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July 30, 2006

PLEASE MIND THE DOORS

I was carrying a folder under one arm and a rucksack on my back. Stereophonics' early brand of bouncing rock'n'roll was blasting through my head via my iPod headphones and my back was really beginning to ache. It was hot too and the sun was scorching everything it could set its rays to, which meant that those of us that were below ground in the dirt and sweat of London's tube system were slowly being roasted alive.

I'm not used to carrying a rucksack, not that there was much in it, but nor am I used to being immobile. I have my bad back to thank for that. So when the doors of the Northern Line started beeping, giving the signal for those of us that were rushing towards the carriage to get in with all due speed, I hurried forward and jumped through the doors as they were closing. But I didn't calculate for the additional breadth that my rucksack gave me and sure enough there was a crunch and the doors of the underground train shut fast on my rucksack and cut short my leap. Well they tried to shut fast, but the contents, now freshly mangled, were keeping them from shutting.

But the doors did not retract and I, unable to put down the folder I was carrying, or yank the bag very much thanks to a poorly back, could do nothing else but try to maneouvre the bag through the doors. I had managed to remove the rucksack so that I no longer looked like a turtle with its shell stuck between two rocks, but the train went nowhere. The carriage wasn't full by any means, but people were staring at me from the comfort of their seats, happily watching me struggle on with my predicament and I saw several rolled eyes which had clearly seen the scenario before and were obviously inconvenienced for the umpteenth time. I was trapped - unable to move the bag and there was nothing I could do about it.

Fortunately for me, two rather burly individuals with rippling muscles and threatening tattoos, who were wearing white vests to accentuate their physiques, came to my aid. Each of them grabbed a door and yanked it back as hard as they could so I could free my bag. The biggest surprise was that the doors didn't come off, but the rucksack came loose and popped into the carriage with so much force I had to take two emergency steps backwards and jarred my back.

I tried not to whince too much, since my pride, as well as my rucksack, had already taken a bit of a battering, so I gave them both a cool thumbs up and prayed they didn't want anything in return. I think next time I'll just wait for the next train.

Posted by jonola14 at July 30, 2006 6:48 PM

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