Always Off First

It's only natural that regular commuters don't want to waste time.   They know just the right carriage to get in to and just the right door to exit by to avoid a lengthy walk down the platform.   In the morning peal it's always a compromise between getting in at the front, to minimise your walk and going further back to maximise your chance of a seat.

For me, it's easy.   The 0642 Cannon Street train is 80% empty where I get on so I can get the best of both - in the first carriage and still have a seat.   It's only really by Staplehurst that the train starts to fill up and by Sevenoaks, it's full and standing in every carriage - particularly the first.

By the time we get to London Bridge it's always a bit of a scramble to get out with Cannon Street passengers who got on after Tonbridge blocking the vestibule.

But there are a couple of women who a regular travellers who are especially annoying.   They are always the first to get up from their seats and go towards the doors as we near London Bridge - but they don't want to get off there, but to get off first at Cannon Street.   On good days this is bad enough because they just block the vestibule and make it harder for London Bridge passengers to get past.   On bad days, when the whole aisle is packed, these two can and do cause gridlock.

Why do they do it?   God alone knows.   They get little benefit for themselves, at best perhaps 5 or 10 seconds, but cause so much inconvenience to many others.   What's worse is that they know they cause that inconvenience.