Karma is a law in Hinduism which maintains that every act done, no matter how insignificant, will eventually return to the doer with equal impact
Ticket day today….so what would you like first, the good news, or the bad news!
There was no one at the station again, so I had my usual two options, jump off at a manned station, purchase ticket, jump back on and away we go or jump off at a manned station, take my time, have a cup of coffee, kick back and relax and wait for the next one. I opted for the former, after all I did have to get to work.
After my previous encounters with the guards at the station and on the train where they had apologised for not waiting, I felt assured that today there would be no repeat performance. I spoke to them on the way through and said I need to go and get my ticket and they nodded as there was a gentleman in front of me in a similar position. He went first and paid for his and as I stepped forward to the counter I heard the all to familiar noise of the doors closing and the train departing from the station. “Ah feck” says I, rolling my eyes and thinking not again.
So I was a little miffed to say the least but it’s not like I could run up the track screaming and waving my fists now is it, so best to concentrate on the task at hand.
“Is there any truth in the rumour we get an extra day on our tickets because of the strike last month?” I asked. Being miffed had made me a little braver than normal. “No, no truth in that rumour but if you give me a second or two I will tell you what you can get” was the reply and he proceeded to stab the shoite clean out of his wee calculator. “You get a £3.80 discount” he said looking a little ashamed. “Fair enough, I’m happy enough with that” I replied and watched the relief wash over his face. Anything is better than nothing.
So with my ticket bought, 30 minutes to kill and at a loss for something to do I did indeed purchase a cup of coffee and wandered out to the platform to kick back and relax.
Whilst sipping my coffee and enjoying the sunshine I happened to notice that the train I had vacated not 15 minutes previously was sitting further up the line at the next station, which is not more than 3 minutes away from where I was. At this point I actually did consider running up the track, arms a flailing screaming WAIT!!!! at the top of my voice, but a sharp twinge from Alien Leg brought me sharply back to reality.
After another 5 minutes or so I began to realise something was wrong and that’s when the notion of karma hit me. The conductor didn’t wait so his train had broken down, was it really so bad that I had a little inward chuckle! After another 5 minutes it disappeared off into the distance, albeit at a very slow pace.
My next train pulled in and we started on our journey. Two stops along we picked up all the passengers from my original train.
It turns out there were 3 faults on the train when it left the first station. They called a mechanic to travel on board the train and proceeded with the journey, sadly not making it past the 7th station. Would it not just have been better to send out another train in the first place ffs.
No offence but your announcements of NIR apologises for the delay and inconvenience it may cause, is, as my mate would say a bit like shouting toilet after you’ve shit yourself!
The Indecisive Eejit 
Thank you for the giggle. I would have been soooo pissed off if I had had to get OFF the bloody train to get a ticket simply because I couldn’t purchase a ticket at the station I got on the train at. Don’t they have prepaid tickets you can buy a bunch of? Don’t they have onboard ticket machines? Don’t they have ticket machines at all stations that are not likely to be manned? If you were off to work, wouldn’t this be peak hour and therefore shoudln’t the bloody station be manned? Forgive my rant, but it pisses me off, too, and I wasn’t even the one spending my three pound (couldn’t find the pound symbol on my keyboard) saving on a cup of coffee and being late for work!
So anyway, I wonder if it was a genuine mistake that the train left early or the conductor went “fuck it, there will be another train along in 27 minutes, hit it Jack!” and told the driver to toddle along. Anyway, with karma in play, you would have at least gotten a seat on the next train, I hope. I like to think that the people on your original train, now displaced, would have to stand as part of the karmic reaction. Have a great day!!!
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They do have prepaid tickets you can order, but delivery takes about 3 days and I live in the sticks so it’s not guaranteed, I promise I will be much better organised next month. You can pay on the train but only cash, I like paying by card because at least if I lose the ticket I have a receipt so to speak.
I think the poor conductor probably did just forget, but he’s the same one as was on the morning of the 50 millions kids so his oul head is probably away with the fairies lol
None of the passengers looked to pressured by the wait I have to say and most got seats, my train was quieter lol In the days of the old trains, which were literally like my first drawing a half hour wait would have been considered faily quick. I think my longest was 3 and a half hours lol
And I is off to bed now so you have a great day on my behalf :) x
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