my way back via London Bridge underground station when someone on the escalator bumped into me. To be honest, I didn't think too much about it until I got out of the tube at Euston and realised that my purse was missing.  It dawned on me pretty quickly that I was in a bit of a spot since, not only did my purse have all my money, my debit & credit cards but also my return ticket to Southport.  Despite making a desperate plea to staff in the ticket office, my plight was ignored and I was forced to call husband, who happens to be a rather resourceful chappy.  Quick as a flash, he went to Southport, purchased a ticket and got them to fax proof of purchase to Euston who then issued me the relevant ticket.  So I made it home.

But that is not the point of this story - there are two things I learnt  that day.

1. Good Samaritans are not easy to find and so should be cherished.
By way of explanation - I did not meet one that day - on the train home I was recounting my tale to another passenger who told me on several occasions how important and rich he was - but depsite his wealth, or perhaps because of it, the man made no attempt whatsoever to buy me a coffee, even though he went to the refreshement car on two occasions and was very aware of my plight.  He was defintely NOT a Samaritan

2. Always have a £5 note stuffed in a your bra.

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