sashinka | observation orientated, with a twist of lime | a blog

London Grinds to a Standstill
It's like living in a third world country, I tell ya. So I left work at 5.30, met a friend for coffee at Oxford Circus, did some (sadly, window) shopping, and delivered my tax return to Euston.

At Oxford Circus tube, there was rumours of mal-tube-ness afoot, and that blitz-like we're-all-in-this-together spirit was starting, with random stranger conversations breaking out all over the place. When I returned to Warren Street, people were already saying the circle line, Bond Street and Kings Cross were shut. Walked to Euston Square, and it was already starting to feel like a real war - people wandering the streets aimlessly, unsure of which direction Euston station was in. Desperately trying to get any, inaccurate information, trying to make decisions with very little to go on. Lots of mubling, rumbling and slagging off of Ken.

Most people couldn't get a mobile phone signal, because we'd turned most of W1 into a cell-phone blackspot. Traffic's gridlocked back to I don't know where, and people in cars are trying to do u-turns in a one-way street, which is never a good idea. Buses aren't really going very far - in fact, I've never seen so many in one place, not even at my own personal bus-stop.

Decided to walk, now I'm in Camden, and M just called me back with directions home (4 miles), although I've just printed them out in this internet cafe I conveniently happened across.

Last time London ground to a standstill, in the flashfloods in the summer, I missed the whole thing because I was sitting at my desk with my muse. Least this time I have my own transport infrastructure war story. Wish I'd worn thicker socks, though.

Saw The Pianist last night - more, later - but because I grew up with holocaust stuff hardwired into the very social structure, it wasn't quite as mindblowing as I guess it is for some people. However, it reminded me that I often used to wonder how I would survive during a war/in a concentration camp: would I be the one who just fell apart and mumbled till they were trampled over? Or would I be the resourceful, survivor type. I don't know for sure, but today I'm feeling a little more problem-solving resourceful-stylee, which can only be a good thing.

But it did make me scared about another war, but that's another story.

Right, I'm off to walk 3.9 miles (or so multimap tells me) home. I may be gone some time.