w.atching the w.orld unw.ind

Since I started this commuting lark, almost a year ago now, a middle-aged couple have invariably shared the platform/train with me on a regular basis, with the occasional holiday breaks (obviously abroad) from which they return suntanned and clearly relaxed. There are, of course, other 'regulars' sharing the delights of transport courtesy (sic) of "Southern", but these two stand out because they are evidently very happy in each others' company. At London Bridge, they separate and go their different ways to work; I never see them for the return home trip.

A news article about the tsunami yesterday jogged me to thinking that I hadn't seen them since Christmas? Now, emotionally, they mean absolutely nothing to me, but when you share the same airspace with people on a regular basis, you do feel a sort of 'kindred spirit' somehow? I mentioned this to Number One Daughter, who replied that I'd become a stalker. "No", I countered, "it's just that unless you walk around with your eyes shut, you're bound to notice events or situations that repeat regularly?".

"And knowing that they work in different sites (which does, I admit, make me seem a bit stalkerish!), it's unlikely that the spectre of redundancy had hit them both simultaneously."

Anyway, they were both on the platform this morning. So that's Ok then.