Lone man walking

Being unhappy with queuing can have it's side effects. I prefer to avoid them whenever I can. At lunch time a hankering for a piece of chocolate, a pack of crisps and some more chocolate overcame me. So, I picked them up with tenderness and took them to the till. Unfortunately there was only one cashier on duty. This is a large shop for one person, a very large shop. I dumped my afternoon snacks in an empty basket and walked out disappointed. My time is more valuable than the effort of queuing. It's a crime. Something the manager should pay for. So on returning to work I contemplated yet again for the hundredth time whether I should write to the Chief Executive of the company and advise them on how the store is being run at one of the busiest times of day. However, this impatience to que was nothing like this morning's fiasco.

This morning, making my way to the Train Station there were also two sets of ques. One stretched to the ticket office window. The other had about 4 morons waiting in line at the automatic self service ticket machine. Two sets of frustrations. Weighing morons against the ticket que was a no brainer. So rather than take one or the other I decided to walk to the bus stop. Maybe have a little more exercise than normal. Yet at the bus stop no one stood waiting. This is a bad sign I thought. Even one or two people is a good sign. It means then the bus has not passed. But with nobody at the stop, it inevitably means I've missed a ride. Like a red Indian tracking his lunch for the day. I had to follow the tracks to the next bus stop or two. If I walked an additional ten minutes then I could get an alternative bus. So I did. To cut a long story short. I carried on walking just over 2 miles, passed an estimated 5-600 cars and ten big double decker red buses. Nothing was moving. The roads were choc-ablock. Nose to tail. I had a little bit of snobbery in my walk. I enjoyed it. Walking passed all those people in their lovely cars. I was getting somewhere faster than them. While they dumped carbon in the atmosphere, I was swinging my arms marching off to work. I wanted them to see me. To see their cars being overtaken by a walking man. Yes. Lone man walking.

In my empathy I found happiness. Oh how they would all be stewing, embroiled in their moving box. The price of petrol on their minds. And how come so many people are walking past. Especially the bloke with an odd smile on his face checking out all the cars. My empathy of their frustration I turned to my amusement. How good it is to see a white van accelerate over 50 yards because a sudden gap has occurred, and then for me to patiently, diligently catch up with it and walk past. The two men sat in the front seats leaning forward as if they were willing the van to move faster, to get there quicker. I hope they had a good look at my diminishing butt as I walked off into the distance.

Odd where little pleasures can come from, I savoured mine for a couple of miles, legs are sore but it was worth it.