CHECKING tickets and opening a train platform barrier for cyclists and disabled passengers must be a dull and unrewarding job.
So perhaps one gentleman at London Bridge decided he wanted to liven up his mundane working day when refusing to allow me to pass “his” barrier so I could board my train to Brighton on Saturday evening.
In a bid to save money – and live a healthier lifestyle – I often commute to work in London by train and bicycle.
But sometimes you find yourself in a hurry to catch a train, which happened to me at the weekend.
I had 10 minutes to get from Wapping to London Bridge, which by bicycle is a piece of cake if you are prepared to pedal fast.
When arriving at the station, I legged it across the concourse to the relevant platform, only to get held up while a huge group of people passed through the ticket barrier in the opposite direction.
Patiently I waited but was slightly agitated that the barrier guard was taking an age to open the gate to enable my bicycle and I to pass through to the platform.
The gentleman then gave me a telling off – the type we have all received from our parents or school-teachers in our childhood.
“You really should be patient, sir, and please don’t be in such a hurry,” he told me. “You should not run too.”
His tone was so much like my old school headmistress but I dared to answer back!
“Please don’t lecture me, I’m 33-years-old,” I told the pompous idiot.
“Sir, you will regret saying that to me,” he replied. “I’m not letting you pass MY barrier,” he added, looking proud of himself.
Understandably astonished, I argued: “You can’t stop me boarding the train, simply because I’ve dared to ask you not to lecture me.”
“It’s actually to my discretion who I let through,” he said, “and you’ve been abusive to me.”
So it’s now abusive to tell someone not to lecture you. And that warrants not allowing a passenger to board a train. I was not rude, I was not aggressive, I was not being unreasonable and I certainly was not being abusive.
It worries me that such a person is allowed to make such decisions on behalf of South Eastern Railways – and that, even when challenging a senior member of staff, was simply told: “You can’t be abusive to our staff!” So it was very much that his word was being taken over mine, with no evidence to suggest he was being truthful.
Thankfully, they were not the brightest tools in the box – and I knew of another way to access the platform in question by going through another barrier on the other side of the station.
I was able to board my train with seconds spare … my complaint is in the post.
So perhaps one gentleman at London Bridge decided he wanted to liven up his mundane working day when refusing to allow me to pass “his” barrier so I could board my train to Brighton on Saturday evening.
In a bid to save money – and live a healthier lifestyle – I often commute to work in London by train and bicycle.
But sometimes you find yourself in a hurry to catch a train, which happened to me at the weekend.
I had 10 minutes to get from Wapping to London Bridge, which by bicycle is a piece of cake if you are prepared to pedal fast.
When arriving at the station, I legged it across the concourse to the relevant platform, only to get held up while a huge group of people passed through the ticket barrier in the opposite direction.
Patiently I waited but was slightly agitated that the barrier guard was taking an age to open the gate to enable my bicycle and I to pass through to the platform.
The gentleman then gave me a telling off – the type we have all received from our parents or school-teachers in our childhood.
“You really should be patient, sir, and please don’t be in such a hurry,” he told me. “You should not run too.”
His tone was so much like my old school headmistress but I dared to answer back!
“Please don’t lecture me, I’m 33-years-old,” I told the pompous idiot.
“Sir, you will regret saying that to me,” he replied. “I’m not letting you pass MY barrier,” he added, looking proud of himself.
Understandably astonished, I argued: “You can’t stop me boarding the train, simply because I’ve dared to ask you not to lecture me.”
“It’s actually to my discretion who I let through,” he said, “and you’ve been abusive to me.”
So it’s now abusive to tell someone not to lecture you. And that warrants not allowing a passenger to board a train. I was not rude, I was not aggressive, I was not being unreasonable and I certainly was not being abusive.
It worries me that such a person is allowed to make such decisions on behalf of South Eastern Railways – and that, even when challenging a senior member of staff, was simply told: “You can’t be abusive to our staff!” So it was very much that his word was being taken over mine, with no evidence to suggest he was being truthful.
Thankfully, they were not the brightest tools in the box – and I knew of another way to access the platform in question by going through another barrier on the other side of the station.
I was able to board my train with seconds spare … my complaint is in the post.
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