AS I pulled into Crawley train station this morning, I saw an irritated flock of commuters trying to climb over each other at the station exit.
I wondered what might be going on – is there a casualty? Has something terrible happened? No - Ticket checks.
I rolled my eyes inherently as I prepared for yet another long wait while not one, not two, but THREE members of staff eyeball my ticket to make sure I’m not pulling a fast one. By the time they have finished with me, I’m not only late for work, but I actually start to feel like I might have done something wrong. I think it would be fair to say I am scared of the train people, like I was scared of my big mean maths teacher who would glare at me in detention because I hadn’t cleaned the tables properly.
I don’t think I’d dream of fare dodging with these guys around. I’m sure if I had, no amount of eyelash fluttering would help, they mean business.
In their defence, people do fare dodge, and the guys are just doing their job.
But seriously, in rush hour when there are hundreds of us commuters, these “checks” are taking 10-15 crucial minutes out of our ‘rush to work’ time.
There are so many of us, blocking up the small doorway like impacted hairs into a plughole. By the end of it we are irritated, late, and thinking about getting the bus home.
Surely if there were more nice train men ON the train itself, like they should be, none of this madness would occur?
Kirsty Rigg - Reporter
