This Way Or That

   
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Moved from Colins Blog, and now one of the Random Writings about Train Travel ...


It's the trains again ...

Monday morning, 08:10 ...

I'm trying to buy a ticket to Sheffield. Well, Meadowhall, actually, but no one seems to know where that is. Anyway, I ask for a return to Meadowhall, and I'm asked if I want to go via Huddersfield, or via Stockport.

What kind of question is that to ask someone at 08:10 on a Monday morning? It's a question I honestly have to say I've never given much thought to.

Huddersfield? Stockport? Such a quandary.

Apparently I can't buy a ticket valid via both, I have to choose. I have no idea.

Stockport? Huddersfield?

It's not as if I'm buying a house, and it's not as if I've done loads of research, and yet I have to make a decision.

Huddersfield? Stockport? Tricky, isn't it?

There's a queue building behind me. It's 08:12 on a Monday morning, and people are grumpy, and anxious to get to work. How can I decide? Which do I want? If I get the cheaper ticket, it might not be valid. If I get the more expensive ticket it may still not be valid. It all depends on the train I end up catching.

I have to sacrifice choice, I have to sacrifice my options, and I have to sacrifice any idea of understanding how the system of fares works.

Stockport? Huddersfield?

In the end I choose Stockport. I don't know if my ticket will be valid, I don't know if it's the cheaper option, and I don't know if I've made the right choice at all, but the people behind me are grumbling about the train they've missed, all because I've taken so long.

Huddersfield? Stockport?

Do I care? Should I know?

Should I have to know?

All I want is a train to Meadowhall ...


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