4 Awkward Underground Encounter that Everyone Will Experience

Hello again,

I’ve been living in London for over two weeks now; time is flying by. Since the move, I’ve been using the underground, ‘the tube’, to commute to university and wherever else my adventures take me. I’ve seen and experienced some awkward and cringe-worthy things recently that I feel are very worthy of sharing with you all, so I’ve compiled a list of my least favourite things about the tube.

I do apologise if you have never used the tube and have no idea/don’t care what I’m talking about

Getting stuck in the closing doors

Don’t get me wrong, I always run to catch a tube so I don’t have to wait an unbearably long two minutes for the next one. However, I am not willing to risk getting squished between the closing doors for two measly minutes. This is not the case for some people. Last week I saw a man jump on the train as the doors were closing. He got his blazer trapped in the doors and had to crouch against the doors until the next stop. A couple of days after that I saw a family of six or seven sprinting for a tube, suitcases in tow. Half of them jumped on the train and as the doors started to close they realised that not everyone had made it. Then, they decided to rush off of the train, leaving a their little boy on the tube by himself. He almost got his fingers trapped in the door! Luckily, a man stood behind him pulled him away from them.

Repeatedly making awkward eye contact with someone in the window opposite you

This is something I absolutely cannot stand. I have no objection to conversing with people on the tube, or even making accidental eye contact. On the other hand, other people cannot stand being looked in the eye. Don’t you hate it when you can see someone looking at you but as soon as you look back they become all awkward? They just make the whole thing weird. If you don’t like eye contact, stop looking at me he mirror.

Running for a train only to find that it’s leaving without you

I always do this. When I’m waltzing down the many stairs that my local tube station has, I suddenly realise that I can hear a train. I start speed walking, rushing or even running to catch this tube only to realise that the train I heard is on the other side of the platform or it is the one I actually want to get on, but it’s already departed. I see this happen to people every single day; it makes them awfully embarrassed and frustrated.

Standing beneath someone’s smelly armpit

Travelling during rush hour. There are no spare seats. You are stood underneath a smelly armpit. This always happens to me! I’m not very tall so 99% of men that get on the tube tend to be taller than me. When standing up, I always end up squished between the huddle of people reaching up to hold onto one of the poles on the ceiling. It’s like a very smelly mosh pit.

Thank you for reading!

I hope at least some of you can relate to these things.

Ways you can reach me:

• Email: courteneynoonan@hotmail.co.uk
• Twitter: @courteneyjn
• Instagram: @courteneynoonan

Bye for now,

Courteney x