Photo of Noel Park by King Coyote
My thoughts for purposes of blogging are generally formed by my morning commute, for better or for worse. Today I was struck by the monstrous familiarity of it all, and wondered whether it was such a bad thing.
I take the same route to the station (Turnpike Lane) every day. I rarely think to deviate from it, although it’s nice to go through Noel Park once in a while. I therefore see the same people each day: the Indian man walking his kids to school; the fellow with the wide-brimmed hat and German Shepherd that talks to a lady on Russell Avenue each morning; the elderly gentleman that walks to Westbury Avenue to collect his daily paper at the same time as I travel. The sun – especially at this time of year – is the same pale, watery luminescence that peers above the steps from Meads Road. I can recognise the same mugs that have to give out the free magazines at the entrance to the station, and those with the which I share my end of the platform.
The journey takes roughly the same amount of time each day, so I’m roughly the same time late each morning. There’s always stops in the tunnel, sometimes a seat at Finsbury Park, sometimes at Kings Cross. I’ll arrive at Holborn and my walk will take me approximately 5 minutes past some builders and some lawyers looking annoyed. I’ll see the same large-jawed fellow looking like he might grin at me one day. I’ll arrive at work and the day begins, same as ever.
I’m not complaining really. I have plenty of variety in life, almost too much sometimes, so I have no problem at all. Just an observation really.
In other news, I applied for funding for taking a Polish class this morning. I figured that if I want to interact with the wider community at any stage – or even just improve job prospects – then this is a fine way to do it. As I understand, it’s a little related to Czech, which I really liked the look of when in Prague. Not a huge Czech community in London, sadly, but tons of Poles so this’ll be enjoyable, I think.
As part of the Employment Experience ™ at my place of work, I qualify for a learning grant because “a learning worker is a happy, improving worker.” That’s right, I’ve landed somewhere between 1984 and present-day America.
Exciting things today:
Word of the day: slobber
Filed under: London | Tagged: commute, polish, wood green
