Week 88: The Joy From Others

Friday, 6 September 2019


Reading time 2 minute 1 second 

United We Stand – Football fans anger at losing the terraces in the 1980’s

I’m currently temping in The London as my other half calls it. She’s from The Manchester so my home city is weird to her. Sometimes it is for me too.

As I exited the train carriage a young couple in front of me were walking side by side. They looked to be in Love. It was sickening and beautiful in equal measure.

As we descended the stairs a man on his way up had clearly ignored the contraflow system and was rudely walking into people to get to the top of his personal Everest. People grumbled a bit but moved over to the let the rude person go against the flow.

The young couple in front of me were having none of that. They believed in contraflow and knew that the most efficient way of moving a large group of people away from a platform was to have them relocate as one. They understood that a rouge element could and was upsetting the system.

I then witnessed and was reminded of the beauty in humankind. Most people don’t bother to fight yet great people do and this couple were great because they took a stand! Like the people who stood up to injustice across the globe, from Rosa Parks to Gandhi.

This brave couple said we will not accept this. They stood together side by side, joined hands and stopped. 

The man walking up against the flow of people stopped. He would not be allowed to complete his ascent. Today was our independence day!

With only their love, determination and bloody mind belligerence to the rules our heroic couple conveyed in looks rather than words “Turn Around, respect the flow”. I could almost hear sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf scream “You shall not pass”

All of us behind them stopped, bumped into each other then stared in part awe like wonder and part commuter frustration as these two people put a halt to the rogue element in our society. Their sense of what is right mentally grabbed this man so that he starred at them both, saw the futility in his trying to get passed and turned around and marched back down the stairs of frustration.

I cheered. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen and I’ve watched Toy Story 2 as well as West Ham beat Manchester United 4-1 while standing next to Sir Alex Fergusson on a cold November night.

We marched back down the stairs happy that commuter justice had been served.

Almost at the bottom as I was just about to express my admiration, the couple turned around and started to fight their way against the flow of people and climb back up the stairs saying that they were sorry because they went the wrong way.


Picture: I was surrounded by people I love when this was taken and I had a Coca Cola and a plate of cockle, winkles and jellied eels. What more do you need in life?