Thursday 9 June 2016

The Commute

It can be hard to stay calm on the tube. Squashed against a pole, tetris-ing your feet around everyone else's and being jabbed in the back by a structural handbag is a recipe for general rage in the morning.

If you're able to sit down, everything changes, using that regular stretch of time to do your make up is a great time saver. I see people highlighting their scripts, writing in their journals and, of course, reading.

I tend to be happier if I have managed to be absorbed in my book for those few minutes. When I'm not reading I am hyper aware of that girl's hair, the guy's personal hygene (Good god stop yawning in my face coffee breath!) and no way are you getting the seat at Finsbury park, buddy. But when I'm reading, even if I'm stood up, I just don't care. I'm reading, my nose is fully in my book.

One of the great things about my kindle is that I can read with one hand and still thumb the button to turn the page, which means even if I'm propped up against someone elses suitcase I can still read. I will admit that sitting down to indulge in reading is the ideal.

But if I really can't read, my commute is the perfect place to go shopping. What better review than watching someone's face as they read a book. That cover that catches your eye, isn't that the book you saw someone else reading the other day? More than once, the tube has helped formed my amazon wish list. It's one of my biggest arguments against having a kindle is that you don't know what the person is reading... Still the lightweight merits are attractive.

Even the short trips it's worth it to shut yourself off in a book. People think headphones close you off from the world but its nothing to the sensory deprivation of reading, at least if you're reading a good book. I see people reclaiming their commutes all the time, I am going to make a serious effort to have my book in my hand on the platform and all the way home. I need the headspace right now and there are 26 minutes of pure uninterrupted reading available to me twice a day.

What are you reading on the tube?

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