…especially at 6am is challenging. To say the least. But I am so determined to get to work that nothing can stop me! I will be there no matter what. I am a working woman who is not scared of anything!
Today on my way to work I used London Overground. I got to the station on time to get the earliest train. But as soon as I entered the station building I saw – and heard – a staff member shouting to a group of people who got there before me: No northbound trains from this station! No northbound trains! Who wants to go to London Bridge needs to go to New Cross! I asked him How about Whitechapel? Nothing, absolutely nothing goes to Whitechapel, no trains north! He was saying so while writing on the board that there are no trains to Croydon which is southbound… Due to signal failure. I looked on this electronic timetable, and there it says: Dalston Junction cancelled but Highbury and Islington on time, platform 1. Confused I wait to see what others will do. Others are also waiting. Finally, tired of hearing the same questions over and over again, the staff member made a phone call and got the information that train to Highbury and Islington will run as normal. He opened a ticket gate, beep, beep, beep – oyster cards – and here they went, running to the platform one. I beeped my Oyster and slowly walked to the platform as there was 4 minutes time. Level one – completed. I was in the train.
Level two starts at my destination stop. I exited through the gate, when outside the station I saw a beggar. I see this guy there regularly. Annoying and bothersome like a fly above your bowl of soup. I decided to avoid him. There are two set of door to exit the station. I saw him at the left ones so I went to the ones on the right-hand side to go round him. But, hey, he saw me too! He followed me:
– Excuse me! Excuse me!
Without stopping I held out my left arm to him saying No!
– Excuse me! I only wanted to ask you for 20p, only 20p!
– But I don’t want to give you 20p! – I replied straight. (Why would I give him 20p?)
He followed me to the traffic lights and even crossed one of the roads with me. We stopped on the traffic island and then he said to me:
– Just be nice, not rude, cause I will punch you in a fucking face!
And then off he went, run away somewhere to the left, between the buildings, probably more scared than I was! Guy was shorter than me, skinnier and didn’t look like a person who is well nourished and still he decided to go on threatening people! Go on, punk, try your luck!
Other incidents on my way to my earliest shift happened in the area I live, not the nicest one. The other day I was walking to the bus stop, when some guystarted shouting Hello! Hello! My reaction as usual – I held my arm to him: Stop! The street was completely empty, no other live souls, except of me and him, dark and cold (I mean the street…). As I walk of he starts shouting his ass off: Helloooo! Helloooo! I sped up. Is that so difficult to understand that a woman walking alone on a dark street might get scared of a man shouting at her? I don’t get men – it happened to me a few times.
Another one was a female beggar, trying to get some change, calling me Auntie! Also a regular in my area.
There is also a story from my way back from work. Busy bus. On of of the bus stops a skinny drunk gets in,white guy in his 50. Not agressive, but talks really loudly, almost shouting. One of the passengers, black man, tried to calm him down, before he starts swearing: Calm down, man, there are children here. Drunk started saying something, quite excited. Indeed so excited that while saying it he almost spat out his dental prosthesis! His fake teeth!!! Black guy wrinkled his face in disgust: Oh, man… In a riposte, white guy took his teeth out and held them towards the black guy: Do you wanna hold’em? After theat he tried to provoke him throwing some N-words at him, but the black man stayed unimpressed.
Do you sometimes have any adventures on your way to work? Share them here!
Life of a Catering Assistant 