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Last week
on the Underground, somewhere between Victoria and Mansion House
stations, a man in his twenties gets onto my carriage. Nothing weird
about that. This particular guy
was Middle Eastern looking, had a beard and was wearing a kurta and
kufi hat. Still, nothing wrong, I'm proud to live in such a
multi-cultural society. The thing is, though this particular dude,
let's call him "Bob", sat down opposite me, with his eyes wide open
flicking around scanning the carriage when he started rocking on the
edge of his seat like he was tripping on E or something. Still,
weirdoes do that everyday on the train. Where people started getting
a little uncomfortable though was when he pulled out a little
wireless radio. The guys sitting next to him nearly bounced out of
his seat when Bob started playing with the aerial and tuning it.
This is the Underground, remember: you don't pick up signals down
there unless you're up to something. There's no Heart FM in those
tunnels.
Now, my point is, wear what you like
and do what you want, but in London in 2007, don't expect people not
to feel uncomfortable if you start doing stuff like that.
Let me put it another way: it's like
if you enjoy wearing National Health glasses, have a penchant for
old brown raincoats, are in the age category of 45 to 60 and sport a
grey beard, then don't sit outside a playground at eleven o'clock in
the morning reading an adult magazine. People are going to feel
uncomfortable.
Thanks.
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