I’ve just been on vacation in England with the librarian of
my dreams, this trip involved a train journey from Euston (London) to Manchester
Airport. It was my first experience on a Virgin train and also paying for a
first class ticket. The price of the ticket was quite reasonable because I
booked the journey well in advance of the date we travelled. We arrived at
Euston station two hours before the train departed and was delighted to
discover the Virgin First Class lounge above the train station concourse.
Throughout our vaction I’d been keeping my wallet zipped inside
my left pocket and my phone zipped inside my right pocket, the zipped pockets
gave me extra confidence that I’d not suffer from a pickpocket experience and
it was easy to give myself a pat down to confirm that my two most valuable
items (other than the librarian) were still in my possession. If I felt the
slightest bump from a stranger I could feel my wallet and phone before Clint
Eastwood could draw his weapons, this strategy worked well for me.
I guess the idea of the Virgin 1st Class lounge was
to reproduce the elitist airline airport lounges that I used when I was a very,
almost too frequent flyer. Someone at Virgin certainly understood the needs of
the travelling public, the lounge was clean, tidy, quiet and provided free
snacks, beverages together with that rarest of things in the UK free WiFi.
About 20 minutes before the departure time we made our way down to the platform
and found our seats on the train that was going to take us to Wilmslow where we
would change train and take another train for the 15 minute trip from Wilmslow
to Manchester Airport.
Since we left Atlanta we’d acquired an extra suitcase due to
the various purchases the librarian had made, unfortunately I was now
responsible for two large cases, my carryon and a computer bag. The librarian
had her purse or pocket book and another large bag full of stuff. Our luggage
wasn’t ridiculous but did require a bit of thought and effort when moving around,
the cases are so heaving that I need to lift each individually on to the train,
fortunately other passengers could see my situation and for the most part were
quite understanding.
As you’d expect the 1st class seat on the Virgin
train was comfortable, spacious and had charging facilities. We’d booked two
seats across a table that allowed the librarian and me to enjoy the view of each other that is the
nectar of live for loved up couples. Once again free WiFi was available and so
we broke out the iPads, iPhones, newspapers, books for entertainment. After 30
minutes or so a free snack and drinks were served, we settled in for a most
comfortable and scenic journey. When I have time to myself I often reflect on
yester year, as a young spotty pre-teen Yorkshireman I couldn’t imagine that I’d
enjoy the luxury of being able to afford a 1st class ticket on a
train. For reasons I can’t explain but the idea of WiFi being available on a
train still amazes me, thanks to Steve Jobs, Al Gore (who invented the
internet) and Virgin I had the great majority of the worlds knowledge available
to me while I sat on a train!
I’d booked this particular train because it only stopped at
Crew before we had to change trains at Wilmslow. Looking back I can remember a Bing
bong, Bing bong about 5 minutes before we reached Crew station but I thought it
was a sound from the movie I was watching or someone else’s computer but I didn’t
give this noise another thought. As we pulled out of Crew I made a mental note
that we had to disembark at the next stop. When planning the trip I’d created
an itinerary that detailed all transportation, hotels and places we’d visit,
unfortunately I didn’t document the time that the train would arrive in
Wilmslow but I remained confident that we could get everything off the train
with plenty of time to spare.
For the two hour journey I enjoyed being able to relax,
watching the green countryside whiz past the window and almost not having a
care in the world. I heard another Bing bong, Bing bong but it didn’t interrupt
my entertainment. Then about 5 minutes later the train starts to slow down, it
had done this several times when we passed workers on the track and so I didn’t
think too much about it. Then suddenly from nowhere Wilmslow Station is
announced over the intercom, 10 seconds later we are stopped at the station.
Immediately I’m in panic mode, I scooped up all the
equipment and dump it unceremoniously into the computer bag and then I ran to
get our cases from the rack at the end of the carriage. Of course just when I
needed to open the carriage door I kind of froze not knowing that the big green
button would open the door, for some reason I thought all doors would open
automatically. This must be what happens in a real airplane crash, people can’t
leave their seat because they can’t remember how to unbuckle their seat belt.
Eventually after playing “whack a mole” with every piece of equipment on the
door it opens and I can drop my three cases on the Wilmslow platform and help
the librarian step down from the train.
Within 10 seconds of me confirming that our three cases, the
computer bag, the librarian and her pocket book and bag were off the train I
heard the doors close, the guard blow his whistle and the train start to leave
the station. It was then that I checked my pockets. My wallet was still there
but no iPhone! I managed to gulp in some air, the librarian could see that
there was something wrong but I couldn’t tell her anything. The image of my
wonderful iPhone left on the table flashed through my mind, it was similar to a
drowning man looking up as he drifts deeper and deeper down in the water, in
short my life was over!
Then inspired by a scene from a movie that I’d seen a long
time ago I started to wave my arms in a vain attempt to stop the train, of
course the mighty Virgin company would stop the train so that I could retrieve
my iPhone from the table, after all didn’t they know who I am? However the
reality was that the train was picking up speed and as I looked along the
station platform only the librarian and me could be seen.
I’ve never been the type to throw things in anger and so I
started to accept that I was now a former owner of an iPhone. It wasn’t the
best of feelings, how could I survive without my apps! What about my photos,
life was never going to be the same. I looked down at my computer bag and it
was a complete mess, cables hanging out, newspapers crumpled and completely
open, it was obvious that I needed to repack everything correctly so that
nothing else would be lost.
So I started to empty the case and start to repack the
contents, it was then that I saw something that looked like my iPhone, at first
I thought I was imagining it through my tears of despair. I have a Passport
drive that I’ve often mistaken for my phone but as I pulled the device out of
the dark bottom of the computer bag complete misery turned to joy as I realized
it was my phone! For one brief moment I was happy enough that I could have out
jigged the complete company of River Dance dancers, life was good again.
As we walked to the platform where we should catch the next
train a station official asked me what was wrong and he told me that the train
only stopped for 2.5 minutes and then must leave with no exceptions. I told him
that I was caught out by the speed that the train stopped at the station and he
informed me that a Bing bong, Bing bong was broadcast on the train 5 minutes
before arriving at a station, I was going to ask why they couldn’t announce
that the train would be arriving at the “insert station name here” station in 5 minutes but at this point nothing
mattered I had my iPhone in my right pocket and all was well. I move forward in
life knowing that next time I hear a Bing bong, Bing bong it means something.
That's my reality,
Mark
That's my reality,
Mark
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