Hey,
So recently I had a job interview. Well actually I had two.
Well I had two interviews for he same job. I got the job cos I'm awesome but then I turned it down cos I'm a bit wrong in the head.
Believe it or not, there is a point to this post and it is coming soon.
Out of the two interviews I intended to go by public transport on both occasions. The location was within the congestion charge zone so I didn't want to pay those costs by driving in. Take the bus I thought, make it cheap and cheerful. Well for my first interview I left my house 45 minutes early, for a 20 minute journey, a long time before the afternoon rush hour.
I spent 20 minutes waiting for a bus, after which the only one that went by, was so packed, it didn't even slow down let alone stop. At that point I realized I was at risk of running late. I made a judgement call and drove in, paid the congestion charge and did well in the interview.
I did so well in that interview, they invited me back that Friday for 9AM.
Now this time I was prepared for a slog, since I was heading into the rush hour. Leave like an hour early or something for it, take no risks and that.
So I left my house just after 7.30 in the morning, heading into the buisness sector of London. Little was I to know that the city was against me in every sense.
I think at this point I should point out, I don't exactly live in the sticks of London. By driving, I can be in the City within 10 minutes. Of course it takes a bit longer by public transport, but that is given.
My overall commute into the city on that fateful day was an eventful one. It began, in the rain. No less than three of my required buses, simply ignored the temporal reality of the bus stop I was waiting at. At this stage I made a judgement. I'm not gonna make it am I? I chose then, lets take a detour. So I take the bus to the nearest tube station, a solid move, surely.
Alas, I was unable to board a total of 4 trains due to overpacking. And when I did get on one, I got sweated on by a rather lovely hairy Greek bloke, whose economy my taxes were probably rescuing. For the whole 20 minutes of sweaty, rocky and sticky travel, I asked myself, why is it like this?
London Transport is one of the largest drains on taxpayers money. On top of that, it drains from fuel duty, congestion charge, and even pension funds. Out of all this flootsam and jetsam, how have we ended up with a system that invariably, ceases to work two times a day? You might argue with this sentiment, but it's true.
What if, for example, your car decided to stop working or work at 20% of it's capacity when you most needed it? Or what if, your taps decided to stop working when everyone was making a cup of tea during the X Factor? We wouldn't accept it in so many other mediums if something stopped working when its busy, so why do we accept it with something as expensieve as public transport?
Sadly, i don't really have many answers. We do need a better underground service overall, and I can accept that it is on its way. The thing that really irks me however , is the bus service. What the bus service needs to be doing is taking a long hard look at it's routes and timings, and deciding which are really neccesary. I understand why there are lots of the bus that take me to the station, but why are there so few of the bus that takes me right to the city first thing in the morning?
On top of that, some of the routes are wholeheartedly pointless. Arriva and Stagecoach each run a route that starts in Whitechapel, East London. Despite their differing ending points, they actually share 70% of their route. At what point did TFL make the decision that they were both neccesary?
Well anyway, after I got out of the train I realised I had 5 minutes to travel 15 minutes on a bus. So I decided to do the first smart thing I had done all morning: I got a cab. And needless to say it was mighty comfortable and I arrived at my destination in comfort and style. I went on to thrill the life out of my interviewers adn dazzle them with my skills.
Also, they shared my love of kittens.
Peace out
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