The commute. The dreaded commute- yes it's worse than you think... and this is why. Firstly, it is important to note that I am writing this in the dead of Winter, in the coldest week on record for the past few years, so everything I write from now on out, is heightened at this time. - Apologies in advance for the moan fest. The price of public transport in London is INSANE! Despite having paid for a railcard to discount my daily ticket, I still have to pay over £20 a day just to sit on a train for around an hour then get onto the almost bearable Central line for a few stops. I then roll up at work in central London for a long old day, faced with the prospect of the same thing in reverse to get home, except worse, because everyone - including myself - is in a rush to get home just that little bit quicker. The worst thing about the trains are their tendency to be delayed like ALL the time, well, at least half the time, and the worst thing is there's nothing you can do about it. It'll depart 1 minute late from one station and then continue to get later and later as we will get "stuck behind a slow running train" or it'll randomly stop just outside the station because we missed our platform allocation, making us even later than we already are! I can't really fault the state of the trains which I have to get into London as they are pretty nice in comparison to some of the others, but to be fair, for me paying over £20 a day, I would expect them to be state of the art. Another thing I can't complain about on the journey into work is the seating, as I go from one end of the line to the other, I get first pick at the seats and therefore I sit in the same place everyday. I have a table to do my makeup and sit by the window where I am able to see the London skyline upon my arrival every morning- well when it isn't still pitch black that is! This has to be the prime reason why a winter commute is not fun. I get up in the early hours of the morning, then even after my train has pulled in over an hour later it's still dark, and when I emerge from the tube station it is only just beginning to brighten. Then to make matters worse I sit in a room with no windows all day and only see the light at lunch. Fast-forward to the time I can leave, and it's dark again, meaning that no matter what shifts I am on, I see the light for barely 5 hours in a working week and only open my bedroom curtains on the weekend because it's pitch black whenever I'm in it. Another Winter- specific issue is illness on the tube. I of all people appreciate that no-one can help sniffling or coughing (as I get an annual horrendous cough), but really, when you are packed into the tube like sardines with your bags tucked under your arms and people shoving you to and fro (by accident and on purpose) the last thing you want is someone coughing into your hair, to the point where you can feel their air on your skin. When I get to work I could happily bathe in a pool of sanitize but settle for rubbing it on my hands and all up my arms. Yet my efforts to avoid catching the lurgy are always in vain as, if there is an illness going round, you can guarantee that I will get it! :( Talking of being packed like sardines, when I first began commuting, I did not understand why people would ram themselves past others to squeeze in the tiniest of spaces just as the door seals the carriage shut. Then often this person inevitably gets their coat or bag stuck in the door, because they only accounted for the room they would take up not their rucksack, so the doors have to reopen, there's more of a push and a shove and then everyone in the whole train has been held up. The time that this really affected me was one day just before Christmas when I was really ill, to the point that I actually had to take the next day off. Despite feeling dreadful, I decided to rush to try and get the early train to get to bed ASAP and one of these people HELD THE DOOR OPEN AS IT WAS CLOSING so that they were able to ram themselves into the tube into a space which didn't exist. And as a result, this delayed us a minute or so, which was enough to cost me that extra half hour because I made it in just enough time to watch my train pull away with me on the other side of the ticket barriers. The heartbreak was so real. Don't get me wrong, if there is a small space on the tube and I am running late, of course I am going to try and get in it, but I would always draw the line at shoving and holding people up. Urgh and the group of people who walk really slowly in a line blocking the whole passage to the tube, and you can just hear the train coming in but can't get to it - the frustration! The state of the tubes are a whole new story, like yes they are in pretty good condition considering the amount of people who use them but hey, so they should be! Again, for the amount it costs they should be near luxury, yet instead, the stations never even have a complete ceiling, with there being always one or two panels missing, which doesn't help in a bid to refrain from claustrophobia. But more annoyingly, there are always escalator works going on so there's reduced entry/exit. Ultimately, my commute, which equates to around 3 hours of travelling per day (on a good day) makes my working day 13 hours without even factoring in anything else. And as you can imagine, I have the bags under my eyes to show for it! This is, without a doubt, the most difficult part of working in the city, as I am just constantly tired, and I feel like no weekend or holiday could make up for it. Even after hump day, there is little consolation in knowing that I have another 2 days of going to London and back and it's pretty hard to be what I consider to be a normal teenager when your week is so exhausting... Nevertheless, I’ve never been one to give up, and am living proof that it is possible to stay out til the club closes even after a working week! So yes, those of us who commute to the big city do moan about it all the time, but I think we have a right to! You can't tell us otherwise until you have tried it, and if you enjoy it then hats off to you. Having moaned about it a hell of a lot, I do sometimes sit back and think I'll miss London when I do finally give it all up. I mean, I literally have everything on my doorstep and the whole commuting experience has definitely taught me valuable lessons (like try to avoid working in London in the future :P ), which I wouldn't have gained otherwise. London is a gorgeous city, with some amazing buildings, attractions and opportunities, and I believe that working here has allowed me to appreciate it more- even if I'm usually too tired to actually explore it! If you have never worked in London, I would recommend it to anyone on a temporary or short contract, as I do believe it is so valuable and holds so many opportunities for everyone, if you are willing to put in the hard work. Share your commuting nightmares below.
Becky xx
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