Five weeks since I started spending almost two hours of my
day observing the behaviour of that strange species of the workforce known as
‘Commuters.’
And this is what I have learned:
- A packed train is a totally acceptable place to apply a full face and neck(!) of make-up.
- A packed train is the perfect place to have an argument with your boyfriend (who just started working at the River Cafe - the same place as you) about waiting for the train on the wrong platform (which apparently was so typical of him because he did the same thing a couple of weeks ago when they went to visit her mum. Not that I was shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation or anything).
- A packed train is the perfect place to catch up on some sleep, even if you’re standing.
- It is a commonly held belief (and practice) that pushing the button to open the train door before the train has completely come to a stop opens the door faster.
- Looking tired and miserable is the only acceptable way to travel on trains.
- You have elbows for a reason – use them or lose them.
- There is no place for weakness in the Commuter’s territory – very young, very old, or just slow – they will not hesitate to walk all over you like they didn't even see you.
As you can see – it’s been educational.
But I’ve also learned about food. In particular, having no
food.
People in England really do go hungry. People really do have
no money for food.
I mean I knew this when I signed up to Foodbank but now I’ve
actually seen it.
The first couple of weeks I spent most of my time visiting
the London Foodbanks (we have 15 open at the moment and another 12 due to open
soon). I saw how the Foodbanks operate and got to meet some of the volunteers
and clients.
The first client I met was a guy who was probably in his
early thirties. He’d been brought to the Foodbank by a couple of plain clothed
policemen. He was pretty emotional. Turns out he’d been caught shoplifting
bread and eggs earlier that day. His benefit had stopped 23 days ago and since
then he hadn’t received any income. He said that once his food had run out he
had to beg. He said hadn’t eaten for four days. Four days. And he’d gotten so
hungry that stealing seemed to be his only option. He said he’d been off drugs and
alcohol for six years and this was the first time he’d been in trouble with the
police since then, he was really upset about this. He started to cry
when we gave him some food. He was so thankful.
BOOM
That was when I realised. People really do go hungry. People
really do have no food. In England.
That was when I realised what Foodbank was about and why
it’s needed. Since that first week I've met a whole range of clients who
for some reason, have no
food or the means of getting any.
This not something I expect to see in England.
So yeah, an educational few weeks to be sure.
